Hello All,
I am wondering is it possible to take 1-3 months break (non-paid) from MBB/Consulting ? If the reason is for Grad School Application (GMAT,etc) or even just for personal break (travel, family,etc)
If yes, how difficult to get that kind of permissiion?
Thank you so much
Hi there,
in my experience in BCG Southern Europe offices, a “break/sabbatical” is quite easy to ask and receive, provided you are able to articulate a good enough reason (e.g. family but not I want to travel the world and see what happens)
- In terms of timing, you have to align vs. the need of your current project: if you are not staffed you are in the best position to ask now
- It will go through a formal process (HR, Career Development Committee), but I have seen 80-90%+ been approved
Assuming you are not on a promotion window in 2 months, in my experience you also will not have any possible “backfiring” in terms of career trajectory and progression (nevertheless remember that this time does not count towards your seniority at least in BCG)
- My advice is to pre-position your “why” correctly vs. the partners, principals, PL that are your reference and “sponsors” in the firm, to make sure no misunderstanding is in place
Hope this helps.
P.
Hi there,
at least speaking for BCG (and I bet other consulting offer something similar) does offer to its employees' different flex working options, one is FlexLeave, which allows employees to take a two-month leave of absence—for any reason—while retaining their position and benefits. And actually, people do take, one of my peers went skiing for 2 months!!
MBB are very aware that work-life balance is hard, hence these programs are great tools to retain talent and are available usually for employees with 1-2 years of seniority and good/excellent performer (= you are not about to be gone). You only apply through HR. I applied for Flextime (reducing my capacity to 80%) and it was very easy to get approval.
https://www.bcg.com/publications/2019/flex-work-programs-that-actually-work
If you would like to find out more, please feel free to reach out directly.
Cheers!
Lucie
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(editiert)
Not a problem! Details depend on firm and office but generally speaking, unpaid time off is an important retention tool for MBB as it creates much needed work-life balance.
McKinsey, for example, allows people to work 90% or 80% with corresponding adjustment of pay. This results in more holidays i.e. the 10%/20% extra time are taken in batches and doesn't mean you get every (other) Friday off, for example. I have heard of similar schemes at other BCG/Bain.
Whatever the standard schemes, you can always ask for unpaid time off outside of those schemes. It's really fairly common and not a big problem if it's not for an unreasonably long amount of time. The only time where this may be trickier is during periods with a regional shortage of consultants.
Also, firms don't care so much whether you use it for GMAT, playing video games, or writing a book. We all have our reasons for taking a break sometimes and there's nothing wrong with that :)
(editiert)
Hey there,
Yes but it depends on the firm and the office.
McKinsey offers ‘Take-Time’, which allows consultants to take off up to 3 months per year unpaid (insurance, phone, other perks continuing).
In the German office, I would say 60-80% of consultants make use of this policy for extended vacations and other endeavors.
It is not difficult at all to get it. You just have to send one email before a certain due date. It's part of the package.
Cheers,
Florian
100%
A close colleague of mine is currently taking 3 months off from BCG (partly unpaid). There is a lot of flexibility in how you can do this as ultimately MBB puts in a lot of effort into preventing burnout.
Just talk to your manager + HR!
Every company has a different policy. McKinsey in the US for example has ‘take time’ where you can take up to an addition 12 weeks off a year by taking a pay cut. All companies these days have ways to allow you to take a mental health break especially if you are looking for one that is unpaid. I would speak to HR and explain the situation, they will be able to guide you on the best approach.
Udayan
It's not difficult. In some cases you have programs that allow you to take time off, but all of them are open for you to ask them to stop for a while if you need it. This is not a problem.
The only constraint is if there is a shortage of consultants, they would rather delay the sabbatical, but on the other hand, they prefer to give it out to face the risk of losing another consultant for good.
At BCG in the US, this is actually encouraged and called ‘Time for you’ and BCG actually continues benefit coverage (health insurance etc) during this time frame.
I would expect Bain and McK to have something similar.
In general, MBB wants to keep their talent, so they can’t really afford to deny their employees such wishes.
Yes!
Have a good explanation for the sabbatical and discuss with your people lead/career advisor or line manager or HR. This is becoming increasingly popular. If your performance has been good, I dont see any reasons for not getting the sabbatical.
Hi,
This is definitely possible.
You have to go through staffing normally to request this, and then your career advisor has to be involved in the process as well.
How difficult it is really depends on the pipeline and demand on the system. If business is booming, they will try and discourage you from taking a long break. So stand firm and fight for your break if you need to!
