Which path is best for Strategy Consulting in Germany

Question

Hello together,

are there any consultants in Germany that can help me with the following question?

Im struggling with the question which master model will be most beneficial for my entry into strategy consulting.

Alternative 1: Full time masters (2 years) after my bachelors (Mannheim: MMM, CBS Copenhagen: Finance and strategic management). Internships during my masters.

Alternative 2: Part-time masters in Management & Finance (HHL Leipzig) while working two years in Big4 Consulting. Switch to Strategy Consulting after graduation.

As i know that this is a very personal decision i have evaluated all criteria and Alternative 2 would suit my personal situation best.

Which path would you prefer looking at the two alternatives? Is a part-time masters and two years work exp. worth as much as a full time masters at a good school?

Many thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Hi Julian,

Happy to support with a perspective on the matter. In general, both paths seem to be viable.

Alternative 1 (FT Master)…
is more reliable. I would prefer it. With big names in your internships (e.g. T2 Consulting) your chances for MBB interview invites increase compared to Alternative 2.

Alternative 2 (Big 4)…
can work, but in all likelihood you do not ‘win’ any significant time since the strategy consultancies factor in only a portion of your Big 4 experience, thus you would probably enter at Master level and get a tenure credit (=faster promotion) of anything from from 3 to 12 months.

Conclusion

All in all, if you do not decide to go into a specialized field where the Big 4 have a knowledge advantage (e.g., Cybersecurity), I believe you would be better off with the classical path.

That being said, in my belief you should not make such decisions exclusively dependent on a merely possible MBB invite down the road, so please take it as only one perspective on your decision.

Hope I could help!

Best,

Gero

Answer 2

Hi Julian,

Q: Which path would you prefer looking at the two alternatives?

You should be able to find the historical data for the masters as follows:

Go to LinkedIn
Add each university as "School" one at a time
Add each target company as “Company” one at a time
Check how many current/former consultants are present in your target regions
Normalize the results for the cohort size of the schools

If there are data available, I would also check the combo of work experience and master when evaluating alternative 2.

Assuming the masters of the first alternative have better placement, I would personally go for option 1, fully concentrate on one thing (your master) and leverage the internships to secure a full-time offer early on.

On the other hand, you mentioned that option 2 suits your personal situation better, so there might be other factors you have not mentioned that could make it the ideal option in your case.

Good luck!

Francesco

Answer 3

Hi Julian,

It's hard as it all depends on overall goals and numerous factors.

Since you're asking, I'll just go ahead and say Alternative 2 strikes me as the most logical.

But I also don't have all the info I need to provide solid advice, so please take it with a grain of salt!

Answer 4

Julian,

I've seen amazing candidates coming from both paths.

I would suggest you go for whichever feels ‘most’ right to you.

What matters more is what you do in this time. The advantage of option two is that you can already collect work experience and develop a value proposition (e.g., area of expertise).

This could then help you transition into a higher tier if this is what you have in mind long term.

Best of luck with your options and sharing here a guide on how to prepare your application strategy:

Expert Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy

Best,
Cristian

Answer 5

Alternative 1 is more traditional. Strategy firms don't give much value to experience in Big4.

However, I do see value in having more work experience not specifically to getting into Strategy Consulting, but in terms of valuing you as a professional on the long run.