PricewaterhouseCoopers vs IBM GBS Consulting

IBM GBS Consulting and PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory are two top career paths at my non-target and I want everybody to break it down.

What we know:

PwC:

PwC has a higher overall rank (#9) then IBM on Vault.com Top 50 Consulting firms.

PwC consulting was sold to IBM under ten years ago, so basically the entire IBM consulting team is made up of ex PwC. Which makes PwC even better on the culture side.

PwC in general has a more prestigious title in Accounting and Finance when generally speaking because of its Big4 rep.

IBM:

IBM looks like gold on a resume when applying for MBA school. MBAs not like Harvard or Penn but more like UChicago, CMU, other not top 5s.

IBM is full of the smartest people in general. They have a rule: gpa screening must be over 3.6 in almost ever circumstance in business. Lower for Technical majors. Hardly ever is the gpa rule bypassed for recruiting.

IBM is releasing their Optimization strategy software soon, which will be INCREDIBLE for CEOs to use on a Live basis.

Now the discussion: If I was an undergrad, and not an obnoxious trader, from a target or nontarget (both companies highly recruit both), which company should I start my career at? Which is better for Internships?

Lets enrich this discussion guys.

 

I plan on completely changing my career path, that is why it is necessary to consider other certifications, especially CPA and MBA in Big consulting (if I choose to go with those guys) but for now, PwC and IBM seem to really attract my attention. Any more advice you could provide? It is very apprecaited.

.
 

FYI got an offer from IBM GBS with a 3.2... IBM really crappy consulting firm, fairly bright people but when I quit I know at least 5 others that were jealous of me and wanted to follow me out...

 

I didn't get that vibe at all to be honest. One of the partners i met was a pure tool, but the team seemed pretty smart.

Maybe your a pretty good consulting associate, but not academically savvy since you got in with a 3.2, but you still got in.

Can you elaborate on why exactly it is a "crappy consulting firm" please? Project locations? quality of people? non-targets vs targets performance? Which division were you in?

The focus I was looking at is market performance arbitrage, do you know anything about that?

Constructive comments please.

.
 

You didn't elaborate on your career goals, but the CPA is pretty useless if you don't become an actual accountant (I'm only familiar with PwC transaction services, now advisory, so maybe it's useful there). The same goes for the CFA - I've never encountered a consultant at any level with the CFA. But again, maybe at PwC it's different.

But they're both fine opportunities and I'm sure you'll do well with either, but I think the degree to which you're impressed with IBM might be a little bit too high. They're a good firm, but outside of IT (and I realize that they do more than IT) they're just okay. Alsom, be wary of the Vault guides; they always insist on putting impressive boutiques like Monitor much further down the list than they should, and -- unlike in BigLaw -- they're by no means the definitive ranking.

One of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over.
 

op, you need to calm down.

to answer your question:

i would take pwc over ibm..unless you can get into ibm's strategy group, which i doubt you can. (you need an mba for that). if you go to ibm, your going to be do a lot of IT work, but if thats something you want to do..by all means go IBM then. at pwc, youll have more strategy work, but not to the extent of pure strategy like at MBB,etc. also, do not look at vault rankings...they are stupid. there are many firms below pwc on the rank list that i would easily go for over pwc. but from the sound of things you dont even have interviews there, so before you ask see what its like at each firm...then if you cant decide between the two, ask us.

my 2cents

 

Also, while in general ranking schools is pointless, UChicago is most definitely a top program. It might not be Harvard, but it's comparable to Columbia, etc. and is a M7 school.

One of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over.
 

Thanks guys, this was good.

So i have some additional questions.

1) what are the chances of getting into big consulting if working for pwc for say 5 years?

2) would i be able to climb ranks aggressively with good performance without any certifications and no MBA?

.
 

Most Big 4 advisory groups I am familiar with require you to have progress towards (though not necessarily completed) an advanced degree or certification such as CFA or CPA to become manager (ie about 4-5 years). and it's tough to get promoted off of the track.

In my group, everyone with two synapses to rub together became a senior associate in two years and people became managers in another two or three depending on ability and business need.

There have been many great comebacks throughout history. Jesus was dead but then came back as an all-powerful God-Zombie.
 

Which groups at PwC? Operations consulting is a good group, lots of lean management / six sigma work, or process design (ex. how to deliver billion dollar capital projects), and sometimes building performance managemen systems.

IBM is a great name though, strong leadership development, always recognized (and everyone says IBM is in decline, since the dawn of time).

I'm at PwC, I like it. Certainly some projects are more fun than others, but I think either would be a good name on your resume.

 

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