I just got counseled out at 10 months. I have an mba and 4 years of total experience. Where do I go from here? Want to crawl in a hole and never come out

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1. Be kind to yourself and realize that being counseled out at BCG isn’t a broad comment on your intelligence—some of the smartest people I know got counseled out before the PL promotion (I’m talking Harvard Summa graduates in deeply technical fields)— often times it just means that the BCG SOP and the way we do consulting isn’t compatible with your particular strengths, or in many cases you had really bad case luck and didn’t have a chance to grow.

2. Opt for the 4 month transition benefit—you’ll want to maximize the time for job search and mental recovery reasons

3. Meet with our career coaches, your mentors/friends/family, and other advisors to get a clean view on what you WANT your next step to be.

4. Start the process of aggressive job searching
-Turn on the “looking” feature on LinkedIn
-Start networking with the companies and industries you find interesting (BCG alums, bschool alums, friends, strangers or LinkedIn, strangers of Fishbowl, recruiters and head hunters, etc)
-Apply to any roles you find interesting—with a bias towards internal referrals where possible
-Begin any required prep for the style of interviews you’ll encounter
- Craft a compelling story for why you’re leaving consulting to move in industry (or to another firm if you so choose)—there is enough about MBB not to like;)
-Go out there and show BCG why this is OUR loss not yours!

And always remember, our most illustrious alumni are just that...alumni. Your success or failure in life will not be based on this one blip on your resume. You have a lifetime of achievement ahead of you, and I’m sure in 10 years BCG will be using its social media to celebrate your achievements as a “BCG Alum” (which by then you’ll find hilariously ironic).

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All excellent advice, but +100 to point 1

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You have BCG on your resume. Chin up, you got this ✊🏼

likehelpful

Well you managed to get into one of the top MC firms on earth so I assume your MBA is top notch. Just say you couldn’t handle the hours in MBB and go work for another top rate company

likehelpful

If you still want to do consulting any of the Big 4 or other top companies would love to have you...

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What happened? Bad project? It happens. Go meet as many people as you can from your school network

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It happens - figure out a succinct narrative without casting shade. Get out there and network without asking for a job. Go learn what’s out there. Track in an excel sheet.

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Cheer up! Take time to recover, go to therapy, get it out of your system.. You get the chance to reinvent yourself and that’s a privilege that only few have!

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Go to deloitte

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Do not feel bad about this. 80-90% of post MBA hires will leave far sooner than making Partner. Welcome to the nature of the beast. Most will exit, you just happened to save yourself a lot more headaches and misery down the road than some of your classmates who may desperately hold on before it is too late. Congrats.

Ok, so collect feedback on what might have gone wrong. Generally, getting counseled out this early on tends to be quant skills, client skills, etc. did you see this coming?

You should try to at least know. You definitely don’t need to take any advice, but I’m going to guess you have given them many hours of your life, they at least owe you some decent coaching on your way out.

Otherwise, enjoy the time before the day when you’ll likely be in industry and the firm is begging to buy your attention and their next engagement.

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Can you lateral to another MBB?

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Sorry this will be unhelpful but super curious: what was the reason given for such a fast counsel out?

Think that they are not lucky to have you and it’s the truth 👍🏼

Why? (I guarantee it wasn’t cause you’re objectively, all around terrible - you’re clearly super smart and talented - as others have said, don’t lose sight of that!!!). Curious to hear what the fit issue was exactly, if you’re willing to share

They don’t see me having trajectory and low billability

I know this is an old post, but I'm wondering if the author is still around and if they could share how things turned out for them. I'm currently going through a transition and can relate to their feelings of failure.

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