All questions tagged offer - Consulting Q&A - PrepLounge.com

Hey,

Between SK and ATK which one is a better fit- skills fit, career aspirations, values, risk, benefits & compensation etc? 

If you are someone who takes risks and if ATK is a better fit, then wait. If not accept SK and apologise later. Do it very nicely & dont leave with any mis-understandings as you never know how paths cross in future.

All the best choosing. You are not alone and this happens quite a lot.

Hey there,

Based on the information you provided I'd aim either for option 2 or create another option for yourself:

• keep the current job and apply for the MBA
• apply for MBB directly. Why are not considering this?

My definite advice would be not to take a consulting job with a tier-3 firm that pays 50% less than what you currently make. This is bad in the present and won't have any meaningful impact on your resume for future opportunities.

Cheers,

Florian

Had to do this recently, so I can share my thought process and the feedback I recieved when I had a similar question

1) If you have no doubt the second offer is the better offer for you, the only question remains how you retract your acceptance. Email the recruiter who guided you through the interview process/gave you the offer and set up a call saying you have updates. Let them know your circumstances have changed and you'll have to retract your acceptance. Do not tell them you're going to a competing firm or any details. 

2) If you're unsure between the 2 offers, consider if the benefits offered by the second firm outweigh the benefits from the accepted offer+potential blacklisting by the first firm. 

As to the consequences, I don't believe there are any except a short (or permanent) blacklisting at the firm you retract the offer from. If you have a connection at the firm that referred you/went to bat for you, let them know personally as welll. It shouldn't affect you any other way. Good luck, it does happen all the time.

Hi there,

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Know that no-one can perfectly prepare for the job and that's the point: You will mess up, you will learn, you will be trained and supported. That's OK!

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First: I have a consulting survival guide handbook with 25 key tips for surviving the consulting world. Feel free to message me for it!

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Second: In terms of things you can learn/do to prepare beforehand:

1) Daily Reading

• The Economist, The Financial Times, BCG/Mskinsey Insights

2) Industry deep-dives

• Learn, in-depth, how the industries/companies your office advises, work. (PM me for an industry overview template)

3) Analytics tools

• Alteryx, Tableau, etc.

4) Excel

5) Powerpoint

• Best practices/standards
• Different layouts
• Quickly editing/updating slides
• Thinking in PowerPoint

6) Presentation skills / sharp communication

• There are some online/virtual classes for this

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Third: In terms of doing well in your role when you're there:

1) Understand the context/prompt (what role are you in, what company, who's watching, etc.)

2) Understand the objective (what, specifically, is expected from you...both day to day, and in your overall career progression)

3) Quickly process information, and focus on what's important - Take a lot of information and the unknown, find the most logical path, and focus on that.

4) Be comfortable with the unknown, and learn to brainstorm - think/speak like an expert without being one

In summary, there will always be a flood of information, expectations, competition etc. and not enough time. Find out which ones matter when. (i.e. be visibile and focus efforts on the things that people care about)

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Fourth: Here are some great prior Q&As for you!

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/what-makes-a-good-consultant-how-to-get-a-good-review-6790

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-hard-is-it-to-excel-in-top-consulting-firms-6762

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-become-an-engagement-manager-and-partner-quickly-6722

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/need-to-learn-skills-in-the-ample-free-time-before-starting-at-an-mbb-what-should-i-do-6774

Hello!

This can take up to a week.

Take into consideration that the people who interviewed you + HR need a meeting to debrief, and this is not always easy with how agendas work in COnsulting!

Good luck :)

Cheers,

Clara

Hi there,

So glad to hear that you received an offer and that we were able to help! Don't worry...everything will be fine here. Think about it: All the other firms were fine with this, so why wouldn't McKinsey be? (answer: It's just your nerves).

a. Reach out to your PoC at McKinsey. Whoever emailed you the offer letter and has been setting up the interviews for you.

b. It will not be invalidated. Just explain the situation to them. They will put you in another cohort.

Hello!

I have done 2/3 of those, so if you see yourself in the situation happy to chat about it.

