You are confusing tools you use with the skills you gain. This is like saying you don't want to be a doctor because it requires a lot of “Health Information Systems” knowledge, or believe that a sales job is about driving a car around… 

So let's be clear, it's not about powerpoint skills. It's about communication and structured thinking. It's not about excel formulas. It's about generating insight from data (and being data driven). It's not about research, it's about knowing how to look for the right information and know how to interpret it.

Even as a Principal I spend a lot of time on powerpoint. +90% of the time I am not correcting formating issues, but instead working on problem solving, logic, communication and evidence.

You will learn how to think and how to communicate. For that, you will use PPT as a medium, but do never ever confuse that with “skills”. There's a graphics team for that (which by the way, does much more than just good looking slides)

Believe me. Otherwise, you will be disapointed to know that you use PPT, Excel and the like during an MBA ;)

P.S. You gain more skills in MBB (and specialized knowledge). You gain a much broader range of knowledge in an MBA.

Congrats on the offer!

As Ian said, it is always good to really think about why you want to work at a certain role before accepting it. The only way to know if a role is right for you is to speak to many people, to read about it and to try and put yourself into the role as much as possible. 

In terms of MBB vs MBA - this is harder. After MBB you will have almost the exact same opportunities as an MBA with higher pay and more responsibilities. You will also have that without sacrificing work and pay. However, an MBA (from a top 7 school) also has advantages such as access to a great network and there is some prestige etc built in to it which can help as you progress in your career (although this is not a guarantee given how rapidly things are changing). At the end of the day this is a personal choice and there is limited professional upside to picking one over another.

Best,

Udayan

(edited)

Hi AB,

Congratulations on the offer (yes, they are going to extend one)!

It depends on your long-term goals: why would you like to do an MBA / develop business acumen? Without knowing it, it is difficult to comment. That's because:

• Having BCG on your CV is going to provide several advantages. 
• However, the utility compared to alternatives (eg an MBA) depends on what you want to do long-term. 

If you want to add that, we would be happy to comment.

Sharing my personal experience: as an entrepreneur, the BCG brand was quite useful for fundraising for my first company (provided validation to investors). In terms of skills, working in venture capital – which I did after BCG – was actually more useful. On the other hand, I don’t think I could have landed that job without the BCG brand in the first place.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hi AB,

First of all, congratulations on the offer!

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 is great to see such critical thinking and reflection! It seems to be rather rare since jobs in the consulting industry are a little hyped over the past years/ decades.
• Given your description, I would advice you to think through what the skills are 1) you want to deepen and 2) that might be meaninful for your mid- and long-term career aspirations. Even if it is not PowerPoint and Excel you learn in consulting, it is worthwhile to question whether you might not get a very similar training in critical thinking/ structuring/ communicating in a corporate development/ corporate strategy role in your industry.
• On a side note, pursuring an MBA is, to my own experience and the ones of my personal network, not a substitute for learning on the job in consulting.

In case you want a more detailed discussion on your most meaningful optinos for your career entry, please feel free to contact me directly.

I hope this helps,

Hagen

(edited)

Hello!

Congrats! And also well done about your critical spirit, it´s precisely the right thing to do before any job. 

I would honestly use this question as a great opportunity to network in the office. They will offer you a million opportunities to talk to people who are inside, and you should take it, particularly in people inside the office that do Pharma. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Hi,

Yes you should receive the offer contract shortly (few days to a couple of weeks) from HR. Congrats for this!

Sounds like you plunged into applying for Consulting without paying the necessary attention to whether this will be the right career option. A lot of people do this.

And yes, PPT will be a huge part of the job but there are many other aspects to being in MBB/Consulting- problem solving, structured thinking, storytelling, communications & relationship building. Check out this article for some guidance on looking at career options and making the right decision: preplounge.com/en/how-do-i-know-which-career-is-right-for-me

All the best!

Hi,

I completely understand where you are coming from, because I have a similar background: I have a master's in healthcare mgmt and worked at a hospital for around 3 years before joining BCG. 

I would suggest considering accepting the offer because:

1. As you are saying, an MBA or a consulting experience would massively upgrade your a) knowledge of the HC sector (as you will work on M&A, marketing, operations projects, etc. for many diverse pharmacos, so you will learn more about the industry dynamics than by staying embedded within one Pharma company as an employee) and b) analytical skills, learning to quickly frame solutions to ambiguous problems,

2. I think consulting wins over MBA, because the experience is active (as opposed to passive learning), practical, specific to your industry, and more advantageous economically (YOU are getting paid as opposed to paying thousands for a piece of paper). 

That being said, I agree with what Ian has said in terms of the job being more demanding than an industry job, and you have to be ready to sacrifice a few things. If I could go back and give myself an advice when I got the offer, I would tell myself to truly pause and think whether I am ready to give up: a few hours of sleep, going to the gym, seeing my friends during the week, etc….

If you do decide to go ahead with accepting the offer, we could chat about how you could better prepare for the first months at BCG. Coming from the industry, I was woefully unprepared for my first project (which happened to also be a DD :)), and doubling down on my excel, mental math, and communication skills helped me level up. So do not hesitate do reach out for more practical tips.