Hi all!
As an American attending Bocconi University in Milan for my Masters, I'm looking to apply to internships at MBB firms in Europe. Unfortunately I'm not eligible to apply to the Italian offices since I don't speak Italian at a C2 level, and I've heard London is extremely competitive to get accepted to. Can anyone recommend European offices which accept English speakers and would be open to hiring non-locals? Thanks in advance!
Hi Anya,
As someone not from Europe, not speaking any other leaguage except English, I was hired by McKinsey in Frankfurt after my MBA at HEC Paris. Over the years, I have seen 'only English' speakers getting hired in following offices:
1. London
2. Dublin
3. Amsterdam
4. Brussels
5. Frankfurt
6. Luxemberg
7. Geneva
It is always a good idea to connect and speak to some current consultants in these offices before applying. Hope this helps. Feel free to ping me in case you want to discuss this further.
Cheers,
GB
(edited)
I would not write off London just because it is difficult. Other offices to look at - Amsterdam and the Nordic offices.
Thank you so much for the input - I'll definitely keep that in mind!
Dear A,
You can definitely consider London office, also, offices in Amsterdam and Brissels as your top priority, Copenhagen and Storckholm, as well as you might also try Central Europe, in particular Geneva and Zurich offices.
But in general, it's pretty difficult in Europe to get into MBB consulting without knowing local language. So if that's possible for you, local language also will be an advantage for you, so you can start learning it early.
Wish you best of luck,
André
Thank you for the comment Andre!
Hi there,
Also, in terms of deciding between any of these, apply to the one where you have networked, have some contacts, and, if possible, where you have some existing experience (i.e. have worked in, travelled to, have family in, etc.)!
Thanks for the advice!
Hi Anya,
Happy to see in the forum a Bocconi Alumna ;)
In Europe you can target the following :
In all the others, it is very likely you will need to know a local language nowadays.
If you want expand outside, there is also The Middle East.
Out of them, the one where you could find easier to be invited for interviews (in normal conditions – now is a bit crazy everywhere) is probably the Middle East, as they recruit heavily from abroad.
However, please be aware that for all this geographies above it will be extremely difficult to land an invitation without a referral, as (i) they are targeted by many people who focus on English speaking countries only and (ii) you are not physically present in the region, nor probably have work experience in those areas.
A referral will also be useful to understand the best timeline to apply, in particular given the current situation with the virus. As a consequence, I would structure the process as follows:
STEP 1: Polish your CV and Cover
STEP 2: Find a good referral in the geographies interesting for you
STEP 3: Apply via referral only
As for how referrals work, you can find more information at the link below:
https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/hey-everyonehope-all-is-well-3176
If you are interested to know more about the referral process, please feel free to PM me.
Best,
Francesco
Hi Francesco - thank you for the feedback! This is very helpful to read. I'm now considering if I should apply to offices in the US instead since my citizenship is there, but will definitely take your comments into account.
Thank you for sharing! That's very helpful, I'll definitely ping you if other questions come up