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Without making too many assumptions about your age and experience, you’re an intern and it looks like you’re only just getting started in work. You haven’t really got a clue about “how great consulting can be”, and your idea of being “forced to go for implementation and low-pay big4” comes across as rather pompous - hundreds of thousands of people work those roles, earn good money (with good hours) and are very happy with things.
With that, and to answer your question, things are only a downgrade if you frame them that way. You seem to be entirely focused on the prestige of MBB and that mindset is a one way ticket to misery.
Again (and not to appeal to authority) you’re an inexperienced intern, so how on earth do you know what you’ll earn and which hours you’ll work across the entire Big 4/industry in your region? Pay and hours are incredibly role, seniority, seasonality, office and team dependent.
You’re currently in a gigantic pit of a negative, defeatist mindset, and you’ve convinced yourself of a really dismal reality which just isn’t the case. Take a few days to draw a breath and realise that there’s literally infinite windows open to you for success; the fact that one MBB one has shut for the time being means nothing.
Chief
What did you even do to not get a return offer? I’d recommend addressing that to set yourself up better
This attitude was certainly part of it (what are you downgrading from when your situation is not having a job) - but unless you went around with it on full display, we’re pretty lenient with return offers…
Ehhhh Big4 consulting typically pays a rank higher than industry. M at Ey was paid around what an SM/D in industry makes. Generally of course, can vary a bit on industry and region
I think there’s too issues at play here:
Short term: find your next job
Long term: fix your mentality and addiction to prestige
Short term
Some T2 consultancy are very prestigious and open potentially the exact same exit opps, you’re in for getting the same interviews then it’s up to you what you make of it. There are like Oliver wyman, LEK, EYP, S& etc. Depending on what you’re more interested in eg operations vs strategy vs PE, specific sectors such as these could be great options and don’t rule it out, you may just get it.
If T2 doesn’t work, B4 doesn’t have to be the only other option. If you wanna stay on that prestige path you can try startups for example - low pay and high hrs but if it’s funded by good investors it looks good on your CV and you learn great skills. Of course very risky choice in current environment and not an easy path but would keep you on that ‘elite’ trajectory. Some tech companies also hire juniors altho ofc now it’s a bad time sadly. You could even join entrepreneurs first or other accelerators and try to build your own thing and get paid (little for it). Do a coding boot camp. Do a master if you haven’t already / want to upskill in certain areas. Or try other paths eg I know people that started super successful career in VC earning six figures salary off the back of MBB internships that failed.
As other said, big 4 really isn’t that bad if you’d rather have some stability and clarity using similar skills to what you used in your internship. You can try moving to the strat divisions internally, or lateral after a couple of yrs. But if you’re prestige obsessed I can see how that might not be the path that works for you right now.
Long term:
Prestige is just an imperfect proxy for money, career potential etc. In reality people that will be happy and most successful will find a path that works for them, perform well, and slowly climb up. Some people will go to MBB, burn out and be held back. Some people are truly brilliant but fail to find their drive / values and passions and stagnate. Ideally you wanna fix your addiction to prestige starting now. Go to therapy. Strengthen your friendships and relationships. Find what it is that makes you so special as to have gotten the great grades and profile to even get an MBB internship in the first place. Ask your friends what they like about you. Do things you enjoy. There’s more to life than work and career and you need to find your happiness and self of sense outside of work, even though of course work will always be a part of it. Try to understand what went wrong at the internship. Ok its performance but is it performing under pressure? Is it lack of technical skills that you can just train up? Is it your mindset that can be improved? Is it you hating certain activities- maybe you’re more into relationships than analysis or the other way around?
This is a long term endeavours and you won’t get there in a month - I’m totally not there myself. But your attitude does need to improve at least a little vs where it is now for your job search to be successful in the next few months. You are currently too blinded by your false assumptions about life and too insecure.
Good luck, I’m sure you can do this and you’ll get out of this stronger. People have been through way worse and come on top and you’re young and smart!
Don’t worry you can work with executives at many other T2, boutiques etc. Or you can be in house and work directly with them. There’s so many good options, truly what differentiates MBB is more the prestige. You not coming from a target school isn’t negative, it’s positive - means you had to hustle even harder! Probably your impostor syndrome is holding you back and making you feel like you don’t belong which becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Maybe for you a more effective route would be to try to reach out people directly/ get referrals rather than apply on websites.
Chief
You’re just not that guy pal
I thought I was. I am trying to accept I am
not. I don’t understand the pleasure in hurting people the way you just did. Yes, I am an incompetent failure who thought was better than he was. I had built dreams on the idea I had of me and now I am facing homelessness if I don’t find a job in two months. Very funny I imagine. Who cares, I won’t even be around for long, feel free to mock me if that makes you feel better
Who says we are going to hire you?
