I'm off to business school soon and I will have 2 desirable options upon leaving: (1) consulting at MBB (assuming I study enough) and (2) work at huge F500 Aerospace/automotive
I currently work for this F500 and my most prominent mentor is an exec director (level below VP). He has told me that the company will be putting together a very attractive offer to retain me in the future.
I worked in engineering, finance, and planning while at this company and I can move to almost any area I want if I push hard enough.
On the other hand, the school will allow me to enter MBB if I put in the effort, so assuming I do get an offer from MBB...
Advantages of F500: (1) Work in exciting industry; (2) I have connections here; (3) hours
Advantages of MBB: (1) work on high level strat that I probably won't be able to access for a while at F500; (2) I am not pigeon held into one industry; (3) pay
My question to you, WSO, is what would you do..MBB or F500 with connections?
help... should i sleep with kate upton or mila kunis????????
ie. cross that bridge when you come to it. ask again when you have an MBB offer.
Why? This is a legitimate discussion. I could prevent a lot of stress and save a lot of time if I so choose to stick with the F500 company by skipping the whole interview prep process. This is also the single largest question I have right now in my career as I head to b school. I know F500 vs MBB is a common topic, but I've never seen this twist before.
I don't know what your motivation is for derailing my thread, but try to act as you would in real life. If I was talking to friends or at an event, you would not respond in such a manner.
And to fully satisfy you.. Mila Kunis -- without a doubt.
This is more applicable to the kids asking about job offers after interviewing at GS/MS/JPM/wtfever.
As for the dilemma, you've got a couple of options. I should preface I'm just spitballing, I don't have applicable experience to call on. Obviously this really comes down to what's more important to you.
First of all, getting MBB requires a top MBA. And I mean top 10ish, probably top 5 for best chances, though I'm guessing you already know this. I think MBB would offer you a wealth of diverse experiences. However, if you like the firm you're at, it might be worth talking to your mentor about going to your MBA, then going to MBB for 2-3 years with the plan on coming back to your original firm in a strategy-type role. I can't imagine he'd react angrily to the idea, particularly if you approach it with the idea that you want to be at that company, but you think you need to have different experiences.
Additionally, and I believe you mentioned this before in another post, there's might be the option to come out of your MBA into a strat-related role at your current company. I just don't know how feasible that is. Either way, shoot for an MBB job. Try and get an internship after first year, if you don't, then the choice is pretty much made for you (you'll have a shot at FT recruiting, but chances are much slimmer without the internship). This also gives you the opportunity to see if MBB is something you want/are willing to do.
That's my $.02 on this, just need to reiterate that I don't have experience and I don't know how your mentor would respond to bringing this up with him. I can only imagine he will be helpful, though you'd have a better idea of that knowing him.
"then going to MBB for 2-3 years with the plan on coming back to your original firm in a strategy-type role. I can't imagine he'd react angrily to the idea, particularly if you approach it with the idea that you want to be at that company, but you think you need to have different experiences."
Thanks for this feedback. Honestly, if I could go into consulting and then back to the F500 company I currently work at.. that would be ideal. I should probably wait and see how interviews go before I talk to him about this.
First, F Ro Jo is not derailing your thread, you don't even have a real question since you don't have an offer with MBB. Second, are you funding school yourself or is your current company sponsoring it? If the former, why would you go to school full time if you have even a 50/50 chance of returning to a similar role in your company... You should consider part-time and save your monies. Lastly, if you are going to school full-time why would you half-ass the experience?
It seems like you are getting ahead of yourself.
I agree that he didn't derail the thread. I disagree that this isn't a question worth addressing.
Part time is what I plan to do if I ever go for an MBA while at an F500. That said, there's a very different dynamic between PT and FT. On the one hand, FT is a nice break from work and gives you the opportunity to meet a lot of different people from diverse backgrounds and really connect with them. This is how you build relationships and why PT is viewed less favorably by recruiters for consulting/WSO than FT. Though my goal would be the $$$, so I'm with you there. It just comes down to personal preference.
I disagree again, I'm not sure if you've had the opportunity to prep for these types of opportunities, but they are definitely time consuming. If he can make the decision as to what he wants to do now, it could potentially save him a lot of time during bschool that could be spent elsewhere. It's also a great addition to this board, it shows the students and new hires what types of choices they could potentially be making 3+ years down the road.
