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CA wrote:
Dear Marquis,—–
Thank you for your website. I am a current International MBA candidate at the Moore School of Business (small but highly recognized business school). I have limited experience in market research analysis (NPO, about 1 year) and Business services (Government, 6 months). I am also about to begin an internship with a Japanese firm where I expect to work in supply chain management.
With a focus on Operations management and Marketing, but not having graduated from a big name business school and with my experience, do you think I have a shot at either McKinsey, Bain or BCG? Any advice would be appreciated!
Thank you,
Chris
My response:
CA,
Thanks for reaching out to me with your question. I’ve been contacted by several other people in your shoes in the past and, realizing that this whole recruiting game is a mystery, I enjoy offering up information based on my experiences. I’m sorry for having taken so long to respond to your email. I get a lot of emails and it often takes me months to get through my Inbox. I hope that this response is getting to you in time to be helpful in your planning for the full-time recruiting cycle with the Consulting firms.
In your email, you didn’t mention whether you were a 1st or 2nd year MBA student at the Moore School, but, since you said that you’ve secured an internship, I’m going to assume that you’re wrapping up your 1st year in business school. I keep my ear to the streets when it comes to B-school stuff, so I’m familiar with the reputation of your school, particularly in the area of International MBA studies. before reading on, please remember that I’m just one guy, so my comments below are just one man’s opinion and shouldn’t be considered as the gospel regarding your issue. I have done lots of recruiting in my past jobs and have researched the Management Consulting industry for years, but I don’t have any insight into the specific recruiting strategies currently being used by firms. That doesn’t mean that I’m wrong, but I wanted to stipulate that up front. With that as a backdrop, let’s get to your question…
Based on what you mentioned in your email, I think you’re facing an uphill road on your quest, but it isn’t a road that is can’t be conquered. Some of the major issues that I see are as follows:
- Your choice of firms: The 3 firms that you’ve listed in your email are the most desired and most difficult to get into in the Consulting game. Literally thousands of kids apply to these firms out of business school each year and the bar is really high at each firm, so the vast majority of those applicants get dinged. As you go into the full-time recruiting process in the Fall, please know that it will be difficult to score an interview at any of these firms because there will be a mountain of candidates who will be competing with you.
- Your B-school: The Moore School of Business has a good reputation, but, as far as I know, it isn’t a core recruiting school for McKinsey, Bain, and BCG, which will be a big challenge. These firms focus the bulk of their recruiting energy on their core schools because of their experiences with the talent from those programs. They receive applications from kids at non-core schools all the time, but, by definition, the firms can’t devote as much energy to reviewing those applications and bringing in those candidates. Each of your currently targeted firms has a presence in the Southern part of the United States, which may be helpful as you try to get an in. It’s time for you to leverage that alumni network, if possible.
- Your work experience: Prior to business school, you only had about 1.5 years of work experience in 2 separate areas. If you had 4-5 years of pre-MBA experience in Marketing or Ops, I could see you making a good case for why one of your target firms should consider you, but your current experience doesn’t really jump out at me. Many of the kids with whom you’ll be competing will have either more years of experience or more relevant experience, so it would be a tough call for a firm to give you a shot over one of those other candidates.
- Start prepping for consulting case interviews now. If you get the opportunity to do a first-round phone screen at a consulting firm, you need to make sure that you NAIL it in order to have a chance to get in front of someone. Blowing the phone screen will basically mean the end of your chances to get a gig in Consulting.
- Start thinking about other Consulting firms that could be a fit for you. I know that you’re focused on the MBB firms, but there aren’t many spots available at those companies. I would recommend that you focus more on getting a job in Consulting in general than specifically at one of the MBBs. YOu’ll be able to work on cool projects and learn a lot at other firms and, if you decide that you want to make a run at the MBBs later on, you can always do so as an experienced hire candidate.
- Figure out your story in preparation for the interview process. You’re relatively light in work experience and, by the end of your internship, your experience will have been at 3 different employers in 3 different areas of focus in less than 2 years of actual working life. You’ll have to come up with a way for that all to make sense to the Consulting firms to which you apply. Without a good, coherent story, you run the risk of coming across as either a job-hopper or someone who doesn’t have a clue about what he wants career-wise, both of which are bad looks.
- Toward the end of the summer, submit an online application to your target firms and, as part of that submission, make sure that your resume and cover letter are absolutely bulletproof. You should research each company in detail and get a sense for the type of work that they do, the corporate culture, and any other relevant information. Once you’ve done that research, use those insights to target your resume and cover letter for each firm on your list.
Marquis
