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Management Consulting vs. IBD

Hi guys,

I've seen the Law vs. Banking thread, and I'm in a similar position. I've been very priveleged to obtain an offer with a top tier MC (McK,B,B) and also at what is considered by many to be the best bank for IBD. I've been mulling over the decision for a few weeks now, and can't seem to make up my mind over which will:

a) provide the better environment for skill development
b) open the more doors for career opportunities in 3yrs

I have to make a decision within the next few days, and I was wondering what choice graduates looking into both fields would make.

Cheers.

Reply 1

Barny

17

Open more doors for career opportunities in 3 years? Where would you be hoping to go to? For many IB seems to be the pinnacle of salaried work, although you will start at the bottom of the ladder. MC is obviously very different to IB so I imagine your choice should be made on which profession and lifestyle more appeals to you?

Out of interest, what Uni did you go to and what degree did you get?

Reply 2

Riskbreaker

OP

Warwick, Maths.

By opening more doors, I mean which one is the better route if you're interested in PE, VC and/or entrepreneurship. Let's say the differences in lifestyle/working hours are irrelevant for the moment.

Thanks.

Reply 3

Roll-The-Dice-And-Win

1

hmmmmmmmm.....tough choice man, lol.

I also want to get into PE, VC...I think having experience in M&A can be very useful...but in MC you would also be dealing with M&A and Corporate Strategy as well...so i dunno. I personally would choose IBD because you will gain an opportunity to work on live transactions and learn skills and knowledge PE professsionals use.

Did you graduate in 2005 by any chance? Do you know Helgi from Iceland?

Reply 4

Riskbreaker

OP

Nope - got one more yr left.

I'm leaning towards MC at the moment, mostly because it seems to cater better for the entrepreneurial possibility. For PE, Leveraged Finance would probably be the best option forward.

Reply 5

fuglyduckling

2

Definitely MC.

Just finished a course on management - my teamleader was a manager at McKinsey and he was great: sharp but with good social skills and a nice guy. He told me that he honestly believed it was the best job any graduate could have ... career options and skills learned are much better/more transferrable with MC than IB. In my opinion, the work is also far more interesting.

If it were me, DEFINITELY management consultancy

Reply 6

TheAP

9

^ the 5 day insight into management course at bris? If so, how many people went on it, and which firms were present?

Reply 7

fuglyduckling

2

About 150-200 people at a guess...

Firms present: McKinsey, KPMG,CHP consulting, Accenture, Civil Service Fast Stream and loads more...

It was really good actually - i got lucky with my manager being McKinsey. Learned loads - especially on case studies - and networked well ... now have friendly contacts in all the places I want to go: have had a chance to impress them already and have even been out drinking with them...

Reply 8

Damnyanks

fuglyduckling

About 150-200 people at a guess...

Firms present: McKinsey, KPMG,CHP consulting, Accenture, Civil Service Fast Stream and loads more...

It was really good actually - i got lucky with my manager being McKinsey. Learned loads - especially on case studies - and networked well ... now have friendly contacts in all the places I want to go: have had a chance to impress them already and have even been out drinking with them...

If you want to go into VC or PE your best bet is to start up a successful company.

It's just that easy :wink:

Reply 9

Barny

17

Excuse me for being stupid but whats VC and PE?

Reply 10

Tortle

9

VC = Venture Capital
PE = Private Equity

Reply 11

Riskbreaker

OP

If you want to go into VC or PE your best bet is to start up a successful company.

It's just that easy

Good point. But easier said than done.
I'm gonna take the plunge at some point, but it doesn't hurt to pick up as many skills and contacts as possible beforehand.

For anyone solely interested in PE, it looks like most top companies recruit a lot more heavily from banking than from MC; whereas for VC it's an even split.

Reply 12

fuglyduckling

2

I would have thought that PE people would recruit mainly from finance-focused MCs. What about industry ... the CEOs: industry is where most MCs go when they leave MC.

Reply 13

Roll-The-Dice-And-Win

1

Investment banking (M&A) is the best experience you can get if you want to get into PE. I dont think you would be working allot on valuations, comps analysis, leverage buy-outs, and other modelling in MC...I would bet that there are far more people in PE who have come from IBD than MC.

When you working in M&A, you also working with people from ECM/DCM and thus get exposed to the various financial debt instruments that are being used for management and leverage buy outs.

I am currently working at a small boutique firm set up by an ex-banker, and I can confirm that skills and knowledge gained from IBD (M&A) is higly relevant in PE/VC.

Reply 14

President_Ben

15

mussy1234

Investment banking (M&A) is the best experience you can get if you want to get into PE. I dont think you would be working allot on valuations, comps analysis, leverage buy-outs, and other modelling in MC...I would bet that there are far more people in PE who have come from IBD than MC.

When you working in M&A, you also working with people from ECM/DCM and thus get exposed to the various financial debt instruments that are being used for management and leverage buy outs.

Agreed.

Should be said that some parts of MC are directly involved with trying to work out if PE acquisitions and their plan for them 'makes strategic sense' and it tends to be those people who are earning the most in MC.

Management Consulting vs. IBD

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