I'm paying for it. Post MBA positions are not the same as post undergrad. The decision for school is made. There is no part time program. How am i half assing school? If you're saying that skipping out on recruiting is half assing it does that mean you think I should try to go the Mbb route?
Am I getting ahead of myself? I'm planning for the future. Everybody knows plans almost never work out but people with my type of personality will never stop trying to control future outcomes.
And that's why I love this post. I always create a plan with multiple contingencies. That's just my style. Your situation is a bit different than most of those on this board. Would appreciate a Q&A at some point if you were willing to discuss your F500 career/background.
Do you have the sense for the expectations around your summer internship from your current F500? Could you intern in consulting and see whether you actually like it before making the switch?
How many current/former MBB folks have you actually talked to about the day-to-day, just curious.
I definitely am considering this. Again, I would have to bring up the fact that I am interested in other options to my mentor. A difficult but necessary conversation.
I have talked to several from my undergrad, my future grad, and I had some interviews when I was still in school, so during phone interviews I got to ask all the questions I wanted. It's interesting how split the MBA community is on MBB. Half say it's an awesome learning experience with great exit opps; half say it isn't what you expect, not worth it, and have gone into industry.
I didn't mean to come off as brash, but my apologies if I did. It seemed like there were a lot of assumptions made in your original post, but I can see otherwise. I still don't get the logic for funding FT by yourself if you have a good shot at returning to the same company post MBA (even though your MBA program doesn't offer PT, there are reputable ones that do, but that is a case by case basis).
To be blunt, I got into a top 5 school, and I'm not going to pass up that opportunity. Yes, I may go 60-80k in debt, and yes I may go back to the company I am at now. The difference is that if I do come back, I will be paid almost double and have a higher chance at reaching the level I want to get to.
Getting your MBA, even FT, is not just for those making a career/job switch.
Why do you want to go into strategy consulting in the first place, and what's your ultimate career goal? Lots of MBB consultants ultimately move into industry into strategy but it could be a more certain endpoint if you're already at the company, expressed interest and have approval.
Personally, I'd go MBB if the pay was significantly (30% before benefits) higher than F500 (QOL is important to me since I want time to develop passive business income) or I didn't see a future of aerospace/automotive because of industry decline/competition/etc.
I'm assuming the F500 position post-MBA would pay well (above school average) with significant upside, allow for gym/weekend time and be enjoyable.
My ultimate career goal is VP level at F500. This is why I'm so torn; I feel as though MBB will give me a window into what C level execs do on a regular basis, and I can learn from that; however, I don't want to hurt my chances at the current company I work at by leaving to go to MBB and losing the momentum I currently have.
I agree with Petergibbons in that you should try and intern at a mbb in the summer and see if you like it. However, if you like the industry that you're currently in, there's something to be said for your already established subject matter expertise should you go directly back to the f500. If you continue with the f500, I'd imagine you'd provide a lot more value than you would as a consultant at mbb and that will likely influence your perceived performance/rank among peers. Would you rather be a top producer and rising star at the f500 or run the risk of being a run-of-the-mill consultant at mbb? Why waste your time being (potentially) put on projects in random industries if you, ultimately, want to go back to the auto/aero industry? Something to consider.
I think it's kind of a win-win. At my F500 most of the VP level execs have spent a large amount of their career here. I think that's the nature of the way a lot of places are ATM. That said, the dynamic for that to be the case is changing a bit for our generation. I think in your case you will have a fairly equal chance either way no matter what you decide.
You have contacts and mentors at the firm. That's a big deal. People willing to go to bat for you in a F500 is about the biggest determination on whether or not you get that promotion. But it's also true that I would expect that these people will still go to bat for you if you spend 3 years at MBB and then come back. In fact, that might actually speed up the process because you would have people going to bat for you and an outside perspective that is atypical to the Directors that have spent their whole careers at the company.
IMO, it may not matter either way. And there is a risk and opportunity to both options. But I would probably take the MBB option simply because you might find out there are other things you like more, other opportunities you'd rather take, and other experiences that might add to your skillset.
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