How long to stay at MBB?

Hey,

You need at least 2-3 years to learn consulting skills & become a credible consultant. Demonstrate your entreprenural skills on the job and see what feedback/reaction you get. Great way to get trained. Stay for as long or as little time but make sure you align this to your personal values, future aspirations & risk apetitie. The day these things are not in alignment, thats the day you leave & move on new things. 

Final word- dont get into consulting for the wrong reasons- what people say/do, peer pressure, money, impatience etc..trust me you will get frustrated in 3 months!

Good luck!

Hi there,

Congrats on the offer!

If you decide to go with MBB, do make sure you aim for 1.5 to 2 years. Leaving earlier is generally not a great sign.

In regards to the startup, this is the risk-reward you have to balance. MBB is low risk-high reward...hard to go against this! That said, if the startup is your passion, and you'd regret not doing it, you need to see your dreams out.

That also said, if the startup fails, you're left with nothing, whereas if you do MBB and then a startup, then you at least have a brand name on your resume and can land on your feet.

Hi A,

2 years is indeed the minimum, if you leave people (headhunters and esp ex-MBB ppl) will assume you got fired or underperformed heavily - dont do it.

How long you stay depends on what the immediate next step is. Corporate? Stay a bit longer, ideally project leader role. MBA? 2 years enough, 3 would be better. PE / IB / other finance role, 2 years enough depending on your specific case and practice experience.

If you feel passionate about trading, go get a CFA and MBA, join a top hedge fund to learn as much as you can to even further boost your startup. I d only commit 100% on the startup full-time if it demonstrates certain characteristics as Vlad pointed out (i.e. 10-30% growth p.a., decent margins, and a minimum cash flow stream to finance your life).

If you decide to leave MBB, make sure not to burn any bridges, so you could always go back in case your plans dont work out.

Best,
Denis

Hi there,

It depends on the Exit:

• For corporate: agree with the other coaches, 2 years is usually the minimum
• For startups: no strict timeline if you are the founder. I know people who left after few months and did very well. However, you are going to direct your career in a very different direction (not necessarily a bad thing). The MBB brand is going to be very useful for fundraising. If you can avoid having the summer internships only, that would be a bit better as would validate you more. However, as Vlad mentioned, if your startup has strong traction now, you should definitely consider focusing on that now.

If you need more help please feel free to PM me, I worked in VC and started a few companies after MBB.

Best,
Francesco

Hello!

This was my case too in the McK office, I was a summer BA before returning full time. 

In my case, it was clear, since I truly enjoyed the summer. Indeed, all summer BAs came back. 

I would strongly advise you to stay a couple of years in MBB before going to the startup world. It´s going to give you the brand, foundation and contacts, all of them fundamental! You will always have the time to go to the startup world later, and probably, this does not apply to MBB offers. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Hey there,

I'd suggest a two-year minimum period to leverage benefits from the experience, which is exit opps, actual learnings, building a network, enjoying parts of the lifestyle, etc.

The benefits related to exit opportunities of staying with MBB fully materialize at to Manager/ EM/ Project leader role though.

Cheers,

Florian

Many people stay in consulting as they don't konw what they want to do beyond or feel they want to get more training in order to do so. The 2 year benchmark (I would say the range is more 1.5-3 years) generally comes from the period where it is deemed that one would have acquired the full consultant toolkit and apprenticeship as well as possibly a promotion. Leaving after just a summer internship will not be enough for you to be considered ex-MBB but employers will appreciate that you have been successful joining a competitive firm.

Hi there, 

the average time spent in consulting is 2-3 years. Most of them quit because of: 

• work-life balance & stress
• learned enough and ready to work with something new

If you want a career in consulting, you stay as long as it works for you. If you have interesting exit opportunities in sight, I advise you to quit after 1.5-2 years minimum.

Congrats on your offer!

Cheers, 

GB

Hi,

If your startup demonstrates decent traction - go for it. By Decent traction, I mean 3x+ annual growth and investors ready to give you money. In that case, it really doesn't matter for how long you stay in consulting. You are at risk of slowing down the growth if you stay.

If MBB is not aligned with your long-term objective, even partially - feel free to leave.

If you want to build a corporate career - I would recommend staying for 2+ years

Best

Hi, I confirm the average permanence in consulting is 2-3 years, depending on the office. I would recommend at least 1.5/2 years to have a significant experience in your cv and to gain the most important consulting skills

Best,
Antonello

I have seen people who have left in 2 weeks and those that have never left. Each and every one of them have eventually gone on to succeed in their chosen path over time. Regardless of what you do you will be fine. Congratulations and all the best to you!

Udayan

Generally speaking it's a good idea to stay around for 1 promotion cycle. By that point you'll have picked up a lot of the actual value consulting offers as a starter career. This will help you in your career in the long-term.