second round to offers MBB

In my case (6 years ago) 12 where invited first round; 4 made it to second round 4 to the finals and 3 got an offer all 3 accepted 1 got fired after 6 months I left after 4 years (and am in IB now as a 3rd year associate) and one got partner recently. that's my MBB story...

Partner in 6 years??? Is that common/normal?

Also, having worked in both banking and consulting, can you shed some light on the merits/detriments of each opposed to one another? And why'd you leave? And are you happy with your decision (do you think you should have stayed considering someone in your class made partner recently and you're an associate still, due to Ibankings rigid promotion structure based on years?)

Lol, WOW! So full of shit, Spiderman...

The percentage can vary pretty dramatically, but typically something like 20-50% of second-round candidates receive an offer.

6 years to partner at Mckinsey is definitely possible.

1.5 years associate to EM 2.5 years to AP 2 years to Partner.

Not that uncommon.

I entered as BA and the now partner guy as Seinior Asscociae (exp. hire). To the guy saying I am full of shit: DO you really think someone would come to a forum to make things up to get visibiliy with other posters? You seem to be obsesssed with MBB / IB BB that you get so upset. I tell you it´s not that great; it´s simply a job that pays well but you still remain upper middle class.

Well people do not usually refer to senior associates as being part of their interview class. Sounds a bit more plausible but still fishy as hell. And you wouldn't be the first person to come to an anonymous internet board and try and pass yourself off as something you're not. And finally, as someone who IS a management consultant, trust me I know better than you about how not-glamorous it is.

i tell you that there's nothing glamorous about this job, that's why I left. Oftentimes, clients chew on you and seriously doubt consultants' ability to add value. This is true - ask yourselves: how many times do you come out with something that clients haven't thought of and which actually make sense?? 99% of the time, you are just framing clients' ideas and putting them into nice power point slides. That's all. There's nothing intellectually challenging about the job. That's why I left.

Oh, and the pay is mediocre compared to banking (or PE for that matter).

Well there is value-add from time to time but there is definitely a lot of "well duh, thanks for nothing" as well. The value-add sometimes comes from the credibility of being consultants so even if the corp strat dept came to the same conclusion as us, we're a value-add because the board is more likely to listen because we backed the client's guys up.

Intellectual challenge is a loose term that's thrown around; what entry-level job out of college IS intellectually challenging? I think the exposure you get from consulting is unparalleled and as far as that goes, its definitely intellectually challenging.

Boozer is right.

The majority of management consulting clients are looking for third-party validation of their own conclusions, not for a brand new set of ideas.

..just validate, tweaking the data to support client's conclusions, framing the analysis and putting a framework around client's conclusions, and add in snazzy graphics. that's really crap work. is that worth all the travel and the hours? I can't imagine myself making a career out of that. the brand name factor of being an ex consultant is good though (which is why I did that for 3 years).

ya know, i had a pretty positive experience, but this board is making me reconsider. danny, looking back, would you have done IBD at a top BB over MBB? would you recommend it for someone aiming for PE?

i can't seem to make up my mind on this.

definitely do investment banking at a BB. The placement rates are much higher. MBB's placements into the top PE shops are not high at all (except for a few consulting focused shops such as bain capital or HIG). Many shops hire analysts for their financial/modeling skills. coming out from MBB, while I had the modeling skills, I did not have the accounting/financial skills.

I do not need to pretend to be a former consultant. I am a former consultant plain and simple. I am willing to be tested on any aspect of consulting. I will even go as far as to say that I was from a firm that you could only dream of getting into. sorry to burst your bubble. Hurts, doesn't it?

I said that consulting is good for modeling, but I did not say that it's good for financial modeling, or that sort of modeling that PE shops do. I said it as much when I said that consulting doesn't give you the accounting/finance skills, which is what you need for financial modeling. You can't seem to read: If I am your supervisor, I will rip apart your slides, and give you a case-end review that makes your squirm.

What models have I built in my three years in MBB? a cost reduction model, a product line profitability model, a model to estimate the market size and growth of a particular sector, a P & L forecast quantifying the impact of certain turnaround initiatives, a relatively simple NPV analysis, etc. None of this involves any advanced knowledge of finance and accounting. which is why I recommended BB over MBB for private equity.

In my opinion, MBB is only good for the brand name. You learn nothing there. Consultants are worse than monkeys.

what if the division is Leveraged Finance at that BB?

either M & A or lev finance would position you better for PE than MBB. M/B/B is useless. way over-rated. any monkey can do the sort of work they do - the work should have been outsourced to India. so glad I left.

Lol... I'm not going to continue this argument.

Listen to Danny_ish at your own peril. There are enough real consultants on this board who can answer your questions.

Anyone of my peers at MBB who wanted to do PE got into PE. On the Alumni net which can also be accessed by active consultants you find plenty of PE jobs at top firms. if you prepare and really want it you will 100% get it. And that's the same for IB M&A or LevFin. And to make that clear, PE is not about modeling only...at all. Especially the higher up you go the less important it gets. As an Investment Professional (that's what you are if you leave e.g., as McK EM) you will not do a single model. That's only decision support done by BAs or alike.

I too was concerned about PE placement before starting, but most of my fears have been allayed. Lots of people go onto PE from MBB. Just be proactive and seek out opportunities.

That said, I'd venture to guess that Leveraged Finance at GS or MS place better, but at a lower BB, I would say the chances are equal.

I'm guessing that low performers at both MBB and at BB IBs aren't going to land nice jobs in PE. Perhaps this is where Danny's frustration comes from.

i would have easily made it based on my ranking among my peers. Why else would they offer me b-school sponsorship? It's just that I didn't think PE was a big deal then and did not proactively seek out opportunities. I have a better impression of PE now, and I am referring only to the top five funds. I still don't think that MM funds are going to get anywhere. No offense to those working in MM funds obviously. it's just my personal opinion, that's all.