M&A to MBB Associate Consultant, What do you wish you knew?

Question

Context: I'm in my mid-20s and recently graduated. For the last 3 years, I've worked exclusively in M&A / Corporate Development. I'm now joining Bain's South America office as an Associate Consultant.

One of my biggest insecurities is being staffed on projects far outside my M&A experience, like logistics or supply chain. My immediate reaction is to dive into technical books and try to learn as much as possible beforehand.

A few questions:

What hard skills or technical topics would you recommend studying early on?
What are the biggest mistakes people make during their first year in consulting?
How do you get up to speed quickly in an industry or function you know very little about?
How should I think about performance, staffing, role models, and networking within the firm?
Any other career or life advice you'd give someone at this stage of their career?

Feel free to answer any of the questions above or share anything else you wish someone had told you when you were starting out

Answer 1

Hi,

First of all congratulations on the move.

Honestly, I would not spend time studying technical topics before joining. The range of industries and functions you could be staffed on in an MBB is so broad that trying to prepare in advance is a bit like throwing a dice.

Instead, I would invest in skills that are transferable across every project:

PowerPoint/storylining (if not already at a very high level)
Structured communication
Being top-down and hypothesis-driven
Synthesizing complex information into a few key messages

Given your M&A background, I assume your Excel skills are already strong enough, so I wouldn't prioritize that.

Once you're staffed on a specific project, then spend time learning the industry and function. The good news is that MBB firms have a huge amount of internal knowledge and you'll usually be given plenty of material to get up to speed quickly. Don't worry about becoming an expert beforehand.

Regarding staffing, unless you already have a very specific long-term career goal (e.g., PE, banking, a particular industry), I would initially optimize for learning rather than specialization. Work with different managers, different partners, different industries, and different types of clients. Early in your career, breadth is usually more valuable than trying to curate the perfect staffing portfolio.

One mistake I see many new consultants make is focusing too much on the content and not enough on communication. Your success will depend less on knowing the answer and more on how clearly and confidently you communicate your thinking.

As for networking, my view is that it becomes particularly important when you're one or two years away from your project leader promotion. Performance is necessary, but eventually it is not sufficient. At that point, having senior people who know your work, trust you, and are willing to advocate for you becomes increasingly important.

Finally, don't underestimate how much of consulting is apprenticeship. The fastest way to improve is not by reading books but by observing strong consultants and asking yourself: "What are they doing differently from me?"

Good luck with Bain. Coming from M&A, you'll probably find that the business judgment side comes naturally; the biggest adjustment will be learning how to communicate and influence effectively in a consulting environment.

Feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions. I've been through that stage myself and I'm happy to share additional thoughts.

Best,
Franco

Answer 2

Hi,

Great questions and its nice to see you are trying to get on the front foot.

I would say that many of your questions can and will be answered through your formal training provided by the firm.

I could go into a deep discussion for each of those points easily, but the gist of what I want to say is

Your reputation and branding is important and will take you a long way within the firm - don't overlook or ignore this
The best people to give you advice and to actually help you meaningfully will be people at Bain - far more than anyone of us on the forum can
As an experienced hire, keep an open mind

You can check out my article below, it will be helpful for you and touches on some of your questions:

Succeeding in Consulting as an Experienced Hire

Answer 3

Coming from M&A, you don’t need to pre‑study logistics or supply chain. The only hard skills worth brushing up early are Excel basics, clean slide writing, and structured problem‑solving. The biggest first‑year mistake is trying to “learn everything” instead of asking clear questions and using the team’s knowledge. You get up to speed in new industries by building simple logic trees, reading 1–2 internal primers, and talking to experts, not by memorizing textbooks. For performance and staffing, be reliable, communicate early, and build relationships with a few good managers who will pull you onto projects. The real unlock is pacing yourself: consulting rewards clarity, not overwork.

Alessa

Answer 4

Hi there,

Thanks for the context. I understand your concern.

It's worth knowing that consultants at a junior level are not expected to be content experts. That's what you typically have specialists or senior members of the team for. Your only responsibility in that sense is to be transparent with the experience you have.

The other point to note is that instead of being afraid of some areas, I'd turn the question around and ask myself what areas I am genuinely interested in. And then you can make an effort to go there even if it's outside of your comfort zone, just because it will be an opportunity to learn.

I've written a short guide for starting consultants that you might find helpful:

• • Expert Guide: How to Become A Distinctive Consultant

Best of luck at Bain!
Cristian

Answer 5

Hi There,

I also worked at M&A (Lazard) before joining BCG.

I think you are well prepared for consulting. Your technical skills (Excel) are usually far superior to the avg. consultant and slides these day's are easily crafted with AI.

Mistakes to avoid:

- Be more pro-active in comms, be part of the team (IB is very top down hierarchy) whilst consultancies promote share of voice

- consultancies are more whishy washy when it comes to depth of analysis, try to be pragmatic whenever suitable

What to do:

- connect quickly on a PL / Principal level, MBB are run via people not processes

- leverage all resources you have (interns, visual services, data research, etc.)

- if you have a target industry / function try to find a sponsor who supports you for faster promotion cycles

If you need anything else let me know, I was Principal at BCG and now do "on the job training" for lateral hires to navigate the inner workings of consultancies and increase chances to stay in / tackle tough situations.

Best,

Vincent Blum

Answer 6

Congrats on the Bain offer.

Skip pre-learning industries, you can't predict staffing. Focus on Excel and PowerPoint fluency, Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto, basic accounting refresh, mental math.

Biggest first-year mistakes. Trying to look smart instead of useful. Not asking for feedback proactively. Hiding when stuck instead of asking a 5-minute question. Treating direct feedback defensively.

For new industries, the 48 hour ramp-up. Read Bain's internal materials, the client's annual report, 2 to 3 public consulting reports on the industry. Ask the most knowledgeable person on the team for 30 minutes to walk you through basics.

Optimise staffing for learning, not prestige. Find 1 Partner mentor early.

Sleep 7 hours. Protect basics.

Good luck.