Hey there, everyone. I hope you’re all doing well. The email below is a follow-up from a reader who sent me a query over the summer. I actually wrote my response below to him about a month ago, but, somehow, the email got lost in one of my folder, so I’m just now getting to posting it. His questions are general enough that other folks might benefit from my responses, so here we go…
—–
YK wrote:
“I agree with your remark but the problem is a little bit more complicated than that.
Let’ s divide the problem into it’s components (I have prepared a lot of case interview lately
)
The subquestions are:
How much does it help a MBA candidate to come out of a reknown consulting company vs to come out of a less known firm? By major companies i mean big 4 (PWC, Deloitte, Bearingpoint, Capgemini) and strategy consulting (mck, bcg, bain…)
How entrepreneurial are those major consutling companies? Do you really have the possibility to take initiatives? I tend to believe that a company that is highly structurated and methodological as they are, cannot leave much room for entrepreneurship…
I have 2 extra questions.
I am about to reapply to [your employer]. 2 years ago, I made it to the 2nd round but was not invited for the final round. I know that you were a succesfull reapplicant yourself, do you have any advices for me?
How important is age in an application? I have heard today that 29 is already too old for Stanford and Harvard.
Thank you very much for your help again.
When I start asking too much question do not hesitate to yell.
Rgds,
YK”
—–
My response:
YK,
OK, I’ve still got several people in the queue ahead of you, but I think I can knock out your questions pretty quickly, so i wanted to hit you back now. i’ll address your questions in order:
“How much does it help a MBA candidate to come out of a reknown consulting company vs to come out of a less known firm? By major companies i mean big 4 (PWC, Deloitte, Bearingpoint, Capgemini) and strategy consulting (mck, bcg, bain…)” –> This is a question that you should really be asking to an admissions person because, as you know, I’ve never worked in an admissions office. I’d say that the reputation of the firm plays some role, but that the more important part is what you’re able to do in that firm. So, if you’re in a well-known firm and don’t do much of anything there, it might have less impact than going into a lesser-known firm and really making your presence and impact felt. A lot of that will be communicated through the way you frame it in your essays, but your recommendations will be HUGE in this respect.
“How entrepreneurial are those major consutling companies? Do you really have the possibility to take initiatives? ” –> I’d say that the major consulting companies give younger consultants a chance to participate in some initiatives, but I would stop short of calling them “entrepreneurial”. Those firms have been around for so long that it’s difficult for people coming into nowadays to implement something that is truly new. So, you’d have the opportunity to take some initiative and drive certain things, but not necessarily new, ground-breaking things. Also, you should remember that there will be a lot of y’all trying to show this sort of initiative, so be mindful of that.
“I am about to reapply to [your employer]. 2 years ago, I made it to the 2nd round but was not invited for the final round. I know that you were a succesfull reapplicant yourself, do you have any advices for me?” –> I’m pretty sure that I’ve written a couple entries about this topic before, so I’m going to give you a quick response. My main advice would be for you to start practicing for the case interviews immediately and for as much time as you can devote to it. I would recommend getting a good case prep book and going through the thinking of doing the case as much as you can. Also, if possible, enlist a couple of friends or family members to do cases with you so you can get an idea of what it’s really like to have someone apply pressure to you while you’re walking through a case.
“How important is age in an application?” –> I just wrote a blog entry about this, so I suggest you look through some of the recent entries and check out my other response. In short, B-schools look at an applicant’s total package, so age wouldn’t necessarily disqualify you. You’ll need to make sure you present a strong overall application package and you should be in good shape.
I hope this helps. Take care and good luck with your business school and consulting firm applications.
-Marquis
—–
YK wrote:
“I agree with your remark but the problem is a little bit more complicated than that.
Let’ s divide the problem into it’s components (I have prepared a lot of case interview lately
) The subquestions are:
How much does it help a MBA candidate to come out of a reknown consulting company vs to come out of a less known firm? By major companies i mean big 4 (PWC, Deloitte, Bearingpoint, Capgemini) and strategy consulting (mck, bcg, bain…)
How entrepreneurial are those major consutling companies? Do you really have the possibility to take initiatives? I tend to believe that a company that is highly structurated and methodological as they are, cannot leave much room for entrepreneurship…
I have 2 extra questions.
I am about to reapply to [your employer]. 2 years ago, I made it to the 2nd round but was not invited for the final round. I know that you were a succesfull reapplicant yourself, do you have any advices for me?
How important is age in an application? I have heard today that 29 is already too old for Stanford and Harvard.
Thank you very much for your help again.
When I start asking too much question do not hesitate to yell.
Rgds,
YK”
—–
My response:
YK,
OK, I’ve still got several people in the queue ahead of you, but I think I can knock out your questions pretty quickly, so i wanted to hit you back now. i’ll address your questions in order:
“How much does it help a MBA candidate to come out of a reknown consulting company vs to come out of a less known firm? By major companies i mean big 4 (PWC, Deloitte, Bearingpoint, Capgemini) and strategy consulting (mck, bcg, bain…)” –> This is a question that you should really be asking to an admissions person because, as you know, I’ve never worked in an admissions office. I’d say that the reputation of the firm plays some role, but that the more important part is what you’re able to do in that firm. So, if you’re in a well-known firm and don’t do much of anything there, it might have less impact than going into a lesser-known firm and really making your presence and impact felt. A lot of that will be communicated through the way you frame it in your essays, but your recommendations will be HUGE in this respect.
“How entrepreneurial are those major consutling companies? Do you really have the possibility to take initiatives? ” –> I’d say that the major consulting companies give younger consultants a chance to participate in some initiatives, but I would stop short of calling them “entrepreneurial”. Those firms have been around for so long that it’s difficult for people coming into nowadays to implement something that is truly new. So, you’d have the opportunity to take some initiative and drive certain things, but not necessarily new, ground-breaking things. Also, you should remember that there will be a lot of y’all trying to show this sort of initiative, so be mindful of that.
“I am about to reapply to [your employer]. 2 years ago, I made it to the 2nd round but was not invited for the final round. I know that you were a succesfull reapplicant yourself, do you have any advices for me?” –> I’m pretty sure that I’ve written a couple entries about this topic before, so I’m going to give you a quick response. My main advice would be for you to start practicing for the case interviews immediately and for as much time as you can devote to it. I would recommend getting a good case prep book and going through the thinking of doing the case as much as you can. Also, if possible, enlist a couple of friends or family members to do cases with you so you can get an idea of what it’s really like to have someone apply pressure to you while you’re walking through a case.
“How important is age in an application?” –> I just wrote a blog entry about this, so I suggest you look through some of the recent entries and check out my other response. In short, B-schools look at an applicant’s total package, so age wouldn’t necessarily disqualify you. You’ll need to make sure you present a strong overall application package and you should be in good shape.
I hope this helps. Take care and good luck with your business school and consulting firm applications.
-Marquis
