Are exit opportunities driven more by brand name or type of work?

Question

Hi everyone,

Would you say recruiters hiring consultants who have been in the industry for a couple of years pay more attention to the firm the applicant has worked at (MBB vs tier 2 vs boutique), or the type of work they did there (pure strategy vs operations/implementation)?

Thanks

Answer 1

Hello,

Both are important, but generally speaking the more junior you are, the more important the brand name is. You might get more frequent recruiter cold emails when you work at MBB vs. tier 2, but, as Ian pointed out, when it comes to actually getting the job, your work experience is important. Another factor is network - you will often get alumni of the firm (regardless of whether it is MBB or tier 2) reaching out via the firm network to advertise jobs at their new companies, so seeing where alumni end up can also be helpful in understanding potential pathways. In both cases, you can also influence the types of exit opportunities you are getting by networking with people.

Answer 2

Both are important and looked at. In the early days of your career (say 3-5 yrs) , a bigger or well known Consulting brand will get you more hits & interview calls but after that its left to you to perform in the interview process. If you have a smaller firm or lesser know brand on CV, you can negate this by networking well.

The more senior you go, this difference reduces.

Answer 3

Hey there,

Ideally both, however, as a general rule brand name > type of work in most cases.

The reason is that if you come from MBB potential employers think that

you have a lot of transferable skills for the business world, regardless of the specificities of the job
are able to quickly dive into any subject anyway

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 4

Hi there,

Both!

Initial outreach (recruiter/company reaching out to you, say on LinkedIn) - brand

Actually hiring you - type of work

So, to get opportunities, you need the brand. To actually close the deal, you need real work experience.

Answer 5

In my experience brand matters a lot more - people do not want to do the due diligence required to see if you are a good candidate and a top brand name is an easy substitute for the qualities they typically want in a candidate. Essentially they are saying if you get past MBB interviews and have worked there you must be good at what you do.