Why I think you should take a corporate strategy gig over consulting (including MBB) at the entry-level

I got a lot of help reading WSO when I was an undergrad and wanted to contribute somehow. Wanted to drop my 2 cents, as I feel like MBB is overly praised on this forum, while corporate strategy gets very little love. Please note that this primarily applies to those who want to jump to industry and make exec (which what most consultants end up doing anyway), not those who want to go into HF/PE. If you're sure you want to do HF/PE from the start, however, you are MUCH better starting out in banking than consulting.

Background: Graduated from a mid-level ivy, had offers at Mck and BCG (did not get an offer at Bain so can't speak too much about Bain) out of undergrad but chose a corporate strategy gig at a very prominent FS company instead. I also had 2 siblings that worked at Mck and BCG (both have left now) when I was making my decision so I had access to a lot of unbiased, honest opinions from people that were really looking out for my long-term career. Spend 4 years at my corp. strat role and am now at HBS/GSB.

There were 3 primary reasons I ended up picking the corp. strat role, and I think they still hold true today.

1) Nature of work/senior exposure: The truth of the matter is that the era of pure strategy consulting is gone, even at MBB. Clients are getting smarter and often have their own internal consulting group filled with ex-MBB consultants that know their respective industries much better. While I spent 90% of my years formulating growth + market entry strategies (with some cost-cutting projects sprinkled in), it was painful to watch my sisters get staffed on mind-numbing 6-8 month implementation projects. Especially when business is slow, they had almost no control over staffing and were forced to do them for fear of not getting promoted. Likewise, while my sisters (as associates/BAs) were mainly communicating with middle management at their client sites, I was able to give pitches to SVPs and even gave one to the CEO right before I headed to b-school. I think learning how to communicate correctly with senior management is TREMENDOUSLY important for your long-term career, if you ever hope to make exec level at a F500.

2) Opportunity to stand-out: It's really, really hard to stand-out when all your peers are ultra-smart/competitive people. When you're averaging 65 hours a week it takes a LOT of self-control and determination to put in those extra hours to make yourself a "superstar". Call it low confidence, but I knew that I wasn't inherently gifted enough to be the star associate without putting in more work than everyone else. In my corporate strategy gig, everyone worked 40-45 hours (company standard), while I averaged 50-55. Those extra 10-15 hours really made a difference in the quality of work, helped me stand-out, and get promoted quicker.

3) Extra time to study for GMATs: I also knew that I was not a naturally gifted test-taker. Despite doing well on the SATs, I studied a shit-ton for them and knew I would have to do the same for the GMATs. From talking to my sisters and her colleagues, there's no way you're getting into HBS/GSB if you don't crush your GMATs, even if you're coming from an MBB firm. The lack of travel (which really would have taken a toll on my body) allowed me to prepare a lot and ultimately crush the GMAT. Not too sure if I would've gotten into HBS/GSB from Mck or BCG.

Obviously, this is just my own opinion, and I know MBB still offers some great advantages, mainly the broader industry/project exposure. I still, however, thought I'd share my perspective. Feel free to ask any questions/disagree.

 

Great insight and reflections.

I do agree with you that less and less pure strategy projects will be handled by consultants in favor of internal company consultants or strategy managers. The pro of being a consultant though in my opinion is a) Exposure to many different industries and company issues b) Access to top management usually much earlier than your experience or age merits and the most important in my humble opinion c) Opportunity to learn the consultancy toolbox and structured problem solving.

For me working as a consultant is in a way a continuation of your education where you keep on learning and develop with each new project (this is unfortunately not always true as your sisters' experiences showed). I do however believe that being a consultant is still the best way to learn and develop skills which are valued wherever you want to end up later in your career.

 

These are mostly valid points, but I think you've overlooked the option value that makes consulting so valuable. I didn't know whether I wanted to do corporate, HF/PE, go to b-school or not, etc. when I was a senior in college, and I still don't have good answers to some of those questions 4 years later.

My experience related to staffing control was different than your sisters' ,and yes, I was not reading out to any Fortune 500 CEOs. However, I'd argue that reading out to your team every week is pretty valuable, since the partner would be an SVP if they were in corporate, not to mention reading out to the client SVP every few weeks.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of Starwood Points
 
Best Response
easyp1984:

Especially when business is slow, they had almost no control over staffing and were forced to do them for fear of not getting promoted.

