Lateral to MBB

Hey all, I'm currently a senior in college and will be working next year at a top economic consulting firm (NERA, Brattle, etc.) Would I be able to work there for a year or two, then try to move to an MBB firm?

Do MBB firms even take folks like me who have 1-2 years of work experience but haven't gone to business school yet?

 

From what I hear, it is very difficult. Economic consulting and management consulting are different, definitely not mutually exclusive, but still difficult to move. If you were to lateral after 1-2 years, you would have to start as a first year for sure. But, at that point, that might as well hire a college undergrad.

However, this is not an end all be all. You can definitely utilize networks: talk to consultants, explain your situation, and land an interview. Assuming you crush it, that's that.

My advice would be to see how you like economic consulting and the people of the firm. At the end of the day, it's all about the people and that should weight much heavier than anything else. If you're still set on MBB, there's always the post MBA route!

Hope that helps and good luck!

Array
 

Are you an analyst (junior/associate consultant) or an associate/full consultant? I've never heard of this done at the junior level before, and would think it entails extra risk (e.g. more pressure to perform in next office).

If you're a junior consultant, I'd consider sticking it out and maybe lateraling when (if) you get to the next level. Employers/ recruiters expect people to be able to stick out the 2 year program.

However, if you're a associate/full consultant/post-MBA then it's just career - management and I'd go for it.

 

Haven't heard of this happening before at the associate / consultant level, but I would think that if you have some solid, tangible reasons why this MBB would be a better fit than the MBB you're currently at, I would think you would at least have a shot.

One concern the new MBB would likely have is that you aren't performing well where you are and that is why you are switching (or that you are a difficult person to work with and wouldn't fit in well). If by chance you have a manager you are close with and trust that would be willing to serve as a reference for you, that would be a huge help--however, puts them in a really awkward position obviously since it's a competitor

 

Thanks for the replies, I'm at the analyst level. If I stay another 9 months I could probably get promoted but frankly my office has a mix of cases I'm not at all interested in. I figure why waste any more of my time if I have an option to change this.

Oldhead, you raised an interesting point about performance. I wonder if they would suspect this given the time of the transition (around the 1 year mark) ? I'm not a top performer partly because I have no interest in the subject matter of the cases I am staffed on, but I'm not the worst either.

 

I highly suggest you A. Tough it out B. change your way of thinking and put a smile on every day about the work you are doing. Work be a top performer, and always remember you have one of the most high profile jobs possible as an undergrad. Don't quit before you hit pay dirt. I feel this is why the last generation talks about how lazy and entitled us millennials are. You feel like you deserve a top tier awesome project, but you aren't willing to deal with the shitty ones first.

 

Based on what I heard from BCG, you can contact the partners in different offices for projects. In their words "you just have to ask for it". I don't know in reality how hard it would be though. The other option is to switch to a different office so that you can find the projects you are interested in.

fight for MBB
 
Susan-G:

Based on what I heard from BCG, you can contact the partners in different offices for projects. In their words "you just have to ask for it". I don't know in reality how hard it would be though. The other option is to switch to a different office so that you can find the projects you are interested in.

At any firm, if you're not exceeding expectations, it's very difficult to transfer or find work outside of your office/region. Why would a partner or office take on someone with less than a sterling reputation?

 

Shouldn't you have a staffing manager who should be helping you find projects that interest you? At the very least you should have built some good relationships with senior staff/partners who can help connect you with the type of work that might interest you more. You're a junior analyst, so it's not like they should have locked you into anything yet. This may have more to do with you than it does with your firm. What exactly do you want to do and what are you doing?

 

It's not impossible, but you might need to prove that you are at least tracking in terms of performance and/ or take less/ no tenure. As someone else said, if you are looking to stay in consulting for a while then this shouldn't matter. If you want to exit soon, try to do well enough to stay for a bit more and exit.

Now, on the matter of differences among MBB, they can be quite significant. Many argue otherwise, but team structure and roles of members can vary quite a bit. This has a large effect on your day to day. Also, the overall culture and feel of the companies can vary quite a bit as well if you control for region.

 
Best Response
selery:
I have been working at a major investment consultancy in Boston for the last month. I found the work didn't particularly suit my skills and was hoping to get into strategy consulting (preferable MBB...). I graduated from a top 5 ugrad , have a 730+ GMAT, 3.6 GPA in CS & Economics and have done a BB IB internship junior year.

How can I change industries?

You've been there 1 month? Barring that this is the worst job on the planet, you need to stick it out for AT LEAST a year. It would be almost impossible to get a decent job after 1 month in your current job. People won't want to take the risk in hiring you because it will look like you have unrealistic expectations/can not be satisfied if you quit that soon.

 
SirPoopsaLot:
selery:
I have been working at a major investment consultancy in Boston for the last month. I found the work didn't particularly suit my skills and was hoping to get into strategy consulting (preferable MBB...). I graduated from a top 5 ugrad , have a 730+ GMAT, 3.6 GPA in CS & Economics and have done a BB IB internship junior year.

How can I change industries?

You've been there 1 month? Barring that this is the worst job on the planet, you need to stick it out for AT LEAST a year. It would be almost impossible to get a decent job after 1 month in your current job. People won't want to take the risk in hiring you because it will look like you have unrealistic expectations/can not be satisfied if you quit that soon.

So I guess I have to stick it out? I am just frustrated since they misrepresented what I would be doing during interviews and angry at my own lack of due diligence. IC is definitely not the worst job in the world, its just not a good fit for me.

 

Let me know when you leave, I'll gladly take the position, if it is Mercer

"Do whatever it takes to keep the legend of Wall Street as it was truly intended live on. When you think back on investment banking of the early 21st century, remember the heat—remember the passion. But mostly, remember the titans. " - LSO
 
2x2Matrix:
You have to stick it out for around a year. MBB does make lateral hires for the A/AC/BA position, but it's always someone with at least a year of work experience.

Would someone with 1-2 years experience come in at entry level and salary or would they get a Senior AC/BA position and a second year salary?

http://ayainsight.co/ Curating the best advice and making it actionable.
 

Be very careful "sticking it out." The only reason to do so is if you can't get MBB now. If you have the opportunity to get it now, do it - you will never look back and say "man, i really should have spent more than a month in that shitty job that paid less." The fact that you've only been there a month is a good thing actually, as you could legitimately never include this job on your resume (both now while interviewing and later in your career) as nobody would question you for having a gap. Take MBB as quickly as possible, that's my advice.

 

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