Treks to consulting companies in countries of Interest

Hi there, 

It will certainly help. 

Is it worth the money? Hard to tell. I'm biased here obviously, but for 1k you can hire a coach over several sessions to get an idea of how to network from referrals, a deep understanding of how the firms themselves work internally, develop an application strategy and get prepped for the interviews themselves. 

Best,

Cristian

Hello,

There is absolutely no guarantee whatsoever if they will 1) Invite you for an interview or 2) Give you an offer

However, in my view, consulting treks are worth it because:

1) You will be able to physically see the office and have a very quick taste of the environment of the different firms that you are interested to work with. While most firms will paint a rosy picture, there might be a couple of firms who don't take any effort to explain about their usp, culture etc - which should itself be an observation point for you to note down.

2) You will be able to meet a few of the consultants there and thus mention their names in your cover letter - thus it may make your intention to join the firm more concrete than someone who has not visited.

3) You will be able to name drop these folks, or have some relatively more detailed insights into the company's culture while doing your interviews - which would again show the interviewer your commitment to join the firm.

In summary - it is not a must have, but it is certainly a good to have.

Hope this helps!

Rushabh

Hi there,

Visiting these companies does not gaurentee special consideration for interview invites.

It is networking though and can be helpful with getting interviews.

You need to balance that $1k (plus other spend in country) versus what that can get you elsewhere (courses, coaching etc.). 

You also need to weigh the time cost of doing that trek (and how many companies you will meet) versus all the networking you could do in that same amount of time (linkedin messaging, calls, etc.)

Hello,

To answer your questions:

1. Does this guarantee any special consideration for invites?

• No - this does not guarantee any special considerations
• It will depend on your application quality (and sometimes referral, depending on circumstances)

2. Is there any use going there physically / is it worth it

• My personal POV on this would be to go for it
• This trek is a good to have, but for sure not must have
• However I do believe in serendipity and trying your best to create opportunities for yourself
  • You may end up meeting people that end up helping you a lot (net gain to your current), or you may end up not meeting anyone / gaining experiences that help you (current baseline does not change)
  • To me, there is definitely a higher chance (and already planned, setup etc) of being able to meet people you otherwise wouldn't have met during your coffee chats in your MBA country
• Opportunity cost is real and Ian & Cristian have rightly mentioned this. But whether you should spend that ~$1k on this trek vs hiring a coach, that will really depend on your personal situation and preparedness, to which I don't know enough to comment on

I would say there is usually no downside in meeting folks in person and seeing where they work - but not if you have to pay over a thousand bucks to do that. 

You will not get significant brownie points in your applications and there is no guarantee in terms of interviews. 

I'd say given the circumstances, it might suffice for you to go to campus visits or recruiting events within your reach just to get the overall idea of how consulting firms present themselves. Then try leveraging your network to also get in touch with consultants from firms you aren't able to meet in person etc.

Good luck

Hi there,

It very much depends on the kind of interaction. When I did my MBA, I organized these kinds of trips and always tried to maximize actual facetime between individuals and consultants. However, this was very difficult and value was indeed limited.

In your case, I would make sure to understand the format and who is actually going to participate on the firm's side. The last thing you want is have a large group of students crowd a single, low seniority consultant.

If you're on a budget, you might be able to spend your money more wisely and take part in special firm-organized events, which MBB host for various different groups.

Hope this helps. Best of luck!

Moritz

Hi there,

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• Visiting strategy consulting companies during this trip can provide valuable insights into the firm culture and day-to-day operations. However, it's important to keep in mind that these visits alone do not guarantee any special consideration for interview invites.
• While in-person interactions can be beneficial, it's also possible to establish a relationship with the firm through virtual coffee chats - which you already are doing - or other networking opportunities.
• Ultimately, the value of a company visit will depend on your specific goals and the opportunities available to you. If you're considering the trip, it's important to weigh the costs and potential benefits - including alternatives to spend the money on - to determine whether the investment is worth it for you.

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

If this is a group of select people and small (ish) size under 10 , then it could be worth the $ and time investment. If not, you are better off continuing the coffee chats and remote networking.

I did one when I was doing my MBA. It was an additionaly opportunity to network, but it wasn't very easy to do it, given that there were too many people there, and meetings were short. 

However, in some cases, it was the only opportunity to network with a few companies that didn't come to campus. Meaning that it can be more useful for T2 or boutiques than for MBB. It also gave me the opportunity  to network with some corporates, and for those it was a must. I don't think I would be in their radar otherwise.

But you don't have to think about this only through the perspective of someone who wants to be hired, but also the perspective of someone who wants to choose the best place to work. And to me it provided very valuable insights on the different companies - which were the ones where I felt I would better fit in vs. those I felt were backup options. 

This also provided useful input for fit interview questions. I better understood their culture and people and knew how to press their buttons in order to get an offer (from the “fit” point of view, but also learned a bit more about their interview process).

Finally, it gave me an initial understanding of the city I was applying to. I decided otherwise in the end, but if I decided to move there for the summer it would have been very useful.

Is it worthwhile? If you really want that specific location, I would do it without looking back. If you don't care about that location, then it is a matter of financial availability vs. time availability vs. need to maximize your chances (on time availability: it may be more useful to spend 3 days practicing case interviews, if you think you have good chances of getting an interview).

Hi there,

To be honest, I doubt it is worth paying 1k just for intros.

You can achieve the same with diligent networking and a robust online outreach effort for free. There are great articles and materials out there on networking and referrals…

You can then invest the 1k into interview preparation with coaches, and high-quality materials or use it for a nice vacation. :-))

Cheers,

Florian

Hi there, 

the visit can be interesting to meet the people working at MBB and probably having some informative sessions. But  the visit beyond eventually some useful info will guarantee any privilege in your recruitment. 

Lucie

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