Alle Fragen zum Tag working culture - Consulting Q&A - PrepLounge.com

If you want to sign up for a more set path and experience then go for Bain ("A Bainie never lets a another Bainie fail"). If you want to navigate and create your own path and experience then go for McKinsey ("Make your own McKinsey"). That is the advice I have consistently given to more than a dozen people who have been in your shoes.

Based purely on the fact that one firm is significantly larger than the other gives you that flexiblity as well as variability, both positive and negative, where you need to decide which options is more suited for you. If you want to maintain a global perspective than McKinsey definitely will have the edge with the scale and having one global P&L unlike the other MBBs. Your observations on economic sustainability is linked to McKinsey's global P&L as well as size and diversification of offerings. These are facts that I would not ignore as many of the other things are based on individual experiences, perception and/or reputation.

I'm surprised with your observation that everyone at McKinsey has only told you the positives. I know Bain have a very consistent recruiting message across individuals but McKinsey actually encourages the opposite where consultants are encouraged to share a balanced view including the things they don't like.

Despite being ex-McKinsey myself, my overarching suggestion would be to choose based on what you value most which is a decision only you can make. Here are my two cents on some of the themes you have raised:

+ Arrogance: this is commonly mentioned for McKinsey both in terms of the approach of consulting (i.e., maintaing an independent perspective - telling the client what McKinsey believes is that right answer vs. collabration) as well as (self-) perception of prestige

+ Hierarchy: I have actually heard the opposite, at least in London, where junior Bain consultants don't get much direct access to partners (one of my Bainie friends used to boast how he was working directly with a partner which is unheard of) whereas McKinsey it is rarely the case. I know of an ex Bain partner at McKinsey who has maintained the hierarchical appraoch and will rarely discuss the project below manager level

+ Prestige: generally I have found that people consider MBBs as one bucket of similar calibre but you will occassionally find executives and headhunters who will clearly differentiate McKinsey over others, similar to Goldman Sachs for investment banking, etc.

+ Powerpoint: you will be making lots and lots of powerpoint slides at any of the firms, unless you focus on implementation or digital consulting. The nuance about McKinsey is that there is a visual graphics team (mainly in India) who will produce (if you send them a sketch) and format slides for you which does save a huge amount of time!

+ Moments of stress: this one would be the same across both firms and would be purely dependent on the people you work. Both firms have upward feedback where there is an incentive for leaders to treat their teams with care and respect. The reality is not always the case but this is something I wouldn't worry at the stage of deciding on which offer to accept - you're not joining a corporate job where you have a fixed boss

+ Fun collabroative culture: at a firm level, Bain definitely seems to have a more consistent culture whereas you will find a Bain like culture within McKinsey as well as many others. Both firms will have the same fun as well as genuinely supportive people, fun parties and global events

For perspective, I worked 5.5 years at BCG in Germany and Japan, and did projects all over the globe. I have multiple friends at both McK and Bain. The following are my personal views, and your statement "from different online sources, I am getting different ideas" also holds in "real life" :)

Important:

(1) The differences between all three firms (and even other top managment consultancies) are negligible compared to non-consulting firms/jobs.

(2) All three firms have grown so much, they compete on all levels and no longer specialize in certain topics or industries. Basically, if one of the firms pitch for a certain project, the others could do it equally well.

On to the differences:

- In Europe, there is still a difference between McK/BCG and Bain, which is a bit smaller. So, while any competitive pitch where McK is invited also has BCG pitching (and vice versa), Bain is not always present.

- McK tends to have a more top-down, slightly harsher approach (maybe rooted from operations/cost cutting experience). BCG has a bit more cooperative approach, building support bottom-up together with the client's organization/middle management. Bain is somewhere in the middle.

- I found the smartest/most intelligent people to be at McK, intellectually a tiny notch above the other firms. BCG I found to be a bit more creative/out of the box.

