Hey everyone,
I hope you are doing good and perhaps you can support me with your insights.
Disclaimer: Obviously I will not base my final decision on the answers here alone, but I would really value some insights and options to support my decision-making process. I also know that similar questions exist already, however, I couldnt find one that takes into account recent scandals and the current pandemic development.
Short introduction of myself:
I am currently a student in Germany (Engineering) and will finish my master's degree in 2 months. So far I always thought that I will da a phd and later work as a professor because I enjoyed short research and engineering projects at my university. However, while writing my thesis and working at the research chair of my professor for 6 month, I discovered that I only liked those short term projects because it was always something new. A friend of mine recommended doing an internship at a small german consulting firm, which I did and surprisingly I really liked the people and the work, however, due to the small size the international opportunities are really limited. That's why I applied at McKinsey and BCG (both Germany) a few weeks ago, hoping that my engineering internships at BMW and Tesla were enough, and fortunately it was enough and I received offers at both firms.
However, I never really thought about which company I would prefer to work for, mainly because I was not expecting to get an offer at one of the firms.
Because I decided to start in consulting quite late, I never participated in any events of either of the firms to get to know the consultants and due to COVID it is not possible to visit the offices right now to get to know the people, meaning the only contact was with HR and the interviewers, although just virtual. Most of my engineering friends are also not familiar with the firms at all and other friends are only saying that both are great firms and I won't do anything wrong with either of them.
That's why I wanted to ask some questions here, and maybe they are obvious or stupid for people working in this industry, but as someone who is new I would really appreciate some help:
Questions:
1.) Which company managed to get through the COVID pandemic better (e.g., less lost business etc.)? During the interviews I also asked those questions and representatives of both companies said that they managed it really well, however, I assume that is what an interviewer would always say.
2.) Earlier this year I read a lot of articles about the McKinsey opioid scandal. What is the impact of this scandal on the future of the company, on the current business or prestige?
3.) BCG is frequently reporting growth numbers while McKinsey is really intransparent in this area, but I have the feeling that BCG is growing (way) faster right now. Will they soon be the market leader in terms of revenue?
4.) I often read that BCG has a "nerdy" and collaborative culture and McKinsey is more distanced and competitive. Is this (still) true?
5.) During COVID a lot of firms implemented new work-life-balance measures. What are the differences between those two firms right?
Thanks a lot for your support!
