Hi all,

I'm a first-year at a tier-2 Strategy brand that is part of a larger firm, and am deciding to apply to MBB as an Analyst - essentially starting my career again.

The motivations are:

(1) Stronger brand recognition + prestige

(2) Current strategy arm is part of the wider firm which is not known for strategy consulting. Hence, I want to be part of a company with Strategy Consulting as its bread-and-butter business

(3) Other (not interview-friendly) reasons: compensation, calibre of people etc.

With this context, I'd like to understand what MBB people generally think of when they hear a first-year from a tier-2 firm is applying to theirs, given I understand that one year is a rather (generally) shorter period of time to start looking elsewhere. Is this a common thing?

In terms of timing, I think if I don't apply now then there's not much rationale to apply in my second or third year since Associate positions in MBB require around 4-5 years of industry experience to start applying.

Thanks, everyone.