Which MBB has more strategy projects?

Hi there,

This is indeed an interesting question which is probably relevant for a lot of users, thus I am happy to provide my perspective on it:

• All of the major strategy consulting firms, including McKinsey, BCG, and Bain, have a strong focus on strategy consulting and offer a wide range of strategy-related projects to their consultants. In general, you can expect to work on a mix of corporate strategy, business unit strategy, and functional strategy projects at any of these firms, depending on your specific interests and the needs of the clients.
• That being said, the specific mix of projects that is available to you may vary depending on the office and geographic region in which you work. For example, a particular office or region may have a stronger focus on certain types of industries or functional areas, which could influence the types of strategy projects that are available.
• Ultimately, the best way to get a sense of the types of projects that are available at a particular firm is to do your own research and to reach out to current or former consultants at the firm to get their perspective. This can help you get a better understanding of the types of projects that are commonly available and the types of skills and expertise that are in demand at the firm.

In case you want a more detailed discussion on what to do in your specific situation, please feel free to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hello,

Here are my thoughts:

1) All MBB and even Tier 2 firms have a lot of strategy projects. As you rightly pointed out, this does depend per geography, per partner, the time of the year and a bunch of other things.

2) One differentiator that MBB and Tier 2 consulting firms have over Big 4, is that you can always express your interest to the staffing team and say that you absolutely do not want to work on any PMO work. They will try their best to accomodate, but you may have to compromise a bit on other areas, e.g. you may have to work on a travel project, or with a partner who is difficult, etc.

Hope this helps. Feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any further questions.

All the best!

Rushabh

Hey there,

Not sure you're thinking in the right categories. One strategy project may be completely different from the next, and there's also a lot of projects that you might like that are neither PMO nor strategy related.

Generally speaking, every MBB should offer what you're looking for (whatever that is) at a global level. The breadth of the work is just amazingly vast and there's something in it for everyone. That may be different at a regional level, which is why you should start networking and engaging with people from your regions of interest.

If you need any help to navigate MBB for networking, feel free to reach out.

Best,

Moritz

Hi there,

This is a far too all-encompassing question…

This completely depends on role, region, timing, etc.

You do realize that McKinsey office x could have 50 projects and Bain office x could have 10 projects, but if McKinsey has 500 consultants and Bain has 10 you're looking at a very different situation right?

Network

From there, you'll see at the time at which you are applying, for the role + office you are applying, which MBB has the projects that you most want.

Hi there, 

As a percentage, I have no idea, but I expect that all MBBs have a similar share of strategy projects. 

‘Strategy’ is tricky to define on its own, since all projects have a component of strategy. What I believe is relevant for you is knowing that certainly there will be plenty of strategy projects to join once you are in MBB. 

However, I wouldn't make this the core motivation of why to move to MBB. I'm sure that your Big4 firm also does strategy projects (perhaps not as many as MBB), so you might also want to consider on the short term getting staffed on these sort of projects. 

A transfer to MBB would also make sense, but it's a longer timeline since you'd need to apply, prepare for the interviews and once you get the offer, wait for the starting date. You could get the strategy experience even sooner in your own firm. 

Best,

Cristian

All the MBB have a pretty equal number of strategy projects at any given time, but it will depend not only on the office but also the specific sector (where each company has their strengths).

Hello!

As you very well say, this is totally dependent on the region. What McK dominates in market A can be a monopoly for BCG in market B. Which regions are you targetting? (mostly derived from language and visa restrictions). 

Cheers, 

Clara