With 16 Years of Consulting exp in Accenture/Cap Gemini.......... move to MBB

With your depth of experience at Accenture and Capgemini, combined with exposure to multiple industries, your undergraduate GPA becomes largely irrelevant — especially for MBB and Tier-2 firms in the Middle East, where career trajectory, client impact, and domain expertise are far more important at the experienced hire level.

Given your strong consulting background, pursuing an Executive MBA is not necessary to make the move you’re considering. Instead, I would recommend applying directly to MBB and Tier-2 firms in Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai. Your profile aligns well with the increasing demand in these markets, particularly in operations, digital transformation, and supply chain advisory.

Wishing you the best in this next chapter — happy to support further if needed.

Hi,

With your working experience, they will not focus too much anymore on your GPA score. For someone with your experience, they will look how you can support a certain practice/industry (e.g., operations). Pursuing an MBA will bring limited additional value for the consulting firm. I would reach out to HR of MBB firms and discuss the potential starting positions.

Good luck with the preparations.

Mattijs 

Hi there,

Q: Would you recommend applying directly to MBB or Tier-2 firms, or pursuing an Executive MBA?

I agree with the other comments that the GPA won’t matter much after 10+ years of consulting experience – I would not consider an MBA just to compensate for it.

In terms of the strategy to follow, I would apply first to the consulting firms. If you get a rejection, you might consider pursuing the MBA, although as mentioned, I don’t think it is necessary if the goal is just to compensate for the GPA. By the time you finish it, the ban period should be over, and you can apply again. In this way, you will get two shots instead of one.

I would recommend looking for a referral to apply, you can find some tips on that below:

▶ How to Get an MBB Interview

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi,

First of all, I completely agree with the advice already shared: with over 10 years of experience, your undergraduate GPA is no longer relevant and doesn’t need to be included on your resume. 

At this stage in your career, consulting firms , including MBB, will be far more interested in your leadership experience, industry exposure, and the impact you've had in previous roles.

I also wouldn’t recommend pursuing an Executive MBA as it likely won’t add significant value given your depth of experience, and it’s not a prerequisite for experienced hires.

Instead, I would strongly encourage you to apply directly to MBB and other top consulting firms such as Strategy&, Oliver Wyman (they are especially active in supply chain, transportation, and manufacturing.), Kearney (another firm well known for ops), LEK, PIP (also a good one for ops and heavy industries) etc. 

Your background positions you well for roles at the management level, especially in practices like operations, transformation, or digital strategy, where firms are actively looking for experienced professionals with hands-on leadership experience.

To maximize your chances:

• Tailor your application: Align your CV with the consulting role and practice area you're targeting and highlight leadership and impact - emphasize the teams you’ve led, the transformations you’ve driven, and any measurable results.
• Leverage your network: Reach out for referrals where possible or connect with recruiters familiar with experienced hire roles in the region you're targeting. I'm pretty sure you've some friends or old work-mates who have made the transition - reach out into your network! 

Happy to support further if you'd like help with CV refinement or interview prep!

Hi there,

With 12 years of experience, your GPA wouldn't matter any more. You don't even need to show it on your resume. 

What matters to MBB would be how good you are at consulting job, how transferrable are your skillsets to the particular level / practice / office that you'd like to join. It would be good if you can work on a referral or at least through a head hunter. 

I don't think it'd worth to go for an EMBA in order to make the change. 

Best,

Emily

This is very simple. 

You want to get into the firm, you have to apply to the firm.

If you don't get the job, you look for an alternative (doing the MBA, etc.).

But I don't see any scenario where NOT APPLYING would be better than applying.

Hi there,

I don't think you need to go via the MBA route given your profile. I would start networking right away and test the waters.

Cheers,

Florian