Some good points here, but I don't agree with this point at all. I know for at least the B's (I work at one, close friend works at the other), you do have a lot of control over your staffing. My friends and I have never gotten a project that we didn't put as at least a 4 or 5 (out of 5) in terms of desirability. And your being on the beach is not held against you if it's due to slow business, at least not at my office or my friend's. You do have less time to develop all the skills sets that are required for promotion, but your staffing manager and you can work around that issue. In fact, that's why I wanted to join MBB over other firms. I know that utilization is a big component for my friends at Big 4 consulting arms, even when beach time might is a result of slow business.

easyp1984:
From talking to my sisters and her colleagues, there's no way you're getting into HBS/GSB if you don't crush your GMATs, even if you're coming from an MBB firm. The lack of travel (which really would have taken a toll on my body) allowed me to prepare a lot and ultimately crush the GMAT. Not too sure if I would've gotten into HBS/GSB from Mck or BCG.

Also don't think this is true. The majority of people who go to business school form my firm is headed to HSB/GSB (with some Wharton thrown in there). And not all of them were superstars by any means. I know plenty of people at my firm who got accepted to those schools with mediocre GMATs (700-720). Given the high % of students in HSB/GSB's class coming from consulting as well as the high % of people who go from MBB to HS/W year after year, I still think MBB is the best option if your main consideration is HS/W (which it shouldn't, but that's a different topic).

 

@Montymont

I absolutely agree with you on your first point about industry/project exposure; it was probably my biggest tradeoff when making my decision. I still think it'd be really cool to conduct a due diligence for a wholesale grocer or assist with a new product launch for a perfume company (both of which were projects that my sisters had). I've already addressed the point about senior exposure, but I do think I was able to gain the full "consulting" skillset from my corp strat experience. Depends on how you define it, but I definitely acquired the qualitative (surveys, conducting interviews) + quantitative (financial modeling) skillsets, the core excel/powerpoint skills, and learned how to communicate/present in a succinct and powerful manner.

@Petergibbons

There may be some sample size bias here (especially since some of my friends came from wealthy families who had parents willing to pay for further education), but from my 10 or so friends that went to MBB, almost all of them knew they were going to go to business school. A few wanted to keep the HF/PE door open, which obviously MBB does a lot better than corp strat, but I found that most consultants jump to industry when they realize they don't want to/can't make partner. I just think there's an argument to be made to not just blindly taking an MBB offer, which I believe this forum suggests at times.

@mg0815

Strategy gigs I was looking at out of undergrad (ones that did OCR): AMEX, Capital One, Mastercard, Discover, and AA. Not too sure if the AA strategy position still exists with the merger at all. I know Disney's is highly praised on this forum, but I don't remember seeing them on OCR. Two of my good friends here at HBS/GSB came from Fidelity's strategy group and have said great things about their experience, but that seems to be more like an internal consulting team (over 60+ people) that does both strategy + operations, instead of pure strategy.

@pnb2002

I obviously don't have the experiences here to disagree with you here since I never personally worked at your firm, but I can definitely tell you that my sister at BCG was forced to do an 8-month implementation b/c 1) there were no other projects available at the time 2) the partner really, really wanted her. In fact, she left right the firm right after that project.

To speak to your 2nd point about b-school, I really don't think it's the norm to get into HBS/GSB with a 700-720 GMAT, even from MBB. I do think, however, that it's possible to get into W with those scores, if you're lucky. I know many of my sister's friends from both BCG and Mck who got 700-720 on their GMATs and did not get into H/S. Most of them went to Sloan (which is a fantastic b-school) and few Wharton.

 

@easyp1984

One point in your favor: My friend chose a corp strat role at a major FS company you listed over MBB and has been promoted 3 times in 3.5 years, to a senior manager role, which is the high side of where he'd come in if he decided to leave MBB after that amount of time. And I'm guessing net/net, he worked less to get there than he would have if he went to MBB. He has little interest in B-school because he went to one of the top undergrad b-schools and sees little value in the MBA.

Not to say this is the norm, but if you could achieve certainty things would work out like they did for my friend, and you had a similar background/worldview, I'd say it's a strong choice.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of Starwood Points
 

Couple things.

