Philip Morris vs Small company

Hi there,

As someone who was with the BCG recruiting team and did CV screening for more than 3 years (screened a couple thousands of CVs easily), I think if you goal is for the generic consulting route in MBB, Philip Morris would give you much better credibility and thus higher chance of getting through the screening stage. Nicer title with a no-name company is hard to attract screener's attention. The screeners read >100 CVs in one batch, they look for key words of credentials. That might not be ideal but it is just the reality.

Best,

Emily

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From perspective of getting new experience, learning business practices for the future career Philip Morris is the better choice. This company has a grounded and solid approach regarding consumer sales and marketing strategies and tools, market research, forecasting, digital channel expertise and business intelligence. On top of that, You will get a valuable interaction experience with peers, cross-functional working that You can leverage on the future assignments within this company (PM provides excellent career choice opportunities with global exposure and international assignments)

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Hi there,

unless you are targeting a data science position later on and the smaller companies offers you great opportunity to provide some kind of visible impact, I would favour the Philp Morris offer.

MBB tends to put strong emphasis on the brand. Experience in small firms could be good if it helps to shows entrepreneurial drive, but usually requires that you are a co-founder or anyway have a position to generate a strong impact.

An experience in consulting, even a 3rd Tier, would be even better than any of the two.

Best,

Francesco

Hello!

It depends, if your target is going for MBB, you need to choose whatever enhances most your value proposition.

Try to value both offers in terms of:

• Responsabilities given: not only in terms of scope, but also in quantifiable impact, people management, etc.
• Role description: look for deepening your insights in product/project management, etc.
• International brand
• etc

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hello,

if the small company will give you big responsibilities like being a real project manager I would choose that, otherwise go for Philip Morris.
Generally speaking, if the goal is to get an offer from an MBB, I would follow this order of priority:

1. Tier-2 or Tier-3 consulting companies
2. In-house consulting company
3. Start-up that can give you big responsibilities developing you entrepreneurial drive
4. Big company with a strong brand name
5. Small company

Hope it helps,
Luca

(edited)

Hi,

If your plan is to apply for a data science role at MBB - it makes sense to have a similar role even at the small company.

If you are going for a generalist - you should go for a better brand

Best

Hi Alex,

The question you need to ask is this: in which job will you get more responsibilities, more opportunities to prove yourself and more exposure to the senior management? I would go for a position in a small team where as a junior team member you can make a real difference. This kind of experience you can then really sell to MBB as your value proposition. On the contrary, if you work in a big team with hierarchical structures and little exposure beyond your immediate boss – this will be a hardly unique growth experience. So, in a nut shell: think of which one of those will be more exciting for you and which one will boost your professional development more and go for it.

Best,
Daniel

Hi,
if your main target is MBB I would go for PMI. The brand is very important to strengthen your CV and you future application

Best,
Antonello