MBB Consultant Answering Questions

1. GPA was 3.97, had a couple ECs that I was very very passionate about and was in leadership positions for, and a solid internship the summer prior. FWIW, I joined MBB as an intern. Resume screens are typically actually done by consultants themselves, and they're ultimately looking for someone who signals they have the intellectual horsepower, cultural fit, and mentality to just get stuff done and learn. Typically, that manifests itself in a decent GPA (we didn't hard cutoff at 3.5, but it was very rare to see someone get through the screen with anything lower), and ECs + professional experience that show real impact.

2. Won't go into too much detail here as it'll be relatively easy to identify who I am from this answer, but the gist of my answer was talking about why I was passionate about making an impact on businesses and felt consulting was a great fit given the variety of projects and skillset you build. I'll say that the answers people give to this vary wildly -- best advice I can give here is to reflect on why you actually want to enter consulting and give your genuine answer.

3. I used Victor Cheng's stuff to get familiar with what a case even was, what some typical ways were to go through them, and then turned attention to MBA case books to practice going through cases. I networked with people and, after building a bit of a rapport, found a couple who were willing to do several cases with me. Other than that, I did quite a bit of practice just working through cases on my own.

4. Went into a product role at a startup.

LinkedIn will be more helpful than me here--try searching for PMs at FAANG who have MBB as past experience--but more often than not you're not going to see them move directly into PM positions (exception being a PM development program). More commonly, you'll see them join strategy/marketing/ops teams and then, after 2-3 years, make their way over to product. That transition doesn't always mean that the MBB consultant knew they wanted to do product but couldn't get in directly so then did the other role. In many cases, it's likely because they just didn't think about product or didn't think it was for them, but then engaged with the team in whatever role they were in when they joined, and then came to think it's something they'd like to do. But, I think the case remains that it's going to be very, very rare to see someone jump straight into a FAANG position from MBB--at least when you're doing MBB post-undergrad.

Yes, I do. It's not super common, but typically we would have ~1-3 industry hires--with a mix of them either having previous consulting experience or not. Network with folks who also jumped from industry, not to get an 'in,' but to actually get their perspective on the merits of doing so, understand how they made the jump, etc. Then, come time to make that decision, you'll not only be informed but also likely have these same people offer you their help throughout the process.

Honestly, I'm not too sure. I don't think you're going to see wildly varying availability of outcomes due to office. I think your office impacts 2 things that can impact exit opps: 1) The type of work you end up doing--especially at Bain/BCG where staffing is local and regional, respectively, 2) Prestige of office -- this is the one I'm less sure how much others actually value this; I do think it might matter more in a PE-type recruiting situation vs. exiting to a startup.

FWIW, most people wouldn't lump Chicago into the group of major offices. And remember you can always transfer offices too. Transferring into a SF/NY/BOS office is always going to be harder than going from one of those to the other, but that's just a matter of demand those offices have to fill spots.

to add a little more, would it be better to wait until after the internship or would that be frowned upon also?

This is a great question, and it's so difficult to answer. What you're aiming to do is make a genuine connection with someone, who will then be willing to really work with you throughout the process/put you in touch with other people at the firm/vouch for you. That's obviously easier said than done. I think the best way to do this is 1) Have warm conversations with people -- find people who were in the same clubs as you or have some sort of commonality where there is going to be a willingness to help off the bat, 2) Have genuine conversations with people. Don't follow the format of what the stereotypical information interview looks like. Think about what you genuinely want to learn and ask these questions. Hopefully you'll form a good enough connection with a couple people that then turns into them wanting to help you out.

Absolutely a normal transition to make. It'll be important to be able to speak to why you want to do consulting--and I'd be sure to make this a point in your cover letter--but it's relatively common to see folks who did IB during the summer and realized it just wasn't for them.

Never hurts to email recruiters to see if they're willing to accelerate the process.

Why, one double decker school bus sized carrot!

I don't think you need to be concerned. So long as you've got a decent GPA and solid professional + EC experience, networking won't be needed. In other words, networking is helpful if there's a glaring part of your application that'll prevent you from having a good chance at getting an interview otherwise, but it's not itself a requisite to getting an interview. At least at my MBB and specifically my school, the majority of candidates were given interviews simply on the merits of how their applications were scored during the resume screen. Networking and the relationships fostered through that really only came up when it was time to discuss the last few spots we had for interviews and the pool of candidates who we believed to be on that borderline of getting an interview or not.

1. I unfortunately don't have much insight here. I will say that, during our resume screens, the number of international students we had even applying was a very small portion of the resumes that came in.

2. I'm unfamiliar with how MBA recruiting works, but I think this will depend heavily on what MBA you're at. My guess is you get more slack the better ranked program you're at.

1. Thought the work was interesting, stimulating, and would allow me to build a good skillset; absolutely loved the people; exit opportunities were great.

