Banking vs. Consulting Post-MBA
It's still a bit early but I'll be applying to MBA programs next fall and I'm trying to get everything together and decide what I really want to do. Long term my goal is to get into corporate development & strategy (I combine them cause I've seen quite a few companies not differentiate them), or into a finance leadership position within a F500 business unit. I feel like both IB and consulting can get me to where I want but I'm having trouble deciding what's right for me. Either way I only plan on staying for 3-4 years.
Anyway, below is what I have for the pros/cons and it still feels pretty equal to me. How did you guys choose, or what would you give the edge to?
Consulting Pros:
- Slightly better work/life balance. Generally have Friday night - Sunday afternoon free.
- More variety in work and projects could lead to wider exit ops if I change my mind.
- Travel points and getting free(almost free) vacations.
- More variety in possible cities. I'm not sure if I want to be stuck in the Northeast the rest of my life.
Consulting Cons:
- Almost $100k less comp compared to banking peers in the first 1-2 years. Only grows from there.
- Culture seems more touchy feely than banking. I can deal with it but will probably get old after awhile.
- Being gone Monday morning - Thursday night.
Banking Pros:
- My education and work experience is in finance and this just makes the most logical sense given my background.
- $$$$$$$$.
- Makes a little more sense given my long term goals but I don't think the edge will be that much.
- In an industry group (I'll recruit for my current industry) you'll have a more in depth understanding of the industry and environment vs. consulting's only generalist model.
Banking Cons:
- Work/life balance will be brutal. Not being able to date, see friends, or hit the bars on weekends wouldn't be fun.
- More of a dick culture but I'd probably enjoy this more so this is kind of neutral.
- Stuck in NYC or god forbid San Francisco
I think you have the right pros and cons. For exits into Corp Dev / Strategy you're right in that both will get you there, but banking will skew a bit more to Corp Dev and consulting will skew a bit more to Corp Strategy. FWIW given your post and your background it sounds like your heart is in banking, so just go for it. You only have to grind out 2 years and then jump to a pretty cushy Corporate role if that's what you want.
Generally correct, but IB and consultants are different animals totally as is the interview prep to land these roles.
Beyond the hard skills to do the job correctly, the soft skills are a bit different. While both are client facing, consultants live at their clients so the role is very being a smiley happy friendly expert 24/7. Bankers, esp at the assoc level, def have client interaction but not nearly as much as consultants. I also find bankers to be a more quant heavy than consultants on avg.
Really depends what you best fit into and will excel at.
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