Big4 value creation services

Congrats on the offer. I have two thoughts:

1/ I do believe the current brand on your CV affects your chances of getting into MBB. When I joined the BCG Madrid office, out of 10 people accepted in my cohort, 2 came from Big4. Therefore, I believe a Big4 brand can help. However, since I do not know your current firm, I can't say if it will help more or less. Can you research on LinkedIn if people have previously moved from your current firm to another firm?

2/ Do you know anybody who works at MBB firms in the market you want to work in. If so, could you ask them which of the two brands looks better on your CV? Someone with local knowledge of your market will give you the best advice I think.

Best of luck!

Hi there,

Congratulations on the offers! In terms of your question:

Q: In your opinion what is most relevant experience for MBB between my current role and BIG4 VCS?

If the brand of the current company is not strong, a Big 4 strategy position might help more for future screening. To check if that’s the case, I would do the following:

1. Look for alumni of the two companies on LinkedIn.
2. Check how many moved to your preferred exits in your target region.
3. Normalize for the size of the companies in the region.

This hopefully will give you a data-driven answer.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the offers!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your situation:

• First of all, the experience at your current firm seems to provide a broad scope of projects which is excellent. Top-tier consulting firms looks for diversity in experience and the ability to tackle complex problems, so this is a strong aspect of your current role.
• Moreover, while the value creation roles would offer you a peek into the financial side of strategy through due diligence and pre-deal market analysis, I wonder whether you have even tried applying directly to top-tier consulting firms? This way, you would find out for certain whether you would need that additional “detour" to your goal or not.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Amazing work! 2 offers is a fantastic haul!

It's possible to move from Big$ direct to MBB, if you've shown the right progress and networked effectively. If that fails, the most direct/likely path is an MBA.

That said, please make sure not to lose the forest for the trees, and, the overuse metaphors, remember that the grass is not always greener.

Enjoy your time at this current firm and/or Big4. Progress through the ranks there. If you like it, and do well, stay! If you're constantly focused on MBB, you'll miss out on the today and now. And, when you join MBB, who knows, you might regret it all and want to go back.

Just saying….it's ok to want MBB. But please don't make every action you take about getting MBB. Make it about your general/overall career and what you want to be doing :)

Your experience already seems relevant for MBB. In my opinion if you are willing to wait till the economy for consulting picks up you'll have a very good shot at getting in

Your current role sounds closer to what a generalist MBB consultant would do. So I'm not sure how moving to one of the Big4s would help your case. 

If you're getting a better deal (role, compensation), then do it, but otherwise stay put and apply directly for MBB. 

Best,
Cristian

In general, I recommend boutiques IF they are industry (or practice) focused and they are run by MBB/Top Tier 2 alumni. 

You don't mention anything that suggests this is the case, and I would add that the revenue per consultant (~150k) in your firm feels rather low for a strategy consulting firm, even considering small/medium clients.

As such, I doubt they are performing top quality strategy consulting work. I recommend you go to the Big4.