Oliver Wyman Vs. Strategy&

Hello!

Congrats on your offers. 

Some toughts: 

• Prestige-like Oliver Wyman is a stronger brand. It also depends on the sub-segment where you want to specialize (e.g., they are super strong in banking)
• Pay-wise, OW is going for sure to offer quite some more
• Regarding possibility to do an MBA after, chances are higher with OW -altough is not super common either-. 
• Alumni and carreer progression is similar

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the offers!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

I would highly advise you to opt for the option that better aligns with your professional (and maybe even personal) mid- to long-term goals. In order to make an informed decision, I would advise you to do the following:

• Weigh the different criteria that are meaningful to you independently of the current options (e.g., prestige, culture, international exposure, compensation, location). After that, score the two options based on your criteria and their weighting, resulting in two scores. This way, you have covered the left-brain perspective.
• Critically assess your initial reaction to the outcome of the scores. For instance, if you feel the urge to tweak the numbers, this is a solid indicator that you do not want this decision to become reality. This way, you have covered the right-brain perspective.
• By doing so, you will be able to integrate both parts of the brain into the decision-making, guaranteeing a higher chance that you will still be happy with it years later.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi Anonymous,

Both options work fine for transferring to MBB. Specifically for McKinsey I coached canidates from both Oliver Wyman and Strategy&, and both transferred successfully to McK.

From my observation and feedback received from those candidates, the specific company did not really matter, but a) their expertise and b) their performance during recruiting.

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

Robert

Hi there,

congratulations on your offers!

They both offer opportunities to move to MBB later on. In general the perception of the OW brand is stronger (I think it is reflected in the previous comments as well), but there are regional differences (in the Middle East for example the Strategy& brand is pretty strong).

To have a proper reference, I would research the number of alumni moving to MBB in your geography for both, weighting it for the size of the local office – you should be able to easily do that using LinkedIn.

Best,

Francesco

Dear A,

It depends on the on the geography. If you have both pffers in the Middle Easr, then I would definitely recommend you to go for Strategy& as it has a way greater recognition, in terms of brand network and projects in the Middle East comparing to Oliver Wyman. 

But, if you're applying in the other geography, I would rather go for Oliver Wyman, because in the rest of the world Oliver Wyman is percieved more positively than Startegy&. And in general, it has more healthy working culture. 

Hope it helps,

If you have any further qiestions, feel free to reach out,

Wish you best of luck,

André

If it were me, I would pick OW over Strategy&. Not only for brand, but Strategy& has had a lot of issues since being acquired (changed) by PwC - it works for some, not for others.

That being said, you do need to also consider what you fit best with in terms of office, culture, people you've met, industry/function, etc.

Hi, to make a better decision it is important to also consider the country. However, generally speaking, Oliver Whyman is better when we talk about strategic consulting. It is indeed always considered tier 2. S& instead in some countries is tier 3

Best,
Antonello

Hi,

Both have strong history of becoming a stepping stone to MBB, however, OW is more well known as Financial Services specialist while Strategy& is more diverse in terms of Industry. So that might help in making your decision.

Hello,

Generally speaking OW has a stronger brand, but it depends on the country. Both of them are quite fine to join MBB later, but bear in mind that OW is mainly focused on financial services and has usually higher salaries.

Try to get some information also on the MBA policy, that would be an interesting way to get an MBB offer.

Best,
Luca

Hi There,

I see both have quite strong prestige and well-known brand. If you want to transition to MBB later on, both actually help you to transition better. In some offices, either one could be more well-known in particular industries (e.g. in OW in SEA - banking). So, that can be one of your considerations in picking either one.

Hi there,

Congrats on the offers.

Both are similarly good options - each region has different rankings in terms of prestige.

However, both of them should give you the same chance for an MBB transfer later on.

Best of luck

Khaled

Hello 

I would add something to what has already been said, OW have a WW staffing policy, which could be awsome or a huge constraint depending on people ,...

You definitely need to think about that ! 

David