Would you go for the more reputable firm or the firm with better culture?

If you are talking about MBB I would always go for better cultural fit. I think there is very little difference between top consulting firms elsewhere. My impression is that the culture will depend also in the office to which you are applying. 

To be honest I think very few people will have to make that choice given how low offer rates are at these firms. If you have the priviledge of getting offers from more than one MBB then I would suggest talking directly to people at these firms to get some insider tips.

In terms of reputation I don't see that much difference amongst MBB.

Hi Fouad,

First of all, If you are talking about BIG 3 firms - I see no real cultural difference for the following reasons:

• They hire people with similar backgrounds from the same pool
• It's a client service business and they work for the same clients
• All BIG3 companies historically originate from one company

Second and the most important: Marketing does not equal culture. BIG3 companies have it's own B2C marketing that is "Business to Candidate". Some of them mey be better with marketing tools, some use more appealing selling points, but at the end of the day the culture is pretty much the same.

Finally, the average career in a Firm is 2 years. I believe in such a short period minor differences in culture are less important

I would suggest to go for a brand!

Good luck!

I'm not sure what you mean by better culture. For me the personal fit is more important than the name of the company. For me a "better" culture means that the personal fit between you and the company's culture is better. The reason is that better culture usually refers to a culture that seems preferable to you. Generally, I'd go for the company with the better  personal fit, because I expect that it is easier to thrive there.

Given that you agree with me that a better culture is directly related to the personal fit, I'd go for the better culture.