2. This wasn't my experience.

3. Absolutely not. We didn't (and I am pretty confident no MBB do) bill by the hour. Projects were scoped in advance and there's a monthly charge. Never once felt we tried to extend the contract for the sake of milking more dollars.

4. I mean, I guess it depends on just how much you dislike slides. There is a LOT of slide making and editing, at all levels of seniority. It's kind of a means to an end as far as communicating insights and generating needed discussion with clients.

Comp will vary wildly depending on the startup you're looking at. Some can't afford (or aren't willing) to pay you much in cash, and others are. Really just depends on the specific company. I went pretty early stage and my cash comp actually bumped up a bit.

My MBB leaves an offer on the table to return, so it felt like a risk-free time to do something else in that regard. B-school was something that I thought could potentially be in the cards, but I wanted to get some experience at a startup before going--if I did choose to go. Industry just never interested me much--much better lifestyle and that's a big reason why people go that route, and I never really had issues with the lifestyle (save for a few cases). Lastly, on PE, I spent a good amount of time exploring what the day-to-day looked like--and ultimately it just wasn't something I thought I'd enjoy doing (but this is a great route for many people).

I'm not ready to close the door on going back to my MBB in the future, but the longer I'm out the less I think I realistically go back--have really enjoyed building things and seeing people use them. I did truly love the job at my MBB though.

Same thoughts I gave to the poster who mentioned "I am a junior at a midwest target..." apply here. Seek people who you have some sort of commonality with--in this case it won't be your school--and try to form some connections with them. Alternatively, you could reach out to alumni from your school and, if you can form a solid connection or already are close to some of them, can ask them to put you in touch with people from the offices you're interested in.

If this is a serious post, I haven't ever heard of a move like this happening. Typically a move at that point places you entering as a Partner. I haven't ever seen a Consulting Partner come in who wasn't a partner at another firm, and have seen a few folks come in from industry as expert Partners--but these are typically folks with deep industry (vs. trading) experience. And all Partner-level hires will typically have a deep network or at least a couple strong relationships with senior folks at the MBB. I'm no expert on this--just speaking from the handful of these laterals I've seen happen (have seen 3 Partner laterals, 1 Expert Partner lateral).

I believe you'll likely do your first-rounds either on-campus or on-site at your local office before being considered for a separate office (e.g. first round at McKinsey SF before being considered for McKinsey NY). That being said, those other 'popular' offices tend to fill their ranks with students from local universities and/or Top 10 (Ivy League, Stanford, etc.) because they can, so the bar to get there from a non-target is sometimes higher.

While I certainly have to appreciate your ambition--and know, especially at Cal, how easy it can feel abnormal to not know what you want to do from day 1--best advice I can give is to actually focus on learning what you're interested in (and do take school seriously + recognize the value of having a good GPA) and pursuing activities you're passionate about. That'll lead into having all the stuff consulting firms look for. You don't need to be in a business frat, consulting club, etc. What actually stuck out most in interviews were the candidates who clearly did stuff they actually cared about and had massive impact; every student from the top consulting club is going to apply to the various consulting firms, and it becomes very repetitive seeing the following profile: 3.5+ GPA, Haas undergrad, Member of or leadership position in top consulting club, Member of or leadership position in business frat, strategy/operations internships at recognizable names. Is that going to get you an interview? Sure. But, there's so many other ways to get an interview and, arguably, are ones that help you stand out not only during the resume screen but also during the interview itself.

Answers to your other questions (keep in mind I didn't state where I went, so take that with a grain of salt): I was an Econ and Poli Sci double major, Haas undergrad vs. any other undergrad didn't matter by the time someone was recruiting for consulting (many other indicators like GPA, impact you've had outside school, etc. were what we looked at), and I don't think double majoring or minoring matters much.

Seriously just pursue stuff you are actually interested in--forcing yourself to fit a mold you think consulting firms are going after is not the path to success, and is not going to lead to you being happy. Do be cognizant of what it is firms and other jobs look for--academic rigor + success, impact outside of school, etc.--but just do what you think matters and is interesting. Even if you were to talk to someone who just joined MBB after undergrad right now, chances are incredibly high they won't even work there anymore by the time you recruit.

Recently graduated Cal and I agree with doublejump 100% - sometimes doing what's not cookie cutter will actually make you stand out more (except with maybe McKinsey). Do enough to get yourself through the door but don't be constrained by what is typical. There is so much to do in college that will not relate in the slightest to you getting a job in consulting. Only do those things if you find other genuine reasons to do them (community, passion for business, etc.) so you don't walk away from college regretting all the things you hadn't done. :)

With that being said, feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about Cal, whether consulting is actually right for you, or otherwise.

Not at all. As long as your answer is genuine, it'll show--and that's what counts. I knew someone who said they didn't know what they wanted to do after school but thought consulting would give them time to learn that and the skills/platform to pursue that. That answer actually came across as very mature and helped the candidate stand out.