McKinsey or BCG US Advanced Degree Candidate

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the offers from McKinsey and BCG!

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

Even if there is no material risk with going with one or the other consulting firm, I would highly advise you to opt for the option that better aligns with your professional (and maybe even personal) mid- to long-term goals. In order to make an informed decision, I would advise you to do the following:

• Weigh the different criteria that are meaningful to you independently of the current options (e.g., prestige, culture, international exposure, compensation). After that, score the two options based on your criteria and their weighting, resulting in two scores. This way, you have covered the left-brain perspective.
• Critically assess your initial reaction to the outcome of the scores. For instance, if you feel the urge to tweak the numbers, this is a solid indicator that you do not want this decision to become reality. This way, you have covered the right-brain perspective.
• By doing so, you will be able to integrate both parts of the brain into the decision-making, guaranteeing a higher chance that you will still be happy with it years later.

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

Best,

Hagen

Hi,

My answer to this is it really won't matter too much. Given the context of your research, I don't think there is a wrong choice. 

For someone coming in with a practice area affliation, the most ‘wrong’ choice would be to join a firm that is really not strong and doesnt have a strong pyramid in that area. But if you are talking about North America, McK and BCG both are strong in HC - e.g. BCG Chicago / Boston have tons of MDPs that are HC focused.

From a prestige and exit opps POV, i really don't think there is a wrong choice. 

Moving into PE Ops & VC is often more in terms of your exposure to relevant kind of work (I used to work in BCG PIPE) rather than BCG vs Bain vs McK. 

Lastly, the one potential differentiating factor (but i would argue wouldn't matter as much now to you) is the very long term view which is your path to equity partner - there are differences between the firms on this, but i think it is too early to be worrying about that, unless you are coming in as a Principal (or even Project Leader).

Both are great firms and from an exit opportunity perspective both are equally credible. Go to the firm where you feel you have the best cultural fit as that is where you are most likely to succeed.

Best,

Udayan

Hi there,

I don't think there is a wrong choice here.

I'd go with my gut feeling and where I had the better interactions. :-)

All the best,

Florian

Hi & congrats on the offers - great problem to have! 2 thoughts to add:

1. McK internal problem solving (PS) cadence is quite unique to other firms - this is your main exposure to partners anywhere from 1-5 times per week. There is a lot of internal pressure to prepare and show your skills in these sessions so it typically suits a certain personality archetype - if you are more of an introverted thinker this mode of working might take a bit more time to get used to
2. McK review cycle every 6 months - this is not just based on technical competence but also your relevance to the practice area - if your 2-3 sponsors have a quiet period (for whatever reason) the onus is always on you to remain relevant and staffed (either locally or globally)

I would say both firms have high octane / performance cultures (BCG isn't more of a ‘relaxing’ environment per se). Go with your gut - if you can do the work you enjoy with people that you get along with then there isn't much more to it!

All the best!