Literally all are from Oxbridge/LSE and everyone I've talked to seems pretty cynical about trying if you're from a different schools. Networking seems next to impossible, and I'm just not sure why.
It's odd because I recruited easily for banking and private equity in London even though I'm from an Italian/French background. What makes consulting (especially MBB) so difficult to get into in London?
Hi there,
thanks for sharing your experience.
While it is true that UK MBB offices recruit quite heavily from these target schools, I can also assure you that the perception is not entirely accurate.
As a matter of fact, BCG (can't comment much on the other 2), definitely also recruits from lesser known / reputable schools. From my personal experience with London office (was based there for ~6mths) I am aware of many many examples who graduated from other UK schools, such as Imperial (quite a lot of them), King's, University College, Warwick as well as Bristol, York & Southampton, just to name a few.
Hence, don't let the hear-say discourage you too much. If your profile is strong and relevant, it will be attractive to MBB, with or without an Oxbridge / LSE degree.
Obviously, when coming from non-target schools, positioning of your resume and past experience is a crucial factor. If you need support with tailoring your CV to maximize the odds, do feel free to reach out. Happy to help and surely other coaches here will be too.
Meanwhile, wish you the best of luck!
Its not just MBB, pretty much the same story across any big consulting firm. London is a very sought after location, very competitive and has a great talent pool to choose from. So, these companies are spoilt for choice.
Anything in life which has a higher value/image or is perceived to have a higher value/image, will attract a lot of attention. So, fierce competition is inevitable.
Your job is to give your best, try to your potential and let things happen. Dont worry too much about the outcome and get dismayed by all these external factors, otherwise everything in life will appear skewed.
Have a look at this article too for some guidance-https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-do-i-know-which-career-is-right-for-me
It's no secret that MBB offices in London receive well-above-average application volumes, and even have different application pathways / recruiting teams for target schools. While there is a standard that is upheld globally, offices in highly popular cities simply receive way more applications relative to the number of available slots.
How flexible are you on location? In BCG, London, Amsterdam and Brussels operate as a system, with people staffed on projects relatively flexibly across the three offices. You might find greater success joining the system in Amsterdam, and end up working on projects in London anyway over the short term (you will be able to influence this too). Over the longer term (say 12-18 months) you could push for a transfer, which would be much easier with you as a known-entity to the London office with project experience vs. being an unknown interview candidate.
Hi there,
This is easy - London MBB offices receive 100s if not 1000s of applications per week, compared to 10s in other locations for the same number of positions available. In line with that, London-based MBB consultants will can 10x the amount of linkedin requests for networking, which gets quite tiring…
It's a very popular location for any professional, including MBB for projects and exit opportunities. Also, London attracts people from around the world who have English as their preferred working language. A lot of those people have impressive resumes and that just makes it incredible competitive. However, it's nothing is impossible!
I have a few friends in MBB London offices - let me know if there's anything you'd like to discuss in that regard. Happy to help!
Best of luck!
You sort of hit the nail on the head. At the BA level most of the incoming class is Oxbridge with very minor exceptions. The main reason being that the supply of talent from there far exceeds the demand and there isn't much of a need for them to diversify. Some of it is changing but it also depends on which school. If you go to LSE, Imperial or Warwick you may still have a shot.
Udayan
It’s gotten a lot better over the years, even at post-undergrad intake, where MBBs are intentionally including non oxbridge candidates in the interview funnel to initiate more diversity. For consulting, the intake is much smaller vs banking and every firm has local talent and so they don’t need French/Italian speakers based in London etc (E.g., PE). For example, the McKinsey London office would much rather have consultants who have a U.K. background and vice versa for other European offices (E.g., it’s more difficult to do a strategy for M&S if you’ve never lived in the U.K. before etc.)
Hi there,
the expectations and requirements are really high for MBB (regardless of the location) and high competition makes that less than 2% gets the offer.
Lucie
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It's basically the most competitive consulting market in the world. So there's not a shortage of great candidates. As such, even if you are a great candidate, if you don't “tick” a few boxes on their list, it is less likely that you can get the interview.
Not fair, but basically follows the law of supply and demand. You'll have to go for Tier 2 or another country.
Hey there,
To keep it simple:
Demand for an MBB job from excellent candidates > Supply of jobs by MBB, even though the London offices are usually much bigger than the rest across the globe.
Cheers,
Florian
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