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Why Bain over the other 2?
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I also had to work 6 months as C in a PL position to prove I could do it… And it’s the case for the majority of my colleagues
It’s a topic of endless debate on the McK bowl - people assume BCG automatically promotes people to PL while we make ours basically prove that they can do the job, both in terms of performance and sponsors willing to trust them with the opportunity. I suspect the BCG model is not quite as simple as people say, and I think overall it evens out, the people who want it and have the intrinsics make it while some others give up or are counseled out. Whether it takes 6 moths more at one place or the other seems immaterial in the context of a career.
Sorry, but that’s completely false
I may be very off, but my take from what I’ve heard is BCG has structure in place to put you in the transition role (where you, as BCG1 points out, still have to prove you can do the new job same as McK). At McKinsey we don’t have the initiation structure. You need to go convince a bunch of partners you can do this and they need to trust you. And you can a transitioning EM the moment you declare you are, doesn’t mean much other than you personally have an intention to give it a try. As the firm doesn’t have the formal transition structure, you may find yourself in em role this project and ASC role next one.
At the end though, I’m not sure if it makes it any more difficult than BCG. I always wondered. Wdyt BCG1?
I like the McKinsey model as a BA.
Across my cohort, we became EMs faster than my friends at BCG/Bain (i.e., ~2.5-3.0 years from starting).
I second EM3, I’m an EM 3 years after joining whereas my friends at BCG are Cs. McK is also faster further along as well since we go 2 years EM, 2 years AP then Partner. BCG is 2 years PL, 2 years Principal, 2 years Partner (but fake partner), then MDP.
Wanted to confirm sth I’ve heard from friends at M: the main difference is - at BCG, you are charging as a C when “proving you can do” the PL job; where as at M, you need someone to be willing to charge you as EM?
Yes and no. We call the first stage of transitioning to EM the ‘Junior EM’ role. Here you are charged as an associate but are responsible for another associate/ BA (typically a new joiner). You have an EM on top of you.
You do this well and convince Partners and Senior Partners to help you get promoted to EM. Then you’ve got to convince someone (perhaps the same people perhaps not) that they should take a chance on you and charge you as an EM (versus a more experienced EM). You typically have to do this a couple of times before you’re a trusted EM in your own right.