I guess I deserve this comment. It hurt but okay
The only thing getting downgraded is your unrealistic expectations. The whole premise of an internship is to help you garner experience, and to allow the company find out if you are a fit. You're not the first or last intern to be determined not to be ready, go get some more experience elsewhere and see where your career leads.
Did you ask why you didn’t get an offer so you can learn from the experience? You are not a failure. Economic conditions might have made it where they can’t hire anyone. Might have nothing to do with you. We have all been denied jobs. I have been laid off 2 times in my career. Have to not take it personally and know something better is coming.
There’s something you aren’t telling everyone about your internship…
I promise there isn’t. They told me local
policy is that 30% of interns get an offer
Chill out dude, you’re acting as if going to a big 4 is the end of your life. Drop your bad attitude and head into recruitment strong - you may find you enjoy it more.
The economy is terrible right now. I would take the best job you can get right now for the experience. Get something that will be a stepping stone to where you want to go.
If you can’t get the job you want right now I would take something that would lead to that role. Example would be if I wanted to be in sales at a software company, but I didn’t have enough experience and they kept rejecting me I would go for a business development role at a software company. Working hard and crushing it as a BDR should get me promoted in a year to a sales role either there or somewhere else. Once you get done experience you will have a lot more opportunities. I would work hard to have a good reputation.
TLDR: OP has no idea what they’re talking about and has little to no basis to form any sort of expectation of what a consulting job should be
Can you help me understand it then?
I think you may need to work on your perspective. Good news is it sounds like you’re early on in your career. Getting a big 4 job and some experience won’t be the end of the world and the pay is decent compared to many other jobs (in fact, this job was a blessing for me). Also work on humility, and remind yourself that we are all learning every day. There’s always something you can do to improve. Whatever experience you land in be a sponge, the skills you learn at one job will always apply to the next in one way or another. And listen to the feedback you get whether it’s about performance or attitude, and find ways to show others that you heard them and you’re making changes. You can get anywhere with a good attitude. Best of luck.
You know, I personally chose an offer at Deloitte over an offer at BCG and it was the best choice I ever made. I hit a six figure salary two years out of college and I’m working pretty balanced hours that allow me to pursue my own personal interests like acting (I’ve worked on multiple major network projects) and writing (I have a book out for query now).
Brand prestige isn’t the only means to money or happiness. You should consider what it is that you actually want from this life. You may find it’s not a crushing work week.
That’s amazing! Can I ask what hours you work approximately and how you find time for these endeavours? I love writing but that completely fell off since uni / start of work
No shame in testing out MBB and learning it isn’t a good fit for your right now. I have plenty of friends that loved MBB and T2 as interns, but burned out within a year or two and exited to mediocre outside opportunities. Implementation and big 4 might surprise you and end up being a great fit for you. If MBB is really important to you, use your next role to gain experience and strengthen your toolkit. Then, after a few years, reach out to the contacts you made as an MBB intern and make a case for joining the firm.
I can try to offer some insight this but am going to be speculating a bit. I’m assuming you are relatively young since you are an intern. Your post does come off a bit elitist, but I you don’t sound that way. I think that’s just not being 100% aware how your words are interpreted, which is really really common for recent college grads.
In terms of feeling lost, consultants tend to get caught up in our own world. I’ve worked for big 4 and some “less prestigious” consulting firms, and spent some time frustrated that I was paid substantially less than MBB. However, the US considers middle class between $43,350 - $130,000. Most “underpaid” consultants are still doing very well compared to the rest of the US.
Finally, there is a reality that tends to apply to people who can’t seem to settle in consulting. Now you haven’t fully started, and I don’t think you can say this definitely applies, but it’s worth considering. Some people are just not cut out for consulting. It can be very competitive and tends to require a strong commitment to your career.
Hopefully that helps, I would recommend maybe trying for a “less prestigious” (but likely still a great place to work) firm and seeing if consulting is for you. Also your experience with consulting will vary much more based on the people you work with rather than the name on your resume.
Looks like you’ve identified the real underlying problem in your life. Use this time to reflect further and fix yourself.
Don’t worry too much, if your goal is MBB you can still make it after a couple of years of consulting experience at Big4, know plenty of Big4 and boutique folks who have been interviewing recently with MBB.
Just keep grinding with your goals in mind.
It’s tough man, motivation can be an ephemeral feeling. I’ve found that it’s best to place motivation on more internal factors. Such as being kind, and hard working. Look, in the grand scheme of life this is a blip. Don’t lose the forest for the trees.
Think about why you have certain goals. If you think those goals are healthy then drive at them. Build a balanced life, exercise, read, and find service opportunities. Most of all, always bet on yourself!
That’s good! Such be proud of effort and keep trying!
Did you intern? Or just do a week long program? What geography?
3 months internship, Europe
Apply to Accenture strategy
Yes