My thoughts:

1. Sometimes you don´t even need to tell them, they will ask you! For instance, when asking for my availability in McK for the interview, they literally asked the question: are you interviewing or have an offer with a deadline with other consulting/similar?
2. Always do this in person or by phone in this case, indicating that you have received a better offer but you still want to to go to Company x, so wondering whether they could help by matching
3. Could be, but I say less common, leverage same approach as 2

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hey,

This is fine and does happen. Just make sure you end on a positive (and apologetic) note with the firm. Dont leave them with any mis-understanding as you never know how paths may cross in future.

All the best.

Hey,

I have provided a lot of insights on Accenture previosuly. Have a look at below threads.

Make a choice based on the firm & role which is a better fit with your career aspirations, values and risk profile. Choices are never perfect as with every other event in life. So remove that pressure.

• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/possibility-of-movement-from-accenture-to-mbbtier-2-8915
• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-does-accenture-strategy-compare-against-t2big4-regarding-compensation-and-exit-opportunities-in-germany-8920
• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/deloitte-consulting-vs-accenture-strategy-consulting-in-europe-9885
• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/what-makes-accenture-strategy-stand-out-besides-the-ability-to-be-involved-in-an-end-to-end-solution-for-the-client-9418
• https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/accenture-strategy-consulting-9886

Congrats and all the best choosing.

Hey,

Most likely your performance in the interviews was a bit lower, and so while they like you, they didnt see you fit at the level.

But this could be speculation..maybe they are tight on budget or something else changed in the backend or they interviewed you for the wrong level from the start and no one explicitly said anything. Happens!

Here's my tips:

• Best understand the details with HR first to see whether feedback is around your level of performance in interviews
• If it indeed is, approach this with win-win in mind. No blame game. Tell them how keen you are make this work and ask for if they are willing to discuss this further
• Be ready with your options- are you convinced you are ready for the next level and have the skills to be succesfull?! Whats the impact on your compensation?! If you have interviewed elsewhere and performed well at the next level, then use this as a negotiating point
• if its an admin error or some other issue, am sure HR themselves will collaborate with you to find a way

Otherwise, take/reject the offer depending how badly you want this and/or have other options brewing.

All the best.

Hey there,

the most important thing upfront: in general it does not have to be a red flag, as it always depends on your personal reasoning behind this.

However, looking at the reasoning you provided above I would recommend you to reconsider your desire to switch that early. Why?

• Broad vs. narrow industry focus is something that should've been clear before joining the firm and as a recruiter it would make me wonder why you didn't have this information clear before deciding to join that firm
• Since you've only been 2-3 months with the firm, you've probably only done one or max. 2 projects, which could raise doubts on whether the narrow focus of industries is really the case, as the next project could be somewhere else

Therefore, I'd recommend you to give it a try of at least a year. If you are truely unhappy and your mind is already fixed on making the switch: Give it a try and send an application to one firm. My guess is that they will be curious and invite you for a first round. Remember:

Making a decision based on the investment you have done in the past is always a bad one; instead: make the decision based on what you expect in the future.

Let me now if this helps you.

Best

Torben

Hi there,

Congratulations on your offers!

I worked at BCG Milan and helped a good number of people to join both companies in Milan. Here are some elements to consider:

• Industries. As you probably already know, Bain is strong in Luxury - which is something you like - plus historically in PE / due diligence. BCG is quite diversified – fewer Financial Service projects than McK, several projects in consumer, energy, industrial goods. BCG Italy is also well connected with the Middle East and related public sector in the area, so if that geography/area is interesting for you that would be a plus
• Clients. Bain in Italy focuses on smaller projects and it is more “entrepreneurial” (you may be staffed with only one manager on a project – which is quite rare at BCG). This is something you may or may not find positive
• MBA. When I joined BCG, it was offering more MBA sponsorship opportunities than Bain. Now things may be different – you may want to check that with Alumni (who are not biased on answers)
• People. Difficult to infer this just based on the interview interaction. My perception was both were a lot more down-to-earth than McKinsey in Italy
• Global Prestige. BCG is bigger and with more alumni worldwide. Everything being the same, it will offer more exit opportunities for that reason

As next steps: I would recommend you talk with as many recent Alumni of the companies as possible to make a decision and help you with the additional questions interesting for you. Unlike current consultants, they won’t be biased and will tell you the truth about their former companies.

If you need more help please PM me.

