How different is McKinsey vs. BCG in terms of upside & exit? Got an offer from BCG and very tempted to sign, but still have the McKinsey app in the process and yet to play out

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Don’t over think this. If McK comes up then go interview, otherwise your future is bright at BCG. There’s really not much different - you’ll be surrounded by intense people (e.g., an olympian, the world record holder for most apple juices drunk in 1 hour) and you’ll get worked till the cows come home.

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I think you are right! I also don’t know how long I can extend the deadline of the offer, so maybe I don’t have a choice to make anyways haha

Welcome!

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I’ve decided to just take the bcg offer. McKinsey did reach out to give an interview and I’ve talked to a few McKinsey people. They are super nice but I just couldn’t see myself working at McKinsey. Have decided to just follow my gut! Thanks everyone who has shared thoughts with me in this chat :)

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Bird in the hand vs two in the bush, only one choice existed

smart

There’s really no difference in exit/upside. Go with the firm you connect better with. It’s the people that make this job. If you like the culture and people better at BCG, you should do that. If you like the culture and people of McK better, go there. The rest is seriously negligible.

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Thanks! I’ve connected really well with BCG people in the process. Love the people and culture. The thing is because this is experienced recruiting, I haven’t put in any effort for McKinsey to know if I’ll like their culture... so it’s quite an unfair comparison. But I guess maybe some things are just meat to be :)

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The culture at BCG is not better. Have heard a few B-School friends working at McK liking it. While I’m having a terrible time. Wish I’d gone their route.

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This is so interesting. My experience at BCG (Great Lakes region) has been intense at times but I think actually better than the bill of goods I was sold. I work 55ish hours most weeks, have worked a dozen weekends in 5 years, and genuinely connect with and enjoy the people I work with. I just finished up a weekend ski retreat with SOs and kids on the project I’m on. YMMV by office and MDP team for sure

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Think the culture at bcg is prolly better, but don’t know if exit & upside at McKinsey could be better due to the longer history in the industry and bigger brand name? Is it worth to wait?

Sure! Happy to help

I think there is a difference depending on your office. At BCG, make sure the office you’re joining does the work you want to do. If not, it might be a harder path for you. People at McKinsey I know have told me staffing is much more flexible across offices.

*no specialty

OP - can i please get the star resume you used?

Here is a burner - anabana98765@gmail.com

Hi! I am former McKinsey consultant and project manager (5 years) and am happy to share my opinion on your question, which I try to make as unbiased as possible :-D

If you face the luxury (or torture ;-) ) of choice, I have a clear answer to you: Join McKinsey.

McKinsey is the largest MBB consulting firm in terms of revenue, number of office locations and employees. It also regularly ranks as most “prestigious” consulting firm to work for (whatever that means).

This leads to a number of advantages for you, if you decide to join McKinsey:

1. Number of projects: Given that McKinsey is larger than BCG and Bain, you also have (even!) more projects to choose from at McKinsey
2. Global staffing: McKinsey is the “most global” consulting firm, truly present everywhere and promoting cross-continental work the most
3. Best support services: McKinsey benefits from the best economies of scale and is famous for its fantastic support services (e.g., knowledge services, graphical support lines, analytics, etc.)
4. Long-term reputation: As briefly mentioned above, McKinsey still is perceived marginally more prestiguous than BCG and more prestiguous than Bain, benefitting you in the long term
5. Reach of alumni network: Given that McKinsey has more employees than BCG and Bain and they all share similar “employee flow equilibria” ;-), every year the McKinsey alumni network grows by more alumni than the BCG network – good for you, too ;-)

So much on my short version to your question 😊 Given that the question “Which MBB firm to work for” is a reccurring one, I have put together a video explainer (~15 minutes), diving into full detail on this question and sharing my recommendations. I am trying to make all my videos both highly informative as well as entertaining – they may be a little different from the usual… I am not sure if fishbowl kills me if I share an external link here, so I am just uploading the video thumbnail. If you like to dig deeper, you can find the video by its title: “McKinsey vs BCG vs Bain: Which MBB consulting firm should YOU join? (Comparison & recommendation)”. I hope you find the further answers and details on your question or “dilemma” helpful. In any case, you will have a great career ahead of you whatever MBB firm you decide to start working with!

Best
Jack

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