What is the perception in Europe of consulting in the Middle East?

Question

I will start working for A.T. Kearney in Dubai as a Business Analyst. There are rumours saying that it’s very difficult to transfer back to an MBB in Europe after 5/6 years (that is how much time I want to spend in Dubai). Is it true? How is consulting in Dubai perceived in Europe?

Answer 1

Hi,

It depends on the role that you want to have:

On an Analyst / consultant / managerlevel there will be no problem if you pass the interviews and have the work permit
On a principal / partnerlevel it will not be possible since you will have no local clients.

But MBB are not hiring that many Leadership level consultants in general, so chances are small even if you lived in Europe

Best

Answer 2

Hey anonymous,

I can't speak for the remaining "BBs", but at least for McK it's exactly the same if you want to move from Dubai to Europe or from somewhere else, as you will need to have a very strong argument for it, as well as great performance - internally, I've never heard of any negative comments on Dubai, only that is an office highly focused on Public Sector (so it's easier for soemone to move to other offices that are simultaneously strong in such practice)

Best

Bruno

Answer 3

Agreed with others, unless you are a specialist in a topic that is “hot” across regions, transfer will be very hard. 5-6 years in post-MBA you should be a late principal/early partner, so client relationships are so important that can be ignored only if you bring significant, unique expertise that is in demand (e.g. right now block-chain technology :)).

hope it helps,

andrea