Again, all of this is highly subjective. If you receive an offer from any of the firms, congratulations, that's amazing! :) If you end up getting more than one offer, I would choose the one which feels the best to you personally. I loved BCG, but one of my friends did not like the atmosphere and they somehow didn't connect -- he is now super successful and happy at Bain. During the interview process, you get to know 5-10 consultants over 2 rounds in a professional context. And keep in mind -- they don't just interview, but also try to make a good impression on you! The interview process is actually quite revealing about how working there would be, so going with your gut feel is probably the best way to go.

Good luck and all the best!

Ah. In the US we say the squeaky wheel gets the grease, while in China they say the loudest goose get shot :)

First, be careful not to overcorrect

Aggressiveness, becoming "friends" with your boss, and challenging others' views can easily backfire.

1) You can counter and test someone's statement / idea, but do so respectfully. If they insist, back away. In particular, if your boss asks you to do something, ultimately you do it (you can raise a few considerations, but do not refuse to do the work)

2) Do engage in small talk and do agree to grab drinks, dinner, etc. with those more senior than you. However, don't become too friendly and reveal too much about yourself (i.e. personal life, complain about work / other people, treat them like an equal (especially in front of the client). There is always a line you should not cross, not matter how "friendly" the relationship becomes

In summary:

Challenge but don't be obstinate

Be "strong" but ultimately take orders when they're given

Be friendly but don't assume they're your friend

Develop relationships, but always understand they're work relationships

Hi Anonymous,

German fluency traditionally was a quite important requirement in the German consulting industry. This requirement has softened a bit in recent years, however mostly driven by the increase in variety of jobs and roles within MBB firms. For example, data scientists or digital specialists might well get an offer despite not being fluent in German. For generalist consultans this remains a challenge though, given the intensity of client contact that is required.

One thing that still differentiates the German consulting culture from many other geographies is the focus on details and backing up each and every claim or hypothesis with rigorous analysis. This oftentimes leads to the "German disease", where the main body of a a given document just represents a small share of the doc, while the appendix takes about 60-70%. The impact on the work-life balance of the teams is obvious... One of the reasons for this is that German business landscape is still deeply rooted in engineering, and a big share of top level clients are PhDs (PhDs are still much more highly respected in the "public perception" compared to MBAs! A couple of years ago, a Bachelor degree would not even be regarded as a proper academic degree by most seniors in the German business landscape). These clients are very detail-oriented, and backing up every claim with rigorous analysis is oftentimes required to earn their respect and trust.

Hope this helps!

Cheers, Sidi

Hi Anonymous,

generally speaking, the difference between Bain and McK and BCG is country-dependent. In many countries, Bain is still the smallest in the MBB group, thus also the one where, with a smaller office, there is also a more entrepreneurial/family-like environment. However, this is not the case in every country (in Italy, for example, Bain entered through the joint venture with another firm, making the company quite similar to McK and BCG in size from the beginning). As a consequence, I agree with Guennael that country differences could be more relevant than differences between firms.

Referring to the question "Why Bain?", to properly prepare such question, it is crucial to understand why companies ask it.

Of course, every consulting company knows that 90% of the interviewees are doing multiple application in consulting, and also that you may prefer another MBB company. Thus why such question?

The key reason is that they want to see if you are able to do due diligence in advance on your target/prospect. If you are going to an interview and have not studied the company you are going to interview with, chances are you are going to do the exact same thing with the client. And a consulting company definitely doesn’t want this to happen.

Thus the question translates in how you can show you have done due diligence on the company. A general structure to identify elements that distinguish a company is the following:

• Company potential: how much the company grew in the last year, which is a good guarantee for your future career as well
• Sectors of interest: specific focus of the company in areas interesting for you
• People you met and culture: specific people of the company you discussed with, and the things they shared on the company
• Your growth opportunities: specific programs of the company you heard about to enhance your growth
• Size/reputation of the firm: smaller companies usually offer a more entrepreneurial culture, with higher growth potential internally. Bigger companies have more resources and support staff, and more prestige in terms of exit.

