MBB office

Hi there, 

There are two things worth mentioning here: 

1. Difficulty of getting accepted into the office: I don't have access to actual hiring data (no one outside of MBB HR would), but from what I have heard, Dubai is the most competitive office to get into out of those you mentioned

2. Where you will be actually working: this is dependent on the firm, and each of the MBB have different staffing models. For example, you may join McKinsey's Dubai office, but end up doing a lot of your work in Saudi (as there is a more global staffing approach)

Hope this helps!

Difficulty is technically the same in MBB across all offices. 

I believe what you might be referring to is how competitive the office is, and if that's the case, empirically I would rank them Dubai (most), Riyadh, Doha (least). I could be absolutely wrong in terms of volumes - I'm basing it on my own volume of candidates, network and hearsay. I don't have access to MBB candidate pipeline data.

Lastly, all of this might be interesting anecdotically to know, but you shouldn't base your decision on what office to apply to on which one you expect to be more or less competitive. 

Best,
Cristian 

The interview process is the same for all offices. However, the demand and recruiting targets might vary. Dubai / Riyadh are the most compete ones.

You can check how the recruiting process works from an internal MBB perspective here:

MBB Hiring Hacks - Behind the Curtain Secrets

Best,

Alberto

—

Check out my latest case based on a real MBB interview: Sierra Springs

Hi there,

I would agree that the majority of applicants would prefer Dubai which might therefore be considered more competitive. However, staffing and project delivery will happen across the entire middle east. 

You might as well just prioritize the place you want to live as your top office choice. Picking the supposed “least competitive” office in terms of application volumes is not really a major competitive edge in the inherently competitive recruiting processes of these firms.

Best

In the current months - Doha is easier option since most MBB offices in Doha are still growing, followed by Riyadh, and then Dubai. Abu Dhabi is to be considered same as Dubai only.

Regardless, you can end up on projects anywhere in the region.

Most likely, Dubai is the hardest one. But to be honest I don't think there's a significant difference between those offices. In this case you can safely apply to where you want and face low risk of rejection due to facing overwhelming competition / candidate numbers.