MBB vs. Parthenon
I am an first-year MBA student weighing summer internship offers from one of the MBB and Parthenon, both in NYC offices. I am heavily leaning towards the MBB, but wanted to check my thinking here before pulling the trigger.
Having had previous Big 4 consulting experience pre-MBA, there are definitely features of Parthenon that I do find really attractive. The biggest is the heavy Strategy/PE focus, probably more so than MBB b/c any non-strategy work gets farmed out to EY instead of Parthenon. Secondarily, Parthenon requires limited travel and my impression has been that they have strong people/culture (although the MBB does as well). On the cons side, while I think the Parthenon/EY relationship makes a lot of strategic sense, I do worry about whether Parthenon can maintain the quality of its culture and people inside the behemoth that is a big 4 firm.
My basic thought is that MBB will offer me better early-career experience and personal branding, which is what probably matters the most right now. Further, whether it is 2, 5 or 8 years from now, if I wanted to make the switch to a Parthenon or similar firm (e.g., if I got sick of traveling) that would be much more feasible than the other way around.
Anyone care to make a counter-argument or is my thinking solid?
Unless you have a really really really solid reason to take Parthenon (i.e. incredible cultural fit vs the people at MBB make you miserable), I'd go with the MBB. I think Parthenon is a great firm with great people, but it seems that MBB is your best shot here. You'll still get PE and strategy work at MBB and on top of that have better exits into PE (if you so choose).
Since this is WSO, you're probably going to just get the MBB response from everyone else.
I think Parthenon has a really solid brand. It's a distinct notch below MBB in terms of prestige, but it's still pretty strong, and I wouldn't worry about dilution because of the EY acquisition. They seem to be doing a good job of keeping it siloed.
As you note, Parthenon does a lot of Private Equity due diligence work. Along with LEK, they've carved out a pretty strong position as lower-cost alternatives to Bain for those types of engagements specifically, so if you really want to do that type of work, you will have more opportunity to do it at Parthenon than at either McKinsey or BCG. So if that's something you're really hot about, Parthenon might be the place for you.
Now before you pull the trigger, you should keep a few things in mind. The fact that Parthenon's more narrowly focused can be a double-edged sword. If you decide that you don't like DD work, too bad; it's such a huge part of their business, it'll be hard to avoid it. You mention Parthenon's lack of travel as a perk, and that's true, but you should also be aware that the two-case model makes people want to pull their hair out at times.
From an exit options/longer-term standpoint, if by any chance you're hoping to move into PE after 2 years in consulting, I'd advise against planning around that. Making that move is very rare at the post-MBA level, even if you end up doing a lot of PE work. And if you're thinking about sticking around in consulting and making a run at partner, you should strongly consider that MBB's premium margins over Parthenon mean that 1) they can promote more people to partner (and faster) and 2) your comp will be larger if you do make it up the pyramid.
Thanks for the helpful and thorough reply. I'm not under any illusions that DD work would allow me to move into PE at either MBB or Parthenon, but I do think I would like the work (lots of reps and learning about interesting niche industries). I'm not sure on the question of whether the partner track is something I will take a shot at but it is increasingly clear that MBB keeps the most doors open and is the right move at the moment.
If you're based out of NYC for Bain or BCG, you likely won't travel much anyways. And both Bain and BCG have private equity teams, so that option will be available to you if you're interested (and a bit of a masochist). I can't speak to McK as much, but I assume you'll be able to get the work you want there,
Don't overthink this one.
If you want to do DDs...I am SURE you can volunteer to do those at the MBB in NYC and you will get staffed on them.
I heard that at least one MBB actively tries to avoid having interns on CDDs, at least at the pre-MBA level. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
Yup
The MBB I have an offer from specifically mentioned that working on CDDs is an option for the summer, at least for MBA interns (no knowledge of pre-MBA). Not sure that is the best option for me to get a flavor for the firm's work however, so I will probably steer clear for the summer and hopefully rotate through the PE practice at some point down the road.
I would recommend that, indeed. CDD work is also different since you're practically not traveling/meeting the client. I would indeed recommend spending some time in "regular" consulting before getting into PE work.
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