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Which firm has better exits in London and North Amercia?

I am at grad school and recruiting. I wonder which firm has better exits in London (preferred) and North Amercia?

MBB Singapore

MBB Dubai

Boutique London

(Might try tier 2 London)

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Top answer
on Oct 19, 2021
McKinsey | NASA | top 10 FT MBA professor for consulting interviews | 6+ years of coaching

Hi!

MBB is a very safe option compared to boutiques and tier 2 companies.

However, working in London might be highly beneficial for networking as well as for obtaining a visa (if you don't have one already). 

Hope this helps.

Best,

Anto

on Oct 19, 2021
#1 rated McKinsey Coach | top MBB coach

Hi there, 

Transferring into London MBB has become as difficult by now as getting hired in London MBB. So if location is your primary interest long-term, then go for the boutique, get some experience and then apply. 

Transfers are more of a gamble. You need to be lucky, you need to have a great network and to stumble over the right people. 

Ian
Coach
on Oct 19, 2021
Top US BCG / MBB Coach - 5,000 sessions |Tech, Platinion, Big 4 | 9/9 personal interviews passed | 95% candidate success

Hi there,

Ultimately, if you want to work in London your best bet is to opt for the Boutiques/Tier 2s in London. 

Don't beat around the bush in regards to where you truly want to be!

That said, general exits (agnostic to location) do come from MBB. Furthermore, you stand a chance of get transfered within MBB TO London/North America (but I wouldn't count on it).

If you do MBB Singapore/Dubai, you will have better career exits. However, you risk never successfully working in London/North America. (Or not doing so within your planned timeframe)

Agrim
Coach
on Oct 20, 2021
Top Awarded Coach | BCG Dubai Project Leader | Master Casing in only 3 Hours | 10y in Consulting | Free Intro Call

Typically MBB as a first step will give you a better exit. Location will not play much of a role.

One thing is that MBB Dubai are not hiring much these days. They are hiring much for other middle-east offices. For Singapore also you should check how easy is it to get in the country as an expat employee.

From an opportunity ease and immigration ease perspective - Middle East and London make more sense.

Happy to discuss more over message.

Moritz
Coach
on Oct 19, 2021
ex-McKinsey EM & Interviewer | 7/8 offer rate for 4+ sessions | High impact sessions + FREE materials & exercises

There´s two things to consider here; type of firm and type of projects/clients in different locations.

  • Firm type: Generally, MBB beats boutique any day (whether that´s justified or not is beside the point)
  • Location: If Dubai and Singapore serve clients from your target industries, you´ll be able to build an impressive track record and move from any of those places to London/North America. Conversely, if you´re likely to be working on projects that don´t allow you to build a relevant track record for your ultimate exit target locations, it could be a hard sell.

All that being said, both Dubai and Singapore are highly international locations with a nice variety of industries and projects and joining an MBB in either of those will open doors globally. There´s no “bad option”!

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