Former MBB Consultant / MBB campus recruiter - Ask me anything!

1. Intellectual curiosity and nimbleness. Ability to think logically about a problem, dissect it and generate multiple, testable solutions. Ability to engage with the interviewer and creating rapport. Great case performance is someone who comes across as naturally being able to see value-drivers in a business case, what the key levers / variables are, without appearing robotic. The rapport thing is important, as in the role you would be dealing directly with clients, and building relationships with them (and your case team) is key, even at a junior level.

2. There isn't a UK ranking as such, but in terms of general name recognition / prestige / whatever you want to call it, it generally goes as follows:

Premier: MBB
Tier 1: Deloitte, Strategy&, OC&C, OW, ATK, EY-Parthenon
Tier 2: LEK, KPMG, Roland Berger, Accenture
Tier 3: CIL and the smaller boutique firms (mainly because they are transaction-focused, i.e. focused on due diligence work for the private equity houses and not so much on pure strategy work)

3. Can only give you the first order stats for the London office: 8k plus applied (includes students studying in the UK + around the world who had London has their first preference), with an offer rate of less than 1%

4. Demonstrate the skills required + an interest in consulting. For example, one of the Partners at my firm started out consulting for free to start-ups back in 2001, it was a hard slog but he gained the skills he needed, demonstrated to the interviewing group that he had the real passion and interest in the industry, and absolutely aced the case interviews!

Opinion on MBAs from top tier schools?

Hey Rob,

Is there any material difference between MBB and the tiers below in terms of the work and exit opportunities?

Opinion on MBAs from top tier schools?

Also, list the top tier (in the UK)

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Hi Rob, two questions regarding the interviews process.

1. What are the key differences in criteria between first and second-round interviews?
2. What are the success rates for each of the two rounds of interviews?

Thanks!

Top-tier of UK MBA schools? That is a list of one - LBS.

Ha, ok, and similarly for pre-experience masters (ie not MBA)?

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1. The first round is really to see fit and whether you have the underlying capabilities to go through a case in a structured and logical fashion. Second round probes those qualities further, with more difficult cases requiring more multi-perspective solutions and thinking. The second and subsequent rounds (if any) also serve as a validation of the feedback received from round 1

2. Round 1 to r2 is around 10-15%, depending on the firm.

What is the approximate success rate for round 2 to offer? I've read it's higher than round 1 to round 2 but would like to know if there's any truth to it.

Hi Rob,

I would like to know what is the recruitment process for international applicants (i.e. not having studied in the UK) for London roles.
1) How is the screening done in these cases? Will they still be considered as coming from non target background (i.e. Oxbridge, LSE, etc.), on par with people having studied in non-target UK unis, or is there a different screening process/rationale?

2) How much harder is it for international applicants to make it to a first round (if at all) and what can compensate for not having studied in the UK ?

Thanks!

Yes, quite a large difference, both in terms of the projects you receive and the exit opportunities. Corporates pay premium rates (often 2-3x more) for MBB, and often their board's / executive committees only sign off on large strategy projects only if an MBB is involved. Not fair sometimes, but that's just the way it is.

All,

It's that time of year again, where everyone is applying for full-time roles, internships and related entry points into one of the hardest graduate industries to get into: Management / strategy consulting.

I am a former MBB consultant (7 years) in their London office and latterly one of the leaders of campus recruiting at the same firm.

Ask me anything you want about the industry in general, reputation of different firms, application process, what we look for, university reputations, interviews, what life is like as a consultant, myths vs facts, etc. etc.

Please note that I can't review CV's.

Look forward to hearing from you!
Rob