My Chances in Consultancy???
Looking to break into Consultancy in the next 1-2 years, hopefully MBB, but Tier 2 would be great too. Here's my profile:
UK Student
Bachelor of Arts (Honours c.3.5GPA) - Economics and French,
Masters both from top 6 UK university.
3 summer internships in Banking & Finance related roles.. 2008,2009, 2010 (Product Control, Sales and Equity Research)
Executive positions on university committees/societies (sports team Treasurer, Assistant Fund Manager, Economics Society Secretary)
What are my chances? Thanks!
If you are not from Oxbridge or LSE, and without a First, MBB is unlikely (you can apply, though).
You should easily land a job in Tier 2.
Durham isn't top 6... Was your Masters there too, or somewhere better?
Your chances at MBB are pretty slim due to the heavy Oxbridge bias and the fact you, on paper, lack a unique selling point (your work experience and society stuff is good but run of the mill).
I also disagree with this. Your tier 2 chances aren't great either. The tier 2 (Booz, OW, OC&C, Monitor, RB etc.) intake has a near identical university profile to MBB given the tiny number of places in London.
There's a very strong chance that you won't get interviews anywhere other than at Deloitte et al. The best way you can increase your chances is networking and in particular utilising Durham alumni. If you can get a couple of people to flag/champion your application, you might get a few interviews and at the point you can stop worrying about your university disadvantage.
MSc at UCL.
I thought MBB might be a long shot, but would hope to have a shot with the Tier 2 you listed.
Do you think I might be better off going straight into industry onto a decent leadership program for a few years (BAE, Mars, P&G etc), getting some real world experience then trying out for Consulting/ an MBA at Harvard/Wharton/Insead etc? I've been getting 700 in GMAT practice.
What will you be doing in the meantime?
After three internships in banking and finance, why not follow up with a full time job in that area? Its far better industry to work in than consulting, anyway.
However, you should apply if you think its something you want to do. I am not sure about the situation in the UK when it comes to target and non target universities. Rest assured, not all applicants from target places will get in. If you can bring some substance to the job, you will have as much chance as anyone else.
Good luck.
UCL=University College London?
A friend of mine studied there and he worked for A.T.Kearney after graduating. Now, I don't know if this is considered tier 1 or tier 2 company, but I wouldn't mind landing a job there.
I believe that UCL is a target university, but I could be wrong. Why not check out consultancies' web sites? They usually have the list of universities where they do campus recruiting/ target universities.
Have a look at this: http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/UK_Ireland/Recruiting_Events.aspx
Good luck
There are only 4 proper targets (Oxbridge, LSE, Imperial) but UCL had McKinsey and OW on campus last milkround (as well as other lower tier firms). UCL students are also eligible to attend the London graduate recruitment events in firms' offices. It's essentially the best of the rest (5th).
Would you use the MBA to try to get back into consulting? Be aware there are even fewer places for MBA candidates.
Still give consulting a shot, but a solid industry grad program would make a good backup. You should consider IBD too - you would have an excellent shot (experience and UCL is a target) and a 2/3 years at a BB would arguably give better exit opportunities to consulting than industry experience.
I'd probably use industry experience to try and get my foot in the door, by that point I may have a 'unique selling point' (what constitutes a unique selling point would you say???). Failing that, I'll probably consider the MBA route.
I didn't think IB experience was worth more than industry, but to be honest, I'm not sure I fancy IBD, would probably rather work in Sales/Research.
Why would you ever go from industry to consulting? That's like a step back in one's career. Most people go into consulting for few years counting on good exit opportunities into industry. Few do it the other way round. If you wanna do consulting, do it now, or don't do it at all. Consulting isn't a career and a few make a career out of it. Specially when you grow older and you become more appreciative of your personal time and spending it with family and friends. Plus what you learn in industry will be far better and superior to what you will ever learn in consulting. In fact, coming from industry, you would probably feel frustrated with how things are done in consulting. Now, I am speaking from my own experience, but i understand we are all different and we all have different desires and wants and needs.
Also, what about other offices of MBB, like Australian, Canadian, East Asian, Nordic... are they much less competitive? What kind of shot do I have there?
What do you guys think of applying to offices outside of the usual London, NYC etc... Thinking about Dubai, Singapore, Amsterdam. Would my chances at those offices be any better for Tier 1 & 2? Cheers guys. Also Porcine, I appreciate your advice, you seem to know a thing or two..!
Regional offices usually require regional language skills (business fluency). And for those that don't, firms discourage applications from anyone without existing ties to the location (family, work experience, etc.)
I emailed the Dubai and Singapore hubs for one of the major houses and they said they don't require any foreign language skills.
Also, why would they discourage applications from people without ties? It's hardly like Consulting isn't a giant revolving door with people coming in and out a lot...
Have been networking via Linkedin with some of my universities' alumni and am now a bit more upbeat about my chances.
Molestiae asperiores recusandae ad et. Fugiat sed eos blanditiis quidem et praesentium. Et sit neque minus.
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