My hunch is that the learning curve you're going through in the first few years of your career is similar for MBB and the Tier 2 firms.

What's different is the topics you're working on (to a certain extent) and the brand value of the firms. Employers of alums simply piggy-back on the competitive application process and high-pressure environment during your career progression at MBB and trust the big brands more than smaller ones. (i.e. "If they made it into MBB and survived the grind for 3 years, they must be a strong candidate")

Different topics add a bit to that (e.g. working on more high-level stratgic questions for the CEO, rather than the COO). However, I doubt that this will have a big impact unless you're making the change at a more senior point in your career.

Hello !

I would say a few factors:

1. Scope and responsability: really high from the beggining
2. Continous feedback
3. Learning from the best: since the seniors are really intelligent and driven people

On top, it´s true that they hire top performers, hence part of that qualify and fast learning was there before joining hte firm.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Signalling

Top-tier universities (Harvard, Yale, etc.) do not teach students better than the next top 10-50. However, to get into them, you have to be "better".

Same thing here. MBB doesn't fundamentally train you better than the other top consultancies. However, to get in, on average, you have to be "better". This also means you're more likely to get mentored/led by the "best".

But, mostly, we live in a market of lemons, and you have to signal your value.

(edited)

Hey there,

Your question is very broad and will depend on what exit options you are thinking of as you wont become sought after for every job if you are working for MBB. Generally speaking, if you end up working for a global consulting firm for 2 years+ & really apply yourself, regardless of whether its MBB or someone else, you will end up learning problem solving, structured thinking, relationship building and communication skills for sure. And you can then go places from there. But being very specific, if you want to learn Strategy work focused on C-suite then MBB is the best place to be or for Technology Consulting & Implementation work Accenture will be a better option. So it really depends on the type of work & geographic location. A particular consulting firm is not a market leader in every geography.

Have a look at these threads too

• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/top-tiertier2tier3-consulting-firms-666
• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/whats-the-best-exit-you-have-heard-of-so-far-546