Career planning, KPMG to MBB vs Cisco to MBB?

Hi There,

Congrats on your offers! There is no right or wrong choice here. Here are some perspectives:

1. Joining KPMG Consulting may help you better in preparing your transition to MBB as you should have a better consulting toolkit with you
2. However, you might have less distinction/uniqueness compared to others (who might also apply from Big 4 or Tier 2)
3. Joining CISCO, on the other hand, may give you the edge in terms of positioning yourself - you might have a more compelling & unique story
4. However, you need to be cautious about your work at CISCO. If the work is something that strategic in nature, then it's a good direction, otherwise you need to really work hard to transition yourself

For me personally, I would choose CISCO, but I will make sure I get strategic exposure and start preparing my CV & case since the beginning.

Hope this helps!

Hi Anonymous,

Whereas for KPMG it's obvious what you are/were doing in this job position (assuming you are in the consulting business there), for Cisco you need to ensure you are in a position which prepares you well for a consulting position in MBB.

In short: Generally speaking both are good options, but to make a statement it really depends on what exactly your position will be at Cisco.

Hope this helps - if so, please be so kind and give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

Dear A,

Thank you very much for your question and first of all my congratulations to your offers! This is already a great start!

If you were to transfer within consulting after two years, I think that in this situation you should rather take the KPMG offer and do your best in order to get a promotion to next level as faster as possible. Afterwrds, you can apply to MBB, but bare in mind that you will be downgraded.

If you need any further career advice or help on how to prepare for the first 100 days in consulting, feel free to reach out and I'm happy to help you.

Good luck,

André

Hi,

both can be valid for a future career move to MBB. It really depends on your background and on the specific role you are going to cover there. Especially for non-generalist positions in MBB (e.g. implementation, digital, advanced analytics, ...) the role you are going to cover is crucial.

Best,
Antonello

KPMG by far. The CSAP program is good but you will most likely need to do an MBA to go from there to MBB

Best,

Udayan

Hello,

Both of them could be fine, but I would prefer KPMG if you don't have a strategic component in your role at CISCO. In addition, you should be aware that coming from CISCO would give you a boost toward digital consulting (e.g. BCG Gamma, McKinsey Digital ecc).

Best,
Luca

Hi,

I suggest you have a look at this thread : Possible to go from (Cisco/VMware) to MBB?

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/possible-to-go-from-ciscovmware-to-mbb-6976

David

Hi there,

I think it depends on the office location you are considering - Some offices look highly at Big4 experience, some don't.

I recommend you look up to see how many MBB consultants are KPMG/EY/PWC/etc. alumni vs. Cisco/Oracle/etc. Alumni.

Also, it is important to note that your performance and achievements in either one of them is very important in order to have an impressive CV for MBB.

I hope this helps.

Khaled

KPMG if looking to join MBB as a Generalist

Cisco if looking to join MBB as a specialist (i.e. McKinsey Digital, BCG Platinion, etc)