Related Posts
Bowl Leader
McKinsey & Company Bain & Company Hi folks. Looking to break into consulting. Have 5 years of experience across financial institutions in the US, Pakistan and Canada. I have previously interviewed at BCG in Chicago and even though I didn’t clear final round, I thoroughly enjoyed the process. Finally in a position to be able to consider this again. Would any of the MBB / Big 4folks be willing to chat/refer me? 🙏🙏🙏 McKinsey & Company Bain & Company Boston Consulting Group KPMG Deloitte PwC EY
Coach
Rising Star
💡 Excellent discussion about responding to commentary around “lowering the bar for diverse consulting candidates” from colleagues… definitely relatable if you are in MBB or Big 4 and you are Black…happening in the Black Consultants Strategies and Tactics bowl. Join today! https://joinfishbowl.com/bowl_z54c8c47iv
More Posts
Community Builder
Community Builder
How to refer someone at PwC SDC using Workday?
About to move to NYC. How is the dating scene?
Rising Star
Community Builder
Additional Posts in Big Law
Which redline software do you use?
What are your career ambitions?
Mentor
Go work for a tech company in a strategy role. You’ll thank me later.
Tech is boring. Do something cool that you actually care about! Of course, if you care about tech, do tech.
Subject Expert
99.9% of people wanting to make this career switch ask about going from Big Law to MBB . I know v5 associates who would trade your entry level job for their midlevel associate job straight up. Take that for what you will.
Your MBB background will help but you still need the grades.
Also, don’t just assume you’ll get into a top law school because you’re generally “smart”. For Cravath or Wachtell you really need to aim for T6, which means at least a 173 on the LSAT. Lawyers are pretty self loathing and tend to valorize PE, IB and MBB as superior, but getting 173+ on the LSAT is hard and rare even for Ivy League undergrads. Don’t assume anything until you have an LSAT score in hand.
Don’t take the LSAT! Just apply with the GRE.
Subject Expert
Lol. No.
Will it help? Maybe a bit. Will grades in law school matter 1000x more? Absolutely.
Enthusiast
Yup. OP if you’re gunning very specifically for two firms, there’s a VERY strong chance of disappointment. One bad grade during 1L will wreck you. And legal hiring is hilariously arbitrary and fairly unpredictable except in broader strokes (I.e., your grades will make it highly likely you’ll get a V10 but not that you’ll get any specific one, unless you’re literally top of your class at a T6 - where you need to be at a minimum for Wachtell because they don’t even normally hire from the rest of the T14).
Do /not/ do it.
Why the boner for Wachtell and Cravath? They're both going to be significantly less relevant over the course of your track to partner. Wachtell still sits atop the throne for several corporate practice areas but ultimately their dominance is not sustainable and the fall