T2 USA vs Bain Riyadh Summer Associate

Congrats on the options (and the baby)! :)

Honestly, you can't really go wrong with either of them. 

What I'd do is think about which one is more aligned with my long-term plan. 

Where do you see yourself with your wife and your family within the next 5-10-15 years? I mean this in terms of lifestyle, where you live, etc. This should already give you a strong hunch as to what to go for. 

As a father, it's not easy at all to have an intense job and a family, so if you want to optimise for long-term gains, it makes sense to take the US offer. This way you remain in the space where you already are, that your family is already comfortable in, and you join a firm that's most sustainable in terms of working hours. 

Sharing with you also two articles I wrote on this topic of how to manage the first year in consulting and how to handle lifestyle:

• Expert Guide: How to Become A Distinctive Consultant
• Expert Guide: How to Manage for Lifestyle in Consulting

Keeping my fingers crossed for you!
Cristian

Hi there,

congratulations on the above. 

I personally don't think that you can count on your WLB average numbers for the US a whole lot. The amount you end up working is really project and team dependent and can easily exceed that number. Consulting overall just does not have a good WLB - I therefore wouldn't really use that as a differentiator too much.

Aside from that, I would probably go with the MBB Riyadh offer for the following reasons:

• you speak Arabic so it will be much easier for you to fit in and not just remain in the secluded expat camp
• MBB brand recognition worldwide
• money in your bank is money in your bank
• you add significant experience abroad to your resume
• you might even be able to internally transfer to MBB in the US after a few years once you have established a standing within the company

Best of luck

Hi there,

First of all congrats, that's a great place to be in, especially in the current recruiting environment.

You listed all the pros and cons and have done the first step. At the end of the day, it really comes down to your own evaluation of these pros and cons. 

In my book Consulting Career Secrets, I suggest candidates create a list of their offers, then determine relevant categories (e.g., WLB) with a personal weight/importance for each, then rate each category and calculate a score to compare all offers.

This should bring a bit of clarity and structure to the process. Of course, you should also discuss with your spouse, family, friends, and mentors to get their input as well.

Personally, I'd probably go with KSA due to the much better outlook, growth, and opportunities.

All the best,

Florian

Hi there,

Congratulations on the offers! In terms of your question:

Q: Any thoughts, advice, or suggestions on which route to take/how to decide would be greatly appreciated. 

As general criteria to decide, I would consider the following:

• Where do you want to be in 5-10 years? Try to identify the company that can help you to achieve that goal faster. You can check LinkedIn for that (see below). If you are not sure, the Bain brand will probably help more.
• 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.
• If money and prestige were not a consideration, which company would you choose? This could help you to identify additional elements to weigh you have not considered yet.

In terms of exits for the first point above, you can check them as follows as they are based on what you would like to do next:

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

In your particular case, a point to consider is whether Riyadh could be ok. If you or your family would not like to live there, I would seriously consider the Tier 2 option.

If you want to do extra due diligence, you can contact Alumni of your school (not current consultants) who worked for the possible alternatives (bonus if they worked for both firms). You will learn more in a 30-minute call with them than with any online research you might do.

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the offers!

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

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, location). 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 how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

In my experience, those ex-colleagues and friends that prioritised the brand ended-up getting better jobs after consulting. MBB is MBB, wherever it is. The logo that will appear on your LinkedIn profile will be the same, whatever office. The office location appears in small grey text on LinkedIn, it's not the first thing you look at.

However, if you are considering a long-term career in Consulting, I would consider the US because there is always time to change from one firm to another later.

Good luck and congrats on the awesome results!

Hi there,

This is a very personal decision so it is totally up to you :)

I suggest you rank your decision criteria (e.g., salary, work life balance, brand, etc.) thinking in the long run and cross this list with the pros/cons. 

Answer will be clearer this way.

Best,

Alberto

Hi there,

How much time do you have before this first interview? Let us know to help you craft a back up plan in case you cannot reschedule the interview.

Best,

Alberto

—

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

What a great problem to have! Many congratulations :)

Personally, I would almost always recommend MBB because of the brand value and the ability to have them move you to the US if you perform well and if there is enough market opportunity.

Your pros and cons are reasonable but I am not sure who told you that work-life balance in the US is much better than the middle east, that is not the case. Consultants work very hard almost everywhere (Nordics and Australia are the two genuine exceptions I have come across)

Hi there,

Probably an important discussion to have with your spouse. Where does he/she see you two living? This is a decision between two people which makes our advice on this forum much much harder.

Finally: Figure out what you value. You have listed TOO MANY pros/cons. Half of them don't matter. Narrow this down to the 1-3 things you really care about…then ignore all other variables.

You can use frameworking here ;)

Good luck - great problem to have :)

You seem to have nailed the pros and cons. At this point it is really a personal decision based on what is really relevant to you. Think about your #1 and #2 priorities in life, and decide based on those.