corporate truly sucks your soul though... I'm someone that exited from CPA firm into private equity and now corporate. I've never felt so dehumanizing before when I was in firm and private equity.
@@christina456 You write investment analysis reports and due diligence, and occasionally DCF or ratio comparison analysis. But honestly at the end of the day it's what the partner decides to invest in. You get bonuses for projects you've worked on (if it made money), and you'll always get an opportunity to join in on equity (for me it was $2000~$5000) per project. Most projects fail, but base salary is ok. While I was there blockchain was everything. Felt like gambling sometimes to be honest. Wanted something more stable after 3 years and moved on. Was able to afford a down payment for a small house to rent out while I was there tho... but you do need a bit of connection to get in. In my case it was because my previous intern boss while I was studying masters in finance in London introduced me (I graduated 2nd in my year with distinction). It was a small VC fund but still glad I had the experience.
I never felt that my corporate colleagues were less intelligent or motivated than my consulting colleagues. If anything, they were more seasoned and mature. They were, however, pulled in a thousand different directions which is really what made things move more slowly in the corporate world (as you point out). I have always felt that people in US corporations have too many projects. Fewer projects might result in more focus and more progress.
I'm not an expert but I've worked for about a year in one of the biggest consulting firms (it was not a big4) and I left not because it was very demanding, but because it was very "boring". Basically just a bunch of presentations representing future and ideal states. Coming from an industry related background, I've felt the contrary that you'te talked about (lack of impact and busy timelines to deliver stuff that was filled with wayyy to much useless info). Not to mention that if you do anything it needs to be checked by our superior, then by his/her superior, again, again and again. Then the big boss manager presents it to the costumer and you do the changes that they've requested.
I feel like this video mainly describes strategy consultants. When you look at Big 4 consultants (as well as similar companies such as Accenture), leaving consulting here typically leads to a pay rise or equivalent pay (but with much better working hours). Still a good video but I think you have overstated the benefits of consulting in this scenario. I work in consulting and I know plenty of people who have taken the consulting mindset of “getting things done” to their corporates and have seen huge increases in pay and progression without the internal consulting office politics of needing a Partner to back you for a promotion
You're right - we are more focusing on strategy consultants. As you are pointing out, for Big 4 consultants, the move to a corporate often comes with an increase in pay (for strategy consultants usually not so much given the already higher salary baseline). We also know of colleagues who really have shifted the mindset of the company they joined. But we know way more examples that made the move to a large, slowly moving, and highly political corporate. Nonetheless, to your point, there are many attractive positions at corporates where you can really progress and have an impact.
Hey you're right in all of this, just saying: As a former MBB consultant, you are ready for it! I mean after a couple of years in MBB, you have got to know and worked with maybe >20 different companies, so you have reached mastership in navigating corporate environments and politics 🙂 Hence, you know what to expect and can handle it 😉
I exited CPA firm into private equity and then exited private equity to corporate. I can tell you guys it's completely true. CPA firm and private equities are kinda like consulting, whereas now pretty much all I do in corporate is play politics...
Simple truth. Those who can do, those who can't consult. And the corporate jump is an attempt to keep that high paying non-job working for you longer term. If you had any talent you'd start your own company.
Consultants discovering these after a carreer being, lliterally, advisors for corporates made me burst in laugh. Your job's easy and overrated. Change my mind. I work for startups, selling to big corps, and know these intricacies since God's knows when. I understand now why all my friend having to deal with external consultants finds them useless. You just sit around, validating Execs strats that don't have an ounce of courage to carry, so they delegate, the responsibilities of their strategic decision.
haha pas vrmt guillaume! les consultants MBB sont déjà Alumni de top école (l'X, Ponts, HEC), donc la supériorité par rapport aux autres en terme de compétences est déjà établi.
We must be working in the same companies, I can fully relate, esp. to the slow pace and the many freeloaders 😂 But when it comes to the Big4, wages there are surprisingly low (unless you are a partner) and the exit to corporate gets you a significant increase. That is why people join the Big4, it is about increasing your own market value
You're 100% right. We are coming from the strategy consulting point of view and the salary there is just a lot higher than at the Big4. So the move to a corporate usually doesn't come with a hugh increase in salary (usually it's actually accepting a slightly lower salary as a trade off for a much better lifestyle)
That’s why you don’t chase money and when deciding on which job to take, try to choose the one that you’ll make the most impact with. The one that is a complete mess, so your experience and know how will have lasting impact. A lot of consultants get high positions as well without being true leaders and cannot manage a team.
Love the click-baity title :)) “harsh” reality of poor consultants from top school making tons of money, being still in top 5-10% of society by income and living standards - this soooooo harsh guys - hope you will survive it 😅
As you are probably aware, money is not everything. And if you come from an environment where you were working with highly motivated colleagues on high-impact projects for senior clients, the shift to a corporate can be frustrating. And even your great salary won't make up for spending 40-60 hrs per week on projects that don't really matter with colleagues who don't really care. And this is...the harsh reality ;)
dont, just dont. 3/4 fail and either jump from one consultancy to the other or go back to corporate. If you dont do it early, you are too late for the game (at least top strategy cons). You also dont go to champions league at 45.
@@hugsdibude8710 I think that champions league is making money on your own successful business. I wonder what % of that "talented hard working top educated" from consulting made big companies in tech not using their parent's money. I think that it's close to 0. champions league XD
Thank you for the great video idea! We already have a video about exit opportunities where we briefly touch upon nonprofits (ruclips.net/video/xbIUiUPufiY/видео.htmlsi=hPFjImZYVq_YK8De). But if there is more interest on this topic we are happy to detail how colleagues fared that have made such an exit.
@@CaseInterviewHub Got it, thanks for your response! I think a deep-dive video on each of the exits you mention there would be great with some anonymized but illustrative cases - especially the ones for which examples are harder to come by such as nonprofits or government work.
"working on projects of highest priority and impact" - yeah sure Slow pace and not constantly "busy" - the usual trick for juniors. fast pace and bullshit work like "organizing office event" fulfillment Corporate politics not present in consulting - double lol
We 100% agree that in an ideal world, the picture would look different. The reality though is that >90% of assistants at the leading consluting firms are women and that the vast majority of IT Support is offshored/nearshored to Asia (with the exception of hubs in Central America/South America and Eastern Europe). We are not trying to feed the traditional stereotypes here but unfortunately, this is just the reality.
Lol, a consultant crying about that the company they are consulting is reluctant to adopt their mega brain super futuristic technologicaly disruptive multi-functional synergetical efficiency enhancer ideia has got to be most laughable thing in the video. If you really mean it then why not do it yourself? Since you're so much better than them. Just goes to show old saying "Those who can do, those who can't consult". Just pitching buzzword filled ideas to companies isn't bringing any value to society, people that actually get that done are.
These are all very minor sacrifices in order to not have to work 80 hour weeks.
Why dont I see a thousand likes on this comment yet?
corporate truly sucks your soul though... I'm someone that exited from CPA firm into private equity and now corporate. I've never felt so dehumanizing before when I was in firm and private equity.
@@cdub1059hi can i ask what it was like working at a firm and private equity?
@@christina456 You write investment analysis reports and due diligence, and occasionally DCF or ratio comparison analysis. But honestly at the end of the day it's what the partner decides to invest in. You get bonuses for projects you've worked on (if it made money), and you'll always get an opportunity to join in on equity (for me it was $2000~$5000) per project.
Most projects fail, but base salary is ok. While I was there blockchain was everything. Felt like gambling sometimes to be honest. Wanted something more stable after 3 years and moved on. Was able to afford a down payment for a small house to rent out while I was there tho... but you do need a bit of connection to get in. In my case it was because my previous intern boss while I was studying masters in finance in London introduced me (I graduated 2nd in my year with distinction). It was a small VC fund but still glad I had the experience.
I never felt that my corporate colleagues were less intelligent or motivated than my consulting colleagues. If anything, they were more seasoned and mature. They were, however, pulled in a thousand different directions which is really what made things move more slowly in the corporate world (as you point out). I have always felt that people in US corporations have too many projects. Fewer projects might result in more focus and more progress.
I'm not an expert but I've worked for about a year in one of the biggest consulting firms (it was not a big4) and I left not because it was very demanding, but because it was very "boring". Basically just a bunch of presentations representing future and ideal states. Coming from an industry related background, I've felt the contrary that you'te talked about (lack of impact and busy timelines to deliver stuff that was filled with wayyy to much useless info). Not to mention that if you do anything it needs to be checked by our superior, then by his/her superior, again, again and again. Then the big boss manager presents it to the costumer and you do the changes that they've requested.
I feel like this video mainly describes strategy consultants. When you look at Big 4 consultants (as well as similar companies such as Accenture), leaving consulting here typically leads to a pay rise or equivalent pay (but with much better working hours). Still a good video but I think you have overstated the benefits of consulting in this scenario. I work in consulting and I know plenty of people who have taken the consulting mindset of “getting things done” to their corporates and have seen huge increases in pay and progression without the internal consulting office politics of needing a Partner to back you for a promotion
You're right - we are more focusing on strategy consultants. As you are pointing out, for Big 4 consultants, the move to a corporate often comes with an increase in pay (for strategy consultants usually not so much given the already higher salary baseline).
We also know of colleagues who really have shifted the mindset of the company they joined. But we know way more examples that made the move to a large, slowly moving, and highly political corporate. Nonetheless, to your point, there are many attractive positions at corporates where you can really progress and have an impact.
Hey you're right in all of this, just saying: As a former MBB consultant, you are ready for it! I mean after a couple of years in MBB, you have got to know and worked with maybe >20 different companies, so you have reached mastership in navigating corporate environments and politics 🙂 Hence, you know what to expect and can handle it 😉
I exited CPA firm into private equity and then exited private equity to corporate. I can tell you guys it's completely true. CPA firm and private equities are kinda like consulting, whereas now pretty much all I do in corporate is play politics...
Simple truth. Those who can do, those who can't consult. And the corporate jump is an attempt to keep that high paying non-job working for you longer term. If you had any talent you'd start your own company.
Consultants discovering these after a carreer being, lliterally, advisors for corporates made me burst in laugh.
Your job's easy and overrated.
Change my mind.
I work for startups, selling to big corps, and know these intricacies since God's knows when.
I understand now why all my friend having to deal with external consultants finds them useless.
You just sit around, validating Execs strats that don't have an ounce of courage to carry, so they delegate, the responsibilities of their strategic decision.
haha pas vrmt guillaume! les consultants MBB sont déjà Alumni de top école (l'X, Ponts, HEC), donc la supériorité par rapport aux autres en terme de compétences est déjà établi.
You forgot to mention the pain seeing a consultant working on the internal project you wanted to work on
We must be working in the same companies, I can fully relate, esp. to the slow pace and the many freeloaders 😂 But when it comes to the Big4, wages there are surprisingly low (unless you are a partner) and the exit to corporate gets you a significant increase. That is why people join the Big4, it is about increasing your own market value
You're 100% right. We are coming from the strategy consulting point of view and the salary there is just a lot higher than at the Big4. So the move to a corporate usually doesn't come with a hugh increase in salary (usually it's actually accepting a slightly lower salary as a trade off for a much better lifestyle)
That’s why you don’t chase money and when deciding on which job to take, try to choose the one that you’ll make the most impact with. The one that is a complete mess, so your experience and know how will have lasting impact. A lot of consultants get high positions as well without being true leaders and cannot manage a team.
Love the click-baity title :)) “harsh” reality of poor consultants from top school making tons of money, being still in top 5-10% of society by income and living standards - this soooooo harsh guys - hope you will survive it 😅
As you are probably aware, money is not everything. And if you come from an environment where you were working with highly motivated colleagues on high-impact projects for senior clients, the shift to a corporate can be frustrating. And even your great salary won't make up for spending 40-60 hrs per week on projects that don't really matter with colleagues who don't really care. And this is...the harsh reality ;)
At corporate people just don't want to work more for the same pay! Shame on them!
What about the vice versa, from corporate into consultant.
dont, just dont. 3/4 fail and either jump from one consultancy to the other or go back to corporate. If you dont do it early, you are too late for the game (at least top strategy cons). You also dont go to champions league at 45.
Not possible. Slackers are not recruited.
@@hugsdibude8710 I think that champions league is making money on your own successful business. I wonder what % of that "talented hard working top educated" from consulting made big companies in tech not using their parent's money. I think that it's close to 0. champions league XD
Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it
Could you folks please cover unconventional consulting exits, for instance consulting to nonprofits/social sector work?
Thank you for the great video idea!
We already have a video about exit opportunities where we briefly touch upon nonprofits (ruclips.net/video/xbIUiUPufiY/видео.htmlsi=hPFjImZYVq_YK8De). But if there is more interest on this topic we are happy to detail how colleagues fared that have made such an exit.
@@CaseInterviewHub Got it, thanks for your response! I think a deep-dive video on each of the exits you mention there would be great with some anonymized but illustrative cases - especially the ones for which examples are harder to come by such as nonprofits or government work.
@@CaseInterviewHub I would be also interested in!
Insightful !!
What would be some best books to read for becoming a consultant ? I am a hvac engineer in Aec construction industry
Same long hour/work alcoholic/ toxic culture bought to other companies from these consultancies
"working on projects of highest priority and impact" - yeah sure
Slow pace and not constantly "busy" - the usual trick for juniors. fast pace and bullshit work like "organizing office event" fulfillment
Corporate politics not present in consulting - double lol
When you compare MBB, your compare it to Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.. not Wells Fargo and Yamaha🤣
The exit you describe is very unusual, an exit to a corporate is much more common
Really nice that the IT support is an Asian guy and the office assistants women in skirts.
We 100% agree that in an ideal world, the picture would look different. The reality though is that >90% of assistants at the leading consluting firms are women and that the vast majority of IT Support is offshored/nearshored to Asia (with the exception of hubs in Central America/South America and Eastern Europe). We are not trying to feed the traditional stereotypes here but unfortunately, this is just the reality.
Yea work 70hrs a week regularly and see if you realyl want $1M or just quit to tech
Lol, a consultant crying about that the company they are consulting is reluctant to adopt their mega brain super futuristic technologicaly disruptive multi-functional synergetical efficiency enhancer ideia has got to be most laughable thing in the video. If you really mean it then why not do it yourself? Since you're so much better than them. Just goes to show old saying "Those who can do, those who can't consult". Just pitching buzzword filled ideas to companies isn't bringing any value to society, people that actually get that done are.
MBB is overrated