how to plan my consulting career

Hi there,

Q: I got a summer offer from Siemens Advanta Consulting and received a return offer in 2022. Staying at the firm for a higher position or finding opportunities at MBB, which could be better for my career?

In terms solely of your career, MBB will open more doors. If you want to maximize that dimension, I would definitely recommend to look for opportunities at MBB.

On the other hand, if you enjoyed your experience at Siemens and are not particularly interested in the exits MBB could provide, there is nothing wrong with staying there – just be aware that most likely you will have more limited exits and growth opportunities.

To choose between multiple offers, I would consider the following:

• Where do you want to be in 5-10 years? Look at the company that can help you to achieve that goal faster. You can check LinkedIn for that (see below).
• If you consider the average consultant/partner you talked to in each company, which one would you rather be? You will spend a lot of time with your colleagues in the next years - be sure you choose a company where the people are close to the person you want to become.
• What is your gut feeling telling you? Our gut feeling is able to catch elements we cannot initially rationalize. You may “feel” a company is better, but don’t know exactly why. Try to identify the reason, do some research and understand if that point is valid.

In terms of exits (for most people they are a very important factor to join a consulting company), you can check them as follows:

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

Best,

Francesco

Hello,

Congatulations for getting at offer with Siemens Advanta!

This depends a lot on what you are looking for in the long run. Let's breakdown some criteria:

1) Specialisation: From my understanding, Siemens Advanta typically deals with technology consulting (software, hardware, AI, digital transformation, etc). Are you passionate about this field? If yes, this may be a great option! If you're not too excited about this and would like to explore different industries, then consider other firms too

2) Geography and Brand: Where do you want to stay? Is it Germany in the long run? Siemens is a very powerful brand in Germany, but outside of that MBBs have a much stronger brand than Siemens when it comes to consulting

3) Mobility and learning: MBBs and other consulting firms also give you more opportunity to travel for work, work across offices, and have stronger L&D opportunities

4) Work Life Balance: Its pretty clearly Siemens that takes this point :)

5) Culture: Are you looking for a more German culture or an international culture? This is very important for you to be happy. Siemens would not care much about MBAs and they respect engineers a lot more.

Hope this helps, happy to talk more on chat.

All the best!

Rushabh

It is a no-brainer. MBB give a much better career prospect, higher salaries, higher opportunities, and personal prestige. 
The downside is that you have to work more and with more stress. But there is no comparison.

If you can see yourself pursuing a career within Siemens and you like technology consulting in the short to midterm, your current offer is a good fit.

If you are considering becoming a career consultant or you want to keep more options open down the line and do more strategy work along the way, MBB is most likely a better pathway.

And yes, work-life balance should matter in the decision. You‘ll feel it sooner or later and it becomes a much bigger topic than initially meets the eye

Hi there,

MBB will be better for your career. Period.

That said, Siemens will by no means “ruin” your career. If you really enjoyed working at Siemens (the work, the people, the culture, etc.) and can see yourself thriving there, this is not to be underestimated! If you thrive at a company because it fits you, that's also amazing for your career! However, on paper, all thing equal, MBB is, on average, far better for a person's career.

This article has the guidance and answers you need- https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-do-i-know-which-career-is-right-for-me

If you want a career in consulting then MBB or even T2 firms are a better option in the long run.  So it's worth trying to get in to them.