1) This post really illustrates something that a lot of the users here that have been working for awhile try to impress on people. You have to understand your personal situation. There is no right or universal answer to any of the 'should I take X or Y role' conversations.

2) I agree with the overarching tone of your post but there is a reason that a lot of the senior guys in strat roles are former consultants. The value of consulting does not solely lie in what you learn but also the credibility you garner from working there in the first place. Right or wrong, this has an impact.

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 

Currently interning in a corp. strat. role within an entertainment company (a large subsidiary of a major media company.)

It doesn't seem like there are as many jobs available in this capacity for people coming out of undergrad, as there might be with consulting firms. Most hire MBAs, and the groups are fairly small.

Also, considering the interviews would focus on your knowledge of the specific industries, it would probably be less of a headache to shoot for consulting firms and try to maneuver towards engagements related to industries of interest once you're in.

At the end of the day, everyone in my group (and the corp. dev. group - which is much bigger) is a MBA intern or MBA FT.

 
BlueShirt:

Easyp, what do you plan on doing after HBS/GSB?

This is something I'm struggling with at the moment. I will do one of 3 things: 1) Go back to my company as a junior director 2) Join a start-up started by 2 ex-BCG Principals that 2 of my buddies from college (both from BCG) are already at 3) Move back to my own country (I'm not from the U.S.) where my parents live and take a senior manager job at a well-respected corporate strategy group. My mother is pretty sick, and I'd like to spend as much time with her as possible before her moment comes.

Option 3 is probably going to be the move

 

Largely agree with 1) and 2). 3) is obviously a personal issue.

Also agree that the option value might be worth it. MBB allows you to keep open essentially every door that was open when you graduated college (and more/less every door that was open when you entered).

As for Bschool, discounting the GMAT point (I feel as if most MBB types can hit 700 with effectively no study), I can't really think of any strategy program that carries the same cache for helping you get in.

Glad to see someone emphasizing/demonstrating thoughtful and independent thinking rather than blindly jumping on the banking/consulting treadmill however.

 
Mr.Saxman:

If your ultimate goal is bschool at H/W/S, would it be better to go for ibanking or corp.dev/strat?

To be honest, I don't think I'm qualified to give you an answer....from my friends that have gone into banking. I've often heard that you can't go to H/W/S after your 2 years and that you have to do something more "meaningful". I do think corp strat/corp dev would help you stand-out, as there are so few of those available straight from undergrad and would help you get grouped in the "industry" group vs. "banking/consulting" group. But I can't imagine coming from MS/GS would disadvantage you either. Sorry I can't be more helpful, but I just don't know the answer.

 

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

What's the perception of MBB from those on the corporate side? I was told by my friends in business roles in big pharma that they primarily use MBB to support an agenda they want to push, so MBB is their stamp of approval to proceed. The reasoning was that those in MBB don't have deep industry knowledge to really come up with the best solutions. However, it seems contradictory because those from MBB can move to Director positions in F500, so obviously MBB is well respected.

 
ST Monkey:

Great post and definitely very refreshing.

Will you care to elaborate further on how one should communicate with senior management, how is it different along with what's the right approach to get them to listen.

In my opinion, I think the best way to communicate with senior management is to find out their individual personal styles...some SVPs want you to be direct and to the point, whereas some of them want to hear how awesome they are and want their vanity stroked. One of the SVPs that I had a great relationship (also wrote my rec) told me I was his favorite analyst when I first joined b/c I was a "straight-shooter", while this wasn't the case for others. But either way, you need to be confident and know your shit. More importantly, you need to know that you are adding value to the SVP and that you are there to help him with his/her problem, not just be commanded around. I will say, however, that there is a fine line between this type of confidence and arrogance so tread it carefully.

 

I'm curious to find out what you believe is the norm for GMAT (or even share your score?) and getting into H/S? This is something I want to do and wondering if I should be retaking my GMATs

The error of confirmation: we confirm our knowledge and scorn our ignorance.
 
