Seeking advice on Offer decision: London Tier 2 or Dubai Tier 1?

Question

Hello community,

I am hesitating on two consulting full-time offers, it would be great to get some advice from you, thank you in advance :)

The two offers are:

- OC&C Strategy, London

- BCG, Dubai

I am a not-European citizen wishing to live in Europe (preferably London or Paris) in the long term. For the first few years of my career, I don't mind going anywhere as long as it doesn't affect my end goal.

BCG Dubai is very tempting because it is MBB & team/culture is great and very international & they pay very well. However, as someone who is not in the industry yet, I have no idea how easy/not easy to go back to Europe after a few years (either with BCG transfer or joining another firm)

The pros of OC&C are that: the sectors they focused on very interested me & is in London & is a very good strategy firm also.

Could anyone provide some advice? Thank you so much!

Answer 1

Congratulations and well done! Not the worst position to be in :)

This is a very personal decision and depends on many factors. Generally speaking, MBB blows Tier 2 out of the water. However, even considering your circumstances, I would still advocate for BCG > OC&C.

I have friends in the BCG Dubai office, which is super international and they are all having a great time. It won´t be hard to establish a link sooner or later to the BCG London office or London based companies outside of BCG. There´s also an overlap with regards to industries, despite London and Dubai being very different locations.

Hence, my advice will be BCG Dubai for 2 years and then take the next step. Until then, enjoy the ride and tax free income. You will be able to save plenty compared to London. For young people, this is amazing!

Answer 2

Hi Elena,

Congrats for this!

To decide between the two, I suggest you genuinely answer following key mutual fit questions:

Do I have the right aptitude/skills to offer to the firm?
Do my values align with the firm’s (culture, leadership, ways of working, reputation etc)?
Is the role a good fit with my career aspirations at least in the short to mid-term?
Will this job allow me to give my best & be happier?
Are any underlying risks of taking this job manageable?

Once you have answered the above questions honestly, you are then ready to look at other factors such as title, salary, benefits, location, work life balance etc to work out your final decision.

Just like everything else in life, no job or firm will be perfect. There will always be something a little better. There will be ups and downs and it’s important not to be driven by anxiety to get into “a job”. Focus on mutual fit.

Some other helpful Q&As:

preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/london-vs-the-me-9612
https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/london-vs-dubai-8988

More details in this article: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-do-i-know-which-career-is-right-for-me

All the best choosing.

Answer 3

Hi Elena,

First of all, congratulations on the offers!

This is indeed an interesting question which is probably relevant for quite a lot of users, so I am happy to provide my perspective on it:

Generally speaking, I would advise you to do the following:
- Weigh the different components that are of meaning to you, independently of the current offers (i.e. prestige, culture, international exposure, payment, industry focus, location). After that, score the two offers depending on your criteria and their weighting, resulting in two scores (this way you have covered the left brain approach).
- Critically assess your initial reaction to the outcome of the scoring. For instance, if you feel the urge to tweek the numbers, this is a solid indicator that you do not want this decision to become reality (this way you have covered the right brain approach).
- This way, you will be able to integrate both your feelings and facts (and thus both brains) into the decision-making, guaranteeing a higher chance you will still be happy with it years later. In case you want a more detailed discussion on this approach, please feel free to contact me directly.
Still, and contrary to what other coaches said, I would advise you to acknowledge the fact that the “prestige” criterion is a bit tricky for two reasons:
- While generally speaking, there certainly are different levels of prestige when it comes to strategy consulting companies, I feel that people forget that this is absolutely not a guarantee with regards to where you specifically will end up. I have highly successful people in my personal network from consulting companies with lower levels of “prestige” and the other way around.
- Lastly, the criterion itself is, unfortunately, normally measured by the size, i.e. no. of employees/ revenues, of the respective consulting companies. For obvious reasons, this is not a valid way to measure it.

In case you want a more detailed discussion on how to best decide on your career entry, please feel free to contact me directly.

I hope this helps,

Hagen

Answer 4

Hi there,

congratulations on your offers! Well done!

I am BCGer myself and have experience from the Dubai office, my answer can be skewed :-) but I always give the most honest answer.

From a professional point of view, I would definitely go for BCG. it is more prestigious and will open your doors for better opportunities than a 2nd tier consulting. If you got an offer in London already, imagine if you will apply for a job in London with BCG in your CV!

Besides a better position to look for a good job with BCG in your CV, it is actually fairly easy to transfer within the company once you are in applying to an internal position (there are many all around the world).

This is from a professional point of view, you can definitely make it to Europe if you join BCG in Dubai, but you need to evaluate your personal goals if it is worth postponing.

If you would like to chat and know a bit more about BCG in Dubai, please feel free to reach out directly.

Wishing you all the best,
Lucie

Was this answer helpful?

Answer 5

Hi there,

BCG just completely blows OC&C out of the water reputation/brand wise. If we're talking career progression, the BCG offer is worth millions of $ more over the course of your career than OC&C.

That said, the intangible of living where you want to be cannot be underestimated.

We cannot advise you here. You know what BCG represents in terms of brand, pay, opportunity etc. But you also know how much you value living in Europe.

This isn't apples to apples. It's apples to oranges and you need to decide which fruit you like best :P

Answer 6

Hello!

For me there is nothing to think about, BCG Duabai :)

Cheers,

Clara