Hi there,
Congratulations on the offers! In terms of exits, they are related to the projects/geographies where you will work. Therefore likely exits will be:
- Tier-2 tech London ⮕ Tech in EU
- MBB in Dubai ⮕ Big companies in the ME - could be a variety of sectors from O&G to Hospitality according to the industries where you will work (I have a few friends in MBB there and they regularly receive offers from big state-owned companies)
You can double-check the exits for your specific companies as follows:
- Look for alumni of the Tier 2 and your MBB on LinkedIn
- Check how many moved to your preferred exits in a region
- Normalize for the size of the Tier 2 and your MBB in the region
I would not bet on work-life balance in consulting regardless of the company and geography, so personally I would not focus much on it. Instead, I would consider the following:
- Where do you want to be in 5-10 years? Look at the company that can help you to achieve that goal faster. As mentioned, you can check LinkedIn for that. If you don’t have specific preferences, the MBB brand is stronger.
- If you consider the average consultant/partner you talked to in each company, which one would you rather be? Quoting Jim Rohn, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You will spend a lot of time with your colleagues in the next years - be sure you choose a company where the people are close to the person you want to become.
- What is your gut feeling telling you? Our gut feeling is able to catch elements we cannot initially rationalize. You may “feel” a company is better, but don’t know exactly why. Try to find out why you feel that way, do some research on that and try to understand if that point is valid.
If you want to do extra due diligence and possibly learn more about work-life balance, you can contact Alumni of your university (not current consultants) that worked in that office (bonus if they worked for both companies). You will learn more in a 30min call with them than with any online research you may do.
Personally, assuming that (i) the MBB option aligns with your exits, (ii) you had a good impression from the team and (iii) you are fine with the region, I would go for MBB in Dubai (the international experience + brand + zero tax is a nice combo!), but you have to consider your own priorities. If you want to work in tech, see exits to your desired companies from the Tier 2 and prefer Europe, the Tier 2 could be a good option as well.
Best,
Francesco