Hi there,

Ultimately only you can make this decision! We all have our own values, biases, etc. and I wouldn't want to influence your choice!

My advice is to figure out what are the 2-3 most important factors to you. Then, see which offer fits that best.

Also, try thinking through future regret minimization…where can you actually see yourself in the future…where are you happier/better off.

As you know, Mckinsey has the superior global brand and gives you an immense leg-up for your international career. Strategy& is about as good, as long as you're planning to stay in the middle east.

^Whether this is your primary deciding factor or not, it's important to know…the rest of the factors are up to you to evalute based on your own value system.

Good luck with an excellent choice ahead of you - you can't go wrong :)

Congrats!

Have a look at this thread for some guidance on what to consider when choosing between offers: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/partners-in-performance-vs-big-4-management-consulting-10855

All the best!

Hey there,

Some excellent answers are already here. 

I'd like to stress one more point.

If you genuinely enjoyed the interactions with McK and had a negative feeling about strategy&, go with McK. On top of all the other more formal criteria, this is a huge predictor of how you will feel at each firm.

You don't want to spend your 60+ hour weeks in an environment you don't feel comfortable in. Also, support systems are much more common and established at McK.

All the best,

Florian

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the offers ;)

As mentioned in the other comments it is a personal decision, but if I were you I would go for McKinsey. The benefit from S& seem short term:

• Leaving alone ⮕ You will be able to do so in a few years anyway
• Salary ⮕ Long term won’t matter – you will have more exit ops from McK
• Trapped in the country ⮕ After an MBA you will be able to go wherever you want. You may possibly have opportunities for an internal transfer in the future

On the other hand, most benefits from McK seem long term:

• Brand name ⮕ You will keep it for the rest of your life. You will be an ex-MBB which is going to be super-useful for everything you will do (in my case it definitely made easier fundraising for my startup)
• Good connection with consultants ⮕ This is very important and will make your life easier

Some questions you may want to answer to further reflect on this:

1.  Where do you want to be in 5-10 years? Based on that, look for how many alumni are more present in that field. It is not relevant that McKinsey has more Alumni, if they are not related to what you really want to do in your life. If you still don't know, everything equal the McKinsey brand is stronger.
2. If you consider the average consultant/partner you talked to in each company, which one would you rather be? Quoting Jim Rohn, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And you will spend a lot of time with your colleagues in the next years. Be sure you chose a company where people are close to the person you want to become.
3. What is your gut feeling telling you? Our gut feeling is able to catch elements we cannot rationalize. You may “feel” a company is better, but don’t know exactly why. Don’t base your decision on that only, but dig deeper on why you feel that way.

If you want to do extra due diligence, contact Alumni (not current consultants) that worked ideally for both. You will learn more in a 30min call with them than with any online research you may do.

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the offers!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

I would highly advise you to opt for the option that better aligns with your professional (and maybe even personal) mid- to long-term goals. In order to make an informed decision, I would advise you to do the following:

• Weigh the different criteria that are meaningful to you independently of the current options (e.g., prestige, culture, international exposure, compensation, location). After that, score the two options based on your criteria and their weighting, resulting in two scores. This way, you have covered the left-brain perspective.
• Critically assess your initial reaction to the outcome of the scores. For instance, if you feel the urge to tweak 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 perspective.
• By doing so, you will be able to integrate both parts of the brain into the decision-making, guaranteeing a higher chance that you will still be happy with it years later.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hello, hope this finds you well. Congratulations on your offers. Would you be able to specifically share you strategy& experience and have any tips with regards to strategy& preparation for M/SM role ? Would be very helpful to hear about your experience. Many thanks