What summer internship best set up for a career path to MBBs?

After going through internship recruitment this year, I wasn't able to make it to MBBs. However, I was able to get three different offers on the table hoping someone can give me some advice.

Option 1: Technology Consulting Internship at Big4s
Option 2: Corporate Strategy Internship (non-MBA) at Top Tech Corporations (ex. Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook...etc)
Option 3: Same as Option 2 but a specific focus on Supply Chain

My end goal for next year is to land a job in MBBs. Which option would set up myself for a potential full-time offer from MBBs?

 
Most Helpful

Hey there! Sorry to hear that internship recruiting left you our this time around, but it looks like you've got a lot going on for you anyway, and that's fantastic.

TLDR: Any of them will work fine, so long as you kill it in the internship. I would choose option 2. Reach out to consultants now, and practice through until next year, and you have a great chance.

As for your question, there's a few way to answer it, but my advice is that you should go to one of two places: either where you can make an incredible impact in some way, or where you can have a large name on your resume. McKinsey in particular loves the prestige from a big name, but Bain and BCG love to see impact.

So, any of them would work, so long as you did incredibly well in the internship and made sure that you come away with 2 or 3 really awesome resume bullet points. These points should really show fantastic results, big changes you were a part of, and projects that you were a part of that can be quantified. If you come away as a glorified coffee boy, or just squander your time, it'll definitely show.

All that being said, Option 2 is the most attractive to me. The reason behind this is that you're going to do strategy work (which is valuable in MBB), but you won't get the "tech consulting" mentality, which can sort of cloud yourself when you do case interviews for MBB. But honestly, that's just personal preference, any path will get you there.

Which brings up the final point: full time recruiting just started. You need to enforce the connections that you do have, and start making more connections in each of the companies. Your odds of getting at least one full time offer are around 27% if you just get the first round interview with each of the firms, and that jumps up to 66% or so if you get past the first rounds for each. Getting that offer is SO much easier when you've got advocates and friends in the offices you're looking at joining, and if you do it right, you can have 5 consultants at each firm telling the recruiters that they really, really should interview you. Your internship is great and all, but nothing beats those personal connections.

Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions!

-John

Remember, always be kind-hearted.
 

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