Yekrut:

I'm curious to find out what you believe is the norm for GMAT (or even share your score?) and getting into H/S? This is something I want to do and wondering if I should be retaking my GMATs

I think petergibbons is spot on. I had a 770; I would shoot for at least a 750 to be competitive

 

Thanks for the thread, as someone who's interested in FS corporate strategy and b-school I have a couple questions for you:

1) At a FS firm that focuses on IB and AM, could and would an internal corporate strategy function get muddied with back office roles? Ex: corporate strategy at growing boutique like LAZ/EVR/GH get mistaken for operations by adcoms?

2) What was your "story" when you applied to b-school? How did you spin that corporate strategy background and how that relates to "why B-school" and your future after school.

 
jjwork100:

Thanks for the thread, as someone who's interested in FS corporate strategy and b-school I have a couple questions for you:

1) At a FS firm that focuses on IB and AM, could and would an internal corporate strategy function get muddied with roles? Ex: corporate strategy at growing boutique like LAZ/EVR/GH get mistaken for operations by adcoms?

2) What was your "story" when you applied to b-school? How did you spin that corporate strategy background and how that relates to "why B-school" and your future after school.

1) From speaking to my friends that came from Fidelity's internal strategy group, it seems to be that they were doing interesting strategy work (new product launch, why is Fidelity's market share so low in a particular segment, etc.) So not at all back office stuff. Can't speak too much doing corporate strategy an IB...not too sure what that would entail.

2) I don't think my "story" was any different than an MBB associate/BA. I think what helped me stand-out was three things: - Being a high performer that got promoted quicker than the standard consulting route - Got a recommendation from a "client" (not someone in the strategy group, but an SVP that I did a project for), which I don't think is very common - Being able to highlight that I'm someone who is very self-aware (picked corp strat over MBB b/c I thought it would help me better develop XYZ skills) and how HBS/GSB would help me further hone these skills

 
longn:

What was the interview process like? Case interviews or more behavioral? I have an interview for a senior strategy associate role at a F500 (pre-MBA but post consulting) and am wondering if I should brush up on my . Any other insight would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I had standard consulting case-interviews, no different from MBB. 2 cases first round, 3 cases final round. 3 of the cases had an FS-focus and 2 were completely random. If it's a strategy position, I'd be really surprised if they didn't use cases. I would suggest familiarizing yourself with the industry a little bit (competitive landscape, major revenue/cost buckets, which market segments are growing/declining), but I imagine they are really looking to see how you structure the problem, ask specific questions, and do public math much more than your specific industry expertise though.

 
Winning Since 1776:

What were some of the things you disliked during your time in corp strat?

Great question. Although I greatly enjoyed my experience and would probably make the same choice again, there were 2 aspects that I did not enjoy as much.

1) Narrower industry/company exposure: This is a double edged sword. I think there is a lot of value you can add through your industry and company-specific knowledge, but I've ultimately only worked in the FS industry and had one company as a client. While I don't think the industry-exposure is huge (my sisters were working the same 2 industries for the most part anyway), I think it would've been really interesting to explore different companies (politics, organization, culture).

2) Due to the corporate environment and no need for "billable hours", things move at a much slower pace, for better or worse. The average project for my company was probably around 4 months, whereas at MBB it would be 2-3. I think this is great your 1st (or even 2nd) year when you're still learning the industry/company, but by my last year, I wished things sometimes moved a bit faster.

 
easyp1984:
Winning Since 1776:

What were some of the things you disliked during your time in corp strat?

Great question. Although I greatly enjoyed my experience and would probably make the same choice again, there were 2 aspects that I did not enjoy as much.

1) Narrower industry/company exposure: This is a double edged sword. I think there is a lot of value you can add through your industry and company-specific knowledge, but I've ultimately only worked in the FS industry and had one company as a client. While I don't think the industry-exposure is huge (my sisters were working the same 2 industries for the most part anyway), I think it would've been really interesting to explore different companies (politics, organization, culture).

2) Due to the corporate environment and no need for "billable hours", things move at a much slower pace, for better or worse. The average project for my company was probably around 4 months, whereas at MBB it would be 2-3. I think this is great your 1st (or even 2nd) year when you're still learning the industry/company, but by my last year, I wished things sometimes moved a bit faster.

Number 2 is a great point. To me, it would definitely be beneficial to take more time to get a grasp of the industry/company without the billable hours game. Thank you for answering and sharing your thoughts!

