European B-school to MBB prospect

Question

Hi Everyone,
As someone who is from India and does not speak any European language ( excluding English), should I be considering an offer from school like HEC Paris for MBA if my primary goal to do MBA is to get into consulting.

While the school maintains that MBB are 3 of their top recruiters, I also heard from a few folks that most of the MBB recruitment from schools like HEC / IESE / SDA / IMD are for those who have proficiency to conduct business meeting in one of the languages ( eg: French / German / Spanish ).

Any insight would be very helpful.

Answer 1

Hello There,

From personal experience, having done an MBA from European school, language is never going to be a roadblock when it comes to getting into consulting. Knowing a specific language does open more gates for you in terms of applying to specific offices, but you always have plenty of openings in Amsterdam, UK, and ME offices. Just do your due diligence as some of the European schools are not in the preferred list of universities for some of the big consulting firms. Nonetheless, right networking can get you past that screening hurdle for any company.

happy to connect offline to clarify any further concerns you might have.

Good luck

Answer 2

Hello,

If you are looking to get into consulting post-MBA, the questions I would consider for each school are:
- Is this a target school for my desired firm(s)?
- How many students (# and % of class) are hired into consulting each year from the school?

On the language requirement, the bigger question is where you want to work post-MBA. Language requirements are determined by office. For example, you will need German for Germany offices, French for Paris, etc.

If you are targeting offices that require English only, consider locations like Canada, US, UK, Middle East, Australia. In my case, I went to a European school (INSEAD) and went to BCG Dubai where the only language required is English.

Answer 3

Hi there,

Not really sure what the problem is. MBB generally recruit actively from all/most European top schools. This includes international offices, such as Dubai & Singapore.

Also, you can try locations like UK, Australia, US, etc. You wouldn’t be the first one to make it from HEC into MBB abroad (check linkedin).

I do agree, however, that locations like Germany, France, Spain, etc. are off-limits because of language (but then again, I got into McKinsey in Chile with A2 Spanish at best…).

Hope this helps a bit! Best of luck!

Answer 4

“I also heard from a few folks that most of the MBB recruitment from schools like HEC / IESE / SDA / IMD are for those who have proficiency to conduct business meeting in one of the languages”

This is incorrect advice. What happens is that MORE candidates in those schools will be applying to the local/nearby offices, and for those you need to speak the local language. But you can just as well apply from those schools to any office, and if in the target office english is the required language, your interviews will be in English.

Answer 5

Hi,

If you are looking to be based in one of the major European offices after MBA, then most likely language requirements will be key! Although most offices employ English as a main language but this could not be the case from the client perspective. But do check this with the school & alumni. In addition please thoroughly research on Visa/work permit requirements & sponsorship requirements and factor this into your finances and overall job search time window.

You can also use the MBA and school's network to interview for other offices- UK, SEA, US. Again, keep in mind that London, Dubai, NY etc are hypercompetitive, so you need to plan & network well

All the best.

Answer 6

Hi there,

Just because you are going to a European school doesn't mean you will be recruiting in Europe.

Just as a reference point, I am actively coaching 5 candidates from Insead alone. Their offices? London, Boston, Middle East, Singapore, Sydney.

I do think you need to network with each school individually though to better understand their typical hiring pipelines.

Answer 7

Hi there,

I think the topic has been covered well by my colleagues, but here is my honest advice:

1. Take claims such as “office language doesn't matter, you can get in regardless of your level” with a huge grain - fistful rather - of salt. As someone from a developing country and not a native English speaker, my experience has been as follows: while my European colleagues were forgiven for their intermediate language level, there was a lot more scrutiny in that regard when it came to my non-European colleagues. In my own work at BCG, I had to rely on my office's languages every day without fail, not only for team and client interactions, but also in making slides and studying documents.

2. I believe that if you want to work in the US, a US school in your resume will give you a major advantage. Other than that, I think the schools you've listed are quite attractive (I went to SDA myself, and I know their MBA ranks first now according to some sources)

Hope this helps,

Answer 8

Hi there,

the top MBAs at European schools are in English, regardless of the country where they are, hence just choose a school that fits the best your objectives.

Lucie

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