OC&C vs. MBB

Hi,

Well done for making it thus far. OC&C is a great firm. That being said, it is less well known in terms of prestige and exit opportunities than MBB. MBB will typically also get more top-of-house, super high profile strategy work in most regions.

Regarding whether or not to decline an OC&C offer in favour of MBB interviews - I would suggest avoiding having to make this choice if possible.

You should be in touch with OC&C recruiters to explain that you are currently in other processes and ideally get an extension on your offer deadline. Similarly, you should reach out to MBB recruiters and see if there's any way to expedite the interviews, to avoid a situation where you are speculatively turning anything down.

Best of luck.

Hallo,

erstmal Glückwunsch zu deinem Zwischenstand bei OC&C und den bevorstehenden MBB-Interviews – beides starke Schritte!

Ich bin selbst etwas MBB-geprägt (wie du vermutlich merkst), aber aus meiner Erfahrung als Ex-MBBler sowie später an Business Schools und in der Industrie kann ich sagen: MBB gibt dir einfach das stärkere Branding – bekannter Name, größeres Netzwerk und deutlich bessere Exit-Optionen, sei es in Konzernen, Private Equity oder später im Inhouse-Bereich. Auch im Lebenslauf macht der Name einen spürbaren Unterschied.

Beim Educational Leave ist McKinsey sehr stark aufgestellt, bei BCG ist es ebenfalls recht easy & normal – bei OC&C kann ich dazu leider nichts Sicheres sagen.

Ich würde OC&C aber nicht vorschnell absagen. Geh ruhig bis zum Angebot, und solltest du eines bekommen, kannst du immer noch um Bedenkzeit bitten – das ist völlig üblich. Gerade wenn deine MBB-Prozesse bald starten, kann es dort erfahrungsgemäß schnell gehen.

Viel Erfolg – Daumen sind gedrückt! Und melde Dich gerne per DM bei weiteren Fragen.

Beste Grüße
Kevin

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the progress in the application process with OC&C thus far!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your questions:

• First of all, I would strongly advise you to focus your energy on succeeding in the final interview round at OC&C instead of pondering whether to accept the offer. As long as you don't have the offer in your hand, this may be a rather hypothetical discussion.
• Moreover, if you end up receiving the offer, you may very well accept it, and if you end up with a competing offer from any of the three - McKinsey, BCG, or Bain - you can still request to cancel the contract with OC&C before it even begins ("Aufhebung vor Vertragsbeginn").
• Lastly, contary to what other coaches have said, I would strongly advise you to treat other consulting firms like OC&C as a valid path in their own right. Many consultants from these firms have amazing careers, and the day-to-day work is usually quite similar. The differences people often talk about have more to do with the size of the consulting firm, rather than the level of expertise or other meaningful factors.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming McKinsey, BCG, or Bain pre-interview assessments and/or interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi there, 

Congrats of coming this far with OC&C.

There's a big difference between OC&C and MBBs that is primarily influenced by their scale, which then influences everything from types of projects, compensation, growth opportunities, etc. 

Once you have a competing offer, what you can do is notify the MBBs that is the case and they can accelerate the process on their side. This way you could also respect the deadline from OC&C on the offer. 

Best,
Cristian