Selectivity based on office

Question

Hey everyone,

I wondered if anyone here can speak to the selectivity of McK and BCG in Greece compared to the DACH region for internships since I noticed that interns in Greece tend to have lesser previous experience in terms of quantity, relevance, and prestige. I also noticed that for some reason, they tend to have a high amount of Greeks who either studied or lived abroad, is that a preference of HR or just a coincidence?

I'd very much appreciate any insight on the specific questions above, but also to the general selectivity compared to DACH for internships!

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Hey there,

I am no insider into the Greek consulting market, hence, I will keep my points at a more general level:

The requirements for internships differ a bit across countries based on the usual experience of students in that country. While in some countries it is the established practice that students go through a couple of internships before applying at McKinsey, in other countries internships are not as common or are only starting to become a thing, hence the screening criteria diverge a bit.

As for the university experience, this often is related to the perceived (!) quality of educational institutions in that country. Every country handles this differently with the definition of target schools.

For instance, in the UK, your chances diminish significantly if you don't have an Oxbrigde background, while other markets even recruit at smaller and local universities. Then again, other countries focus more on schools outside of their own market since they ascribe more prestige and quality to them; Czechia being one such market for instance. Whether this is factually the case is another question...

Hope this helps!

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 2

Hi there,

Just to add to Florian's answer (and, without specific knowledge of the Greek market itself), remember that each market is a bit different but also works the same way. Preference for top local schools is universal. Supply and demand (matching of candidates to positions) influences % success rates. International travel and multiple languages increases your odds as it shows you are a well rounded/life-experienced candidate.

Answer 3

Hi there,

A few thoughts on this:

In some high competitive markets the bar on CV screening tends to be higher. In less competitive markets, the bar on the CV screening tends to be lower. It really depends on the candidate pool.
How an office evaluates a specific candidate really depends on the specific market. In some markets, previous internship experience is less relevant than academics and extracurricular activities.
Having international experience is something that is highly valued by consultancies in Europe. You will be travelling abroad, you need to be good with languages, you need to be sensitive to local cultures... and in any case they want people with a mind open to what is happening in the world (not just their country). So in most countries this is a strong plus for HR.

I know the answers are not specific to Greece or DACH, but I hope this helps.