Hey everyone, two questions for all the MBB people. I'm starting as an AC/BA/Associate at an MBB office in a city (not San Fran or New York) that, for some personal/family reasons, I don't want to stay in for any longer than is absolutely necessary. From what I've seen so far, I like the people, the type of work that the office does, etc.; I just want to leave this city asap.
So the questions I have are:
1.) How hard is it to permanently change offices at the post-undergraduate level? Has anyone here done it or seen a friend/coworker do it?
2.) How geographically limited are your post-MBB opportunities by the office in which you worked? In other words, do opportunities in NY/SF/etc. prefer people who worked in the NY/SF/etc. office, or will any MBB office give you the same shot?
3.) If I'm lucky enough to get sponsored for business school, am I obligated to return to the same MBB office, or is there flexibility in making a switch?
I realize that there's little that can be done right now, but I don't want to make plans or set goals that aren't feasible. I considered just asking some co-workers, but something warned me not to. I have an abundance of SBs that I'd like to start getting rid of, too.
I am also interested in hearing thoughts.
Answer to #3.... You can definitely switch offices after business school. There are a few consultants in my incoming class that were sponsored and switched offices after business school.
I can't offer anything for 1 or 2...
To answer #3 first, at my firm, you definitely don't need to return to the same office that sponsored you.
I've seen #1 happen, usually at the 21-24 month mark, although I've heard of it happening after one year.
In terms of #2, didn't seem to be an issue...no one I know has left my office at that tenure and stayed in the same city.
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Those I know that made the switch did not have to interview at the new office.
your answer depends on the MBB
At one of the MBB, I've seen at least 5 coworkers do it near the first year mark. Switch depends on how strong a performer you are and second what your reason is (e.g. personal, near family, etc. that stuff is weighed more heavily than just "I want to try a different city")
This answer depends on the office that you are in. If you are in Chicago or Boston, you may have a lot of overlap with those who come fro NY/SF. This is due to the fact that the nature of work in Chicago / Boston / other mid-large sized cities have opportunities to work on interesting issues for larger corporations. If you are coming from McKinsey Detroit or Pittsburgh, you certainly won't have the types of exit ops someone from Chicago / Boston / NY SF people would.
you are not obligated to go back, but you may be encouraged to. There are some plus sides to being in a smaller office: you know more people in the office, if you are a true stand out you could get promoted earlier, etc. As a generalization, the people in NY/SF can be a notch higher, so the competition is less at places like McK Pittsburgh, etc.
Ultimately, I've seen SEVERAL of consultants move from a satellite office to a major office post-MBA. That is very doable.
What percentage of ACs/BAs get the offer to have their MBA sponsored?
Again, answer depends on the firm.
Definitely not all get the sponsorship.
My impression is that McK is more selective with who they sponsor than at BCG/Bain; or, given that most BAs leave the firm after 2 years, it could be that their BAs aren't as interested in getting the sponsorship. At BB, from my friends' experiences, I've noticed more people are directly promoted to the post-MBA role and/or attend B school immediately after 2-3 years.
one note: my projections are based on my and my friends' experiences, so they could be off base or more relevant to certain offices than others. It is well known however that McK sticks more to the "up or out" policy. BCG/Bain also have rigorous review processes but it usually hasn't been described as up or out in my experience.
For #1: I know a few people who made the switch, most of them have been at the company for 24+ months but I've seen it happen earlier. At my MBB the absolute minimum is 12 months. Whether you are post undergrad or MBA doesn't really matter. When making the switch definately use the personal reasons angle, it's most effective because nobody can argue with that. The office you want to transfer to will request your performance reviews and most probably someone from there will talk to the manager you worked with most often/recently. You can also expect to have an interview but it doesn't always happen. Both offices must agree for the transfer.
Best way to do it is to do some networking in your office of choice and eventually get staffed on a case there. Once there you can show how smart and hard working you are (you'd better work your ass off) and hopefully connect well with someone who will bat for you. The only risk is that if that person works in an industry that you hate you will have a difficult time getting the cases you want. But if you're doing it for important personal reason then it's probably not very relevant to you.
Hope that helps.
As for #2 and #3, I don't know, I'm not from the US and I'm not interested in business school.
EDIT: one more piece of advice: my MBB offers the possibility of a temporary transfer for 6-12 months (not sure if it's the same at all of them). These temporary transfers are infinitely easier to get and give you great networking opportunities. Even if nothing comes out of it then hey, at least you spend a year in the city you want to live in.
I'm in a similar situation and so posting for more advice and discussion in this thread:
Wife, kid and I are settled in San Francisco but accepted a consultant position at a MBB in another big city---figured we can make Fri-Sun parenting work if I can transfer back in ~12months. 1.Is this being too optimistic? West coast offices are much smaller is the reason I got for location situation. 2. Also trying to figure out best ways to make this work---should I get another apt in new city or can I expense Mon-Thurs, and fly home Fridays? 3. How much time do first year consultants get between projects? 4. What's the best way to bring up this topic and how soon can one try?
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