What to choose?

Question

Hello,

I had a call today with a recruiter (Bain) for an Associate PEG position that comes under the Bain Capability network and asked when I would be available for an interview.

I have been networking aggressively and have got partners who have refereed my CV for consulting position across various offices across the globe.

1 - I have been working in the market industry for 2 years. Would it be wise to take up the Associate - PEG position?

2 - I have got several referrals as well for consulting position which I believe will convert.

3 - Should I take an Associate position until I get the offer from other consulting firms?

Answer 1

Hi there,

Will all due respect, you're counting your chickens before they hatch.

You have 0 offers, 1 interview, and a few "maybe" interviews.

My honest view is that you need to focus your efforts 100% on getting these offers first. Let the filtering process take place. For all you know, you may end up with just 1 offer! Regardless, you'll have a subset of options to choose from..then you'll be able to better make a decision (less noise/fewer variables/decisions)

Please please be careful with thinking like this: "I have got several referrals as well for consulting position which I believe will convert". Not only do referrals not gaurentee an interview, but it's pure hubris to think you'll convert every interview into an offer - this is very very difficult to do so.

Answer 2

I am not familiar with Bain in detail but as a 3rd person here's my inputs:

Can you take the capability network position and transfer into Consulting? This was very common in Deloitte & Accenture where I worked but did require some effort in terms of internal networking and get sponsorship to move
If you are dead sure Consulting is the better fit and is what you really want to do, then dont budge. Wait it out and keep trying till you get the right role/firm

Answer 3

I would say this depends on how set you are on taking a full Associate Consultant role. It sounds like "very" is the answer to that.

If so, I would argue joining BCN (effectively an internal-facing function within the Bain org), whilst gets you in the door, there would still be another heavy door once you are in to move into the core consulting team.

If other opportunities come along at other firms to skip this and go straight into external consulting, I would take that. But if not, this is a good safety option

Answer 4

Hi A!

If you're aiming at a client facing consulting positon, you should probably not start at the BCN. A transition to the client facing part of the business is not impossible, but a BCN position also is not a stepping stone. If you're having other options (referrals), I would probably try that route first.

Answer 5

Hello!

This is honestly a difficult situation, but with how this market in particular is, I would take the interview. This doesn´t mean that you should stop your recruiting efforts for consulting positions, which hopefully will come.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara