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Chief
McKinsey, of course. Why? Because it’s McKinsey. There’s a reason why the M comes before the BB - and you want to be first. Always!
If yer not first, yer last. Particularly in Texas!
-Ricky Bobby
McK = cult, but it’s McK
Bain = spectacular culture and meticulously aligned suite of offerings, quality of life will be better and you don’t need to cut off your pinky or drink the grog
I would go for Bain because they seem nicer and cooler.
McKinsey 1 - I don’t care for optics or what other people think. My question is more around which firm is better regarding people, WLB, support, sustained progression, etc. not too interested in exit ops since I’m committed to consulting for the next 7-10 years. Also I’m interested in taking one year off to go a fellowship MBA (at Stanford)… does either McKinsey or Bain sponsor MBAs for people who come in at the Associate or Consultant level? I know I would have to work for a few years and also commit to stay at the firm afterwards, and that’s fine with me.
You should always be thinking about exit opportunities because your 7-10 year commitment might not be reciprocated by an MBB
McKinsey - more prestigious, generally lowest average tenure (implying a tough place to work) and growing relatively slowly. Strong cross industry exposure - but mainly driven by the city in which you at working (don’t expect to do Finance in Cleveland). Partner group generally older and seniority most important of big 3 - only senior partners have voting rights and tenure is a bigger component of comp.
Bain - smaller so has cultural positives of that. Growing a bit faster so better advancement. Less breadth of industry focus - expect to do more PE work. Culturally seem more focused on growing their individuals. Less prestigious vs. mcK but I honestly don’t think it makes a difference
This seems like a very dated perspective…
Disagree regarding pace of growth as we are hiring like crazy and turning down work left and right. As a percentage sure but we’re like 3-5x the size so it’s a poor metric.
Also we are certainly no way as geographically constrained - can network to work with anyone and very common to work with leadership outside your office. Think our lifestyle is worse on average despite the Bain PE focus. Much faster path to partner at McK (from bottom to top). Also Bain much more homogenous (especially in Texas I’ve heard)
Prestige is the same between the two - there’s no job that considers a McK candidate and not a Bain one (assuming able to do the same work while at both companies)
Please disregard McK1 comment. Tbh when I was picking between my offers, what made me doubt mostly about McK it was people believe that anyone should pick McK just for the name - such a poor advice.
My answer would be more in line with McK2.
Also, if you want to stay in consulting and go for partnership, McK is way more flexible and has arguably a faster track to partnership, esp. if you’re a top performer.
Another point to consider in line with other comments is what industry do you want to work with, especially going to Texas. Bain staffs more locally and it’s also smaller. If we were talking about NYC, CHI, SFO, it would be a different story but when going to a smaller Bain office, I would be super cautious about it.
At McK, not only Dallas and Houston are awesome offices with amazing people, but you can do whatever you want to do from there a work with whomever you want to work.
At McK you will be choosing the people you’ll hang out on office events and where do you want to live, not everything about your consulting life
Bain’s Texas offices are actually quite large and staff as a Texas region, so you may have team members from any of the three TX offices on your case team. About 50% of cases are local to TX, the rest are all over. Industry mix is pretty balanced, but if you do want a very specific industry, Bain is a generalist model so you are unlikely to work in one industry until you are several years in.
No - it’s comparable… Bain title is “Consultant”
Would encourage you to pick the one where you have stronger connections/ties. Everything else will work itself out. Have good friends at McKinsey who have had less than stellar experiences and the same can be said for Bain.
I assume the Bain offer is a higher title? How do comps compare?
It’s McK. Take it.
Can someone answer the MBA question?
How so?