Boutique consulting firm vs. Deloitte M&A team

I am aiming for the Big 3 consulting firms upon graduation.

I am taking this semester off and I got a position for a research analyst at a boutique consulting firm. It's for 3 months and I'll probably gain a lot of hands on experience during this internship. They told me to start working next Monday and I told them I will go.

However, today I had an interview for a research assistant position at the Deloitte M&A team. Although it wasn't for a consulting position, I had to do a case study and ended up performing poorly on it. However, my interviewer still liked me a lot and told me that he wanted to see me one more time. This is an unusual case because there usually are no 2nd interviews. I guess the interviewer wanted to give me another chance...

The problem starts here: Deloitte's interviewer told me he will contact me on Monday and will schedule another meeting, which will be held on a weekday. However, that is the same Monday I start working at the boutique consulting firm. I would have to lie to the consulting firm in order to attend the 2nd Deloitte interview.

I have 2 questions: if I am aiming for the Big 3, would interning at the boutique consulting firm or Deloitte M&A be better for experience/resume?

And also, what is a good excuse to the consulting firm when I go interview with Deloitte? Certainly, I don't want them to know I am considering to stop working until I actually get the Deloitte intern position.

Advice would be of much help!

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • Cornerstone Research 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • McKinsey and Co 97.7%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Consulting

  • Partner (4) $368
  • Principal (25) $277
  • Director/MD (55) $270
  • Vice President (47) $246
  • Engagement Manager (99) $225
  • Manager (152) $170
  • 2nd Year Associate (158) $140
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (108) $130
  • Senior Consultant (329) $130
  • Consultant (586) $119
  • 1st Year Associate (538) $119
  • NA (15) $119
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (145) $115
  • Engineer (6) $114
  • 2nd Year Analyst (342) $102
  • Associate Consultant (166) $98
  • 1st Year Analyst (1046) $87
  • Intern/Summer Associate (188) $84
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (547) $67
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”