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Why do people join consulting after MBA instead of directly going to industry/tech?

consulting exit
Neue Antwort am 23. Jan. 2022
8 Antworten
3,6 T. Views
Anonym A fragte am 12. Jan. 2022

I am a current MBA and planning to recruit for both consulting and strategy (at industry/tech). I see many people join consulting after MBA instead of directly heading to strategy roles (assuming that lateral strategy role is their goal).

What's the benefit? Why don't they directly join industry/tech post-MBA?

Is it because:

1. They can get better compensation at consulting?

2. Strategy roles usually requires consulting experience?

3.Strategy roles don't usually hire MBAs directly?

4. They want to learn something in consulting?

I realize that all might be possible, but what's the most frequent reason?

I have big 4 consulting experience before MBA and I wonder if doing consulting at a better brand consulting house worth it given that my final goal is to be at corporate strategy department (which I can directly recruit now)

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Clara
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 12. Jan. 2022
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

Great question, although many people directly go to tech! For instance, Amazon is the top post-MBA employer. 

I would say people choose MBB after MBA for: 

  • The prestigous brand
  • The valuable toolkit
  • The opportunity to work across industries and gain exposure and experience

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

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Adi
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 12. Jan. 2022
Accenture, Deloitte | Precision Case Prep | Experienced Interviewer & Career Coach | 15 years professional experience

Great question!

My brutally honest answer is that a lot of people get into MBA not because they truly & genuinely need that extra education, skills and/or network. They get into it for following reasons:

  • Work in US/Europe or other mature markets
  • Follow the crowd: Switch career mostly into Consulting & Banking as popular career choices as a lot of people are doing this
  • Make more $$
  • Get out of boring jobs/careers
  • Get the lifestyle which has been uber glamorised over the years

Dont read it the wrong way, there are many people who genuinely need that MBA to do something worthwhile & tangible.

Consulting companies (and mostly Strat firms) use well known MBA programs as pre-filter to hire. If you got into a top MBA program, did well, you are most likely a good candidate to succeed in Consulting. This makes the recruitment process a tad bit easier and at least gets you interviews. Its also a great business for both Education & Consulting industries. 

If you plan your job search well and network passionately you can land into Strategy jobs without MBA. I am seeing many people going direct to the likes of Google, FB, Amazon and other major tech companies without MBA into Strategy, Business Development and Innovation roles. Having an MBA helps for sure provided you have genuine reasons. 

A lot depends on your current situation, location, values & aspirations career. A smart candidate pays attention to this and invests time where they FIT best and avoid doing what everyone else is doing.

Some helpful links for more content on your question:

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Lucie
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 12. Jan. 2022
10+yrs recruiting & BCG Project leader

Hi there, 


I have joined myself after 10+ years in the industry and no consulting experience, so can share my view (in comparison to industry):


1. Probably the first reason is the great learning and ability to satisfy the need for a constant challenge


2. Ability to work for one of the most prestigious firms meaning great work culture & excellent exit opportunities


3. Salaries depends, but I don't think consulting pays much more than Industry for experienced hires


If you would like to know a bit more about the topic, feel free to reach out. 


Wishing you all the best,
Lucie


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Pedro
Experte
antwortete am 14. Jan. 2022
30% off in March 2024 | Bain | EY-Parthenon | Roland Berger | Market Sizing | DARDEN MBA

They go to consulting because:

1. Yes, they get better compensation. Signing bonus is particularly important if you took on a lot of debt to do the MBA.

2. Yes, a lot of internal strategy roles require previous strategy experience.

3. While many of them hire directly, the fact is that there are much fewer internal strategy roles available.

4. Yes, you can get a broader range of experiences (other industries), and you have guarantee that the training will be good in consulting. And you may be able to work with multiple companies in the industry of your choice, and not just one.

But ther are more reasons. The most important is that it provides you with a better brand, with makes you more credible after you leave consulting. It gives you higher job mobility (i.e., easier to get another job if you don't like the internal strategy role). A Better network. A faster career progression both within the consulting role but also the likelihood that you may be hired to one of those internal strategy roles at a higher level.

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Stephan
Experte
antwortete am 13. Jan. 2022
Former BCG Con and political advisor here to help you crack the case (MBB, Europe & MidEast, non-business backgrounds)

I can only second what has been said in previous posts. Clara's post resonates in particular. I would just add the significant total compensation package (30k signing bonus etc), the high “plannability” of your career steps within consulting (you know your promotion track, etc), and, in general, a high degree of risk avoidance and maintaining optionality - that is, through consulting you can still delay your decision to “specialize” and go into a particular industry.

There is ups and downs to maintaining optionality into your late 20s or early 30s though, feel free to reach out to me if you want to discuss this topic in more detail. 

Best

Stephan

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Hagen
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 13. Jan. 2022
#1 Bain coach | >95% success rate | interviewer for 8+ years | mentor and coach for 7+ years

Hi there,

This is indeed an interesting question which is probably relevant for quite a lot of users, so I am happy to provide my perspective on it:

  • First of all, it seems to be slightly ironic that you are an MBA student yourself, will apply to consulting and question this move.
  • All jokes aside, I think it may be either of your reasons, and I feel there is not one dominating one. Generally speaking, MBAs were initially designed to provide a reflection period for those working in the industry in order to broaden their career options.
  • As such, joining consulting is, to some extent, a prolongation of the MBA since you will continue to work on different topics, industries and with a rather homogeneous group of people.

In case you want a more detailed discussion on how to best decide about your next career steps, please feel free to contact me directly.

I hope this helps,

Hagen

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Ian
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 13. Jan. 2022
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

Ultimately the reason is for career progression/advancement.

If you get into MBB, you are “set” so to speak. In the future, you can jump from 1 internal role to another internal role quite easily. If you go straight into an internal role, you are more likely to get “stuck”.

MBB operates as a huge pay jump and career jump. Put in the time for a couple of years and it pays dividends.

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Moritz
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 23. Jan. 2022
ex-McKinsey EM & Interviewer | 7/8 offer rate for 4+ sessions | 90min sessions with FREE exercises & videos

Can’t speak for other people but 99% of the time it’s because of point #1, #2, and #4. As for #3, this is not necessarily the case.

Very few people go into MBB consulting with the goal of becoming long term career consultants. About 80% leave again after 2 years and are now worth so much more to said industry/tech companies.

The learning during these 2 years is unparalleled and you’ll be able to pull off more senior roles outside of consulting quicker.

For example, I now work in a senior role in corporate strategy and what took me 2 years at McKinsey would have taken me 10 years at my current company to learn.

So yeah, I think you’re thinking in the right direction with your analysis!

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