I'm too drunk to taste this chicken -Late great Col. Sanders
 
electriclighto:

Those are all valid points. Just curious, what did your sisters pursue after their MBB stint? Does it really give the optionality?

Both my sisters pursued higher education; one went to medical school and is still finishing her residency, and one is getting her Phd in Psychology. So yes I think it does a fantastic job of giving you optionality.

 

I was wondering whether you could provide some insight in to corp strat functions in Europe. I am currently doing a MSc Finance and am interested in going into corp strat when I'm done. Are there opportunities straight into corp strat or would a majority of firms rotate you through a traineeship? Any could ones you would recommend? Thanks.

 
Walkerr:

I was wondering whether you could provide some insight in to corp strat functions in Europe. I am currently doing a MSc Finance and am interested in going into corp strat when I'm done. Are there opportunities straight into corp strat or would a majority of firms rotate you through a traineeship? Any could ones you would recommend? Thanks.

I know nothing about corporate strategy functions in Europe....sorry I can't be more helpful. Would be happy to answer any questions you have about the U.S.

 

@ FML

MBB is obviously very well-respected on the pharma side. From my understanding, some of MBB's most profitable clients are pharma companies so if you do well, I imagine that you have no problem jumping to the client side (which your MBB would also like as it probably further solidifies that client relationship). In terms of cases in the pharma industry, I will say that almost all the implementation/boring ops projects my sisters had were pharma clients, mainly b/c these companies have stupid amounts of money and can pay MBB fees from 6-8 months.

 

I agree with most things in the post, less about the statistical analysis (not good use of mean data, correlation/causation inferences) of GMAT/MBB/HSW stuff that followed later (possibly true for Stanford, they have a reputation for being GMAT whores, while HBS and Wharton don't - other M7 GMAT whores are CBS and Sloan, while Kellogg and Booth are more like HBS/Wharton on that variable).

The OP's points remain true at the MBA level.

If you know what you want to do, you shouldn't feel the need to add an extra stamp of approval on your resume via MBB and get more 'optionality'. If you're talented but confused, ambitious but risk-averse, then MBB is always an excellent option. That said, always interesting to note the OP's point that now more of the sexy strategy work has gone in-house and it's the highly-paid external consultants who have to dig deep into ops work and the like.

The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.
 

Do you have any company specific suggestions? I have recently been doing a lot of reflection on what career path I want to take, and corporate strategy and/or consulting are at the top of my list.

  • I'm an undergrad.
 

Starting at a MBB gives you a considerable lifetime edge, mainly due to the skills you acquire (e.g., being mature earlier, communicating effectively, understanding your place within the organization, etc..).

I am an ex-MBB and I have worked with clients in strategy departments which do not possess these skills.

 

@easyp1984

What are your thoughts specifically regarding the ability to make it to the C-Suite? In your post you mention that going straight to corp strategy would be better for those who want to be an executive. Can you elaborate a little more on your thoughts there? Is there any preference given to those with MBB name brand in terms of promotions? Or, when an MBB associate comes over with 2-3 years of consulting experience and a top-tier MBA, wouldn't that person be ahead of the person who went straight into corp dev, and on a quicker path to the C-Suite?

 

@bmcrhino

First and foremost, I think making C-level exec requires more luck than anything. Anyone thats worked at a F500/ seen the inside of one probably knows this.

I think MBB's primary value (besides the skills you pick up) is helping you get the corporate strategy job itself; more companies (probably b/c a lot of them are MBB clients) are willing to consider you for a manager/director role. When you jump from consulting to industry, however, your MBB background does nothing for you in terms of promotions. It's all about performance, and more importantly, whose willing to go to bat for you at that point.

So to sum up your point about the MBB consultant who may be promoted faster, I don't think that's the case. This is one data point, but I'll be going in as a junior director (if I decide to go back) after HBS/GSB, and someone from MBB would need to have at least 1-2 years of being a manager/project leader to come in at that level at my F500.

 

This is apples to oranges.

I'd say F100 though, that's pretty top-tier corp fin. Compared to second tier consulting, the level of the other seems more attractive.

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 

Which F100 and firm? Quality of programs varies greatly - message me if you want to keep it private, I was in a similar position last year during recruiting.

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