Hello everyone,
After 2 years of in-house consulting at a DAX company in France I have received two offers
T2 Consulting (Roland Berger, Oliver Wyman)
Big4 Strategy (Monitor, Parthenon)
At first glance, it is clear that you should choose the better brand, in this case T2. However, in my case, I am very specialized in one topic (Venture Architect) and some mentioned Big4 Strategy consultancies are much more strongly represented there than RB, for example.
Should I defy the brand and start at a Big4 consultancy and pursue my passion? Or start with Big4 Strategy and switch later for the "brand"?
Some people who later made the exit in this area (venture leads) were more likely to have been at a Big4 or sometimes only have boutique experience. However, this observation is based on a small sample.
Looking forward to your feedback
I think I should add here that for the big 4 strategy consulting units, I am considered as a senior consultant, whereas for the other companies, I am just a consultant on a 2nd level (after first promotion round) Would that change something in your assessment? Wouldnt it make sense to join as a senior consultant and move rather quickly to tier 2 to leverage that quick promotion?
(edited)
Hi there, I don’t think long-term the difference in seniority will matter much compared to other elements (in particular the exit opportunities). Additionally, if you move to the Big 4 and then to the Tier 2, they might not recognize the same seniority and ask to join at a lower level, so also in that case that might not matter. Hope this helps
What would you say, if I wanna be a freelance consultant later on? Would you change your opinion then?
Hi there, there are many variables related to that (eg what exactly you would like to do as a freelancer). In general, I would still recommend the method indicated above to assess exits. Hope this helps