Best,

Francesco

Hi A,

I agree with Guarav and Adi. Besides this a simple advice: The more junior you are, the less you should now look on the salary - it's important to make the right choice for you and - this is a little bit the ugly truth - for your CV as well.

Let's say you are just starting your career, it will anyhow not pay off to choose ATK if you make a NPV calculation over the upcoming years!

And of course you have to have a gut feeling with the Bain offer too - even if the salary is now lower.

Last but not least: Why not telling Bain, that you got another offer with a higher salary. You've got nothing to lose!

Good look for your start! Jasper

Hi there,

It is not an ideal situation, but it happens, in particular if you have Tier 2 interviews before MBB.

You will be able to turn down the offer. Most of the time you don’t have penalties, however it depends on the law in your country and the contract you signed. I know some cases in China where there was an explicit penalty in the contract if someone signed and then did not join.

If you check the law in your country and your contract and there is nothing about penalties, you are good to go. As Vlad said, the sooner you notify the better, simply because it helps the company to find a replacement.

You are unlikely to be able to join that company in the future, but I guess that’s something you were already expecting.

Best,
Francesco

Hi Francesca,

Congratulations on your offers!

I worked at BCG Milan and helped a good number of people to join both companies in Milan. Here are some elements to consider:

• Industries. As you already know, Bain is strong in Luxury - which is something you like - plus historically in due diligence. BCG is quite diversified – less Financial Service projects than McK, several projects in consumer, energy, industrial goods. BCG Italy is also well connected with the Middle East and related public sector in the area, so if that geography/area is interesting for you that would be a plus
• Clients. Bain in Italy focuses on smaller projects and it is more “entrepreneurial” (you may be staffed with only one manager on a project – which is quite rare at BCG). This is something you may or may not find positive
• MBA. When I joined BCG, it was offering more MBA sponsorship opportunities than Bain. Now things may be different – you may want to check that if an MBA is relevant for you
• People. Difficult to infer this just based on the interview interaction. My perception was both were a lot more down-to-earth than McKinsey in Italy
• Global Prestige. BCG is bigger and with more alumni worldwide. Everything being the same, they will offer more exit opportunities for that reason

As next steps: I would recommend you talk with as many recent Alumni of the companies as possible to make a decision. Unlike current consultants, they won’t be biased and will tell you the truth about their former companies.

If you need more help please PM me.

Hope this helps,
Francesco

Firms often include clauses in offers that make them conditional - things like Force Majeur (e.g. COVID), red flags in the background check (i.e. you lied on your CV) and sometimes even more broader reasons would allow them to terminate the contract in those cases. Read the offer and contract carefully for these type of claues.

Do you have any reason to believe they would try to do so?

Hi there,

Sometimes it's really hard to say no, right?

Here are some useful tips:

1. A phone call is better than just an email. Adding the personal touch is never a weakness.
2. Don't make them wait for too long for you reply.
3. You want to be polite and stick to the facts why you reject an offer, not to the judgments.

These steps will help you to keep the doors open and stay in touch with the recruiter/company.

Hope it was helpful and good luck!

GB

Congratulations for the offer!

I'd recommend to reaching out to them. Nothing bad will happen if you don't, buit it never hurts to keep the connection alive to establish a connection already before you arrive in the office. See it more as the first step into your career.

Hi Rami,

There is no easy way to do this, and it involves disappointing people that believed in you. I find that being honest is usually a safe bet. Be direct and to the point (like ripping a bandaid)

Something like -

I am terribly sorry to do this but I just accepted an offer from another company I was interviewing with. I find that I am a better fit with them given xx and yy and in the long run this would be a better option for me. I really appreciate all of the time spent with me on the process and I apologize about the last minute change of heart on my end but do hope you will understand.

All the best,

Udayan

In the words of my mentor "an offer is valid until you consider it". Now, do not take that to an extreme but I would say that 3-4 weeks is perfectly normal time to have to consider an offer.

Before extending the time, if you feel prepared, I would ask other firms to shorten their interview time because you have another offer.

Techniques to extend time:

• Be honest: tell them you have other interviews and since you already made plans you would like to complete them to be fair
• Negotiate terms of offer: you can negotiate sign-on bonus, tenure (if applicable), start date
• Personal reasons (if applicable): e.g. need to discuss with SO to make sure is right decision

Hope it helps,

Andrea