Consulting and Banking Recruiting

This isn't going to be a debate about the pros and cons so much as has anyone done both consulting and i banking recruiting at the same time?

I ask because I'll be interning this summer at BB as a sophomore so will have next summer to either return to the firm (obviously with a return offer), switch to another or move into consulting. I think I still have the idealized version of consulting and MBB in my head and it's heard to shake that off that it could be a good option versus banking.

On the other hand, I don't want to spend my whole college experience doing recruiting. I worked hard to get an internship this summer so I could hopefully spend the rest of college relatively enjoying my classes and just having fun. But then again, don't want to limit my options.

For those that did both at the same time, was it worth it? How time-consuming was it? Should I decide beforehand what I want to pursue?

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!

 
Best Response

It sucks, frankly. As far as I can tell, they're looking for completely different kinds of people, which means total resume/cover letter re-writes and a completely different kind of interview prep. Obviously the case studies require a lot of different prep than IBD technicals, especially if you don't already think the way they want you to.

You WILL be spending your entire junior fall and spring going to info sessions, workshops, round-tables, coffee-talks, and (hopefully) interviews if you decide to pursue both. It's unavoidable and the consulting firms are bigger on networking than the banks (this may run contrary to popular opinion but was certainly true in my experience/that of others).

Don't expect your BB internship to be a huge help either.

 

I was able to pull it off but only because my consulting interviews came after my banking interviews. Your best bet would be effective time management. Start case prep way before January comes along.

IB interview prep is much easier in my experience than consulting. I'm a non finance major and crammed IB prep in about 2-3 nights of studying and was able to receive offers. Contrast that with consulting where I did dozens of mock case interviews, read at least 3 interview guides, and did hours of personal experience prep as well. At least 10x more studying for consulting interviews.

 

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