Whatever topic you choose, you can apply a simple rule of thumb: if you can substitute the name Bain with another one, and have the answer still making sense, it means your answer is not specific enough. To be specific, you should talk about growth rates/specific people you talked to/specific research paper you read on the company.

This means you will have to spend some time preparing this question. But it also means you will have higher chances to stand out - very few candidates invest time in such due diligence.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Is the question still relevant? If so, I am happy to share my views as a gp Alumnus

Olá Jorge,

First of all, let me congratulate you on your offer. It's always great to receive new colleagues at McKinsey, especially when it's so close from us (Luanda and Lisbon shared the same roots until very very recently; even today, most of the Luanda's leadership was transferred from Lisbon).

Let me now address both of your questions, which I believe I can do quite accurately as I spent one year working there!

1. Honestly, I would stick with the same advices I give to everyone who is in your position, regardless of the office: enjoy life as much as you can before starting your work! Don't bother developing any skills at this stage, you'll have plenty of time during your McKinsey journey, believe me :)

2. In Angola, most of your work is going to be done within the country (90%+), more especifically in Luanda (very rare exceptions of projects outside the capital; depending on the cycle of the economy you might need to do some more projects abroad).

Lifestyle is (much) better than Southern European offices, you should expect a 11/12h daily journey tops (with some exceptions).

For me, one of the biggest differences was related with the skillset that you will need to master: it's important that you're somehow good at basic technical skills (math, excel, ppt), but they definitely require more from you on a soft skill perspective (a lot of client handling!!). Try to start establishing good relationships with clients since day 1 :)

Hope this helps... and most likely will see you sometime in the future as McKinsey has a client there in an industry that I like, so will try to do a project again there!

Bruno

Hi Anonymous,

I totally agree with Odeh, in your answer the “people” part is definitely not present. You should add elements that show your people interaction (ideally leadership), in particular given the fact that as a startup founder you probably had too coordinate people, have meeting, align their goals, etc.

An additional point missing is the concept of project. Consultants are used to think in terms of projects defined with a certain allocation of people, clear timeframe and defined deliverables at the end. Some further elements you should mention for your organizational skills to show alignment with the consulting world are thus the following:

• Define goals, deadlines, kick-off, end of projects, deliverables from the beginning
• Understand optimal allocation of people for the activities
• Keep control points for both yourself and people you manage to check if results are met at regular intervals
• Keep communication in place with key stakeholder (bossed, employees, subordinates, clients, investors etc)
• Identify backups in advance in case of delays/unforeseen requirements needed
• Understand reasons for missed deliverables and fix issues so that they do not reappear

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hi Annie,

I worked for McKinsey in Sydney so thought I would just share a few thoughts:

- The industry is very consolidated - McKinsey, BCG, and Deloitte are probably the biggest players though Bain's offering is growing. I think OW is in a similar boat but don't know their situation well. McK for example now has 6 offices across ANZ (Syd, Mel, Bris, Perth, Canberra & Auckland)

- Australia is much more insular as an economy than most of the world, so consultants here typically stay in Australia a lot more than a UK one would stay in the UK (though this may vary by firm). Work in consulting typically mirrors the economy, so mining and banking are the 2 big area's here

- Culturally consulting in Australia is very laid back. In McKinsey it's almost certainly the least formal and best for lifestyle (read hours) office globally. I worked across 15 off offices in my time and nothing really came close. It may vary by firm though

- Australia is well regarded, but doesn't quite have the repuation of London or New York. Ultimately I have found employers care far more about the company you work for rather than where you work for them

- McKinsey is probably close ot 50% foreign born. Sydney in general is a very mulicultural and ex-pat heavy city, and definitly an easy place to live (I am still here)

I would encourage you to consider the personal implications of moving to the other side of the world. This is what many of my colleagues found the hardest

Hope this helps, let me know if you want any further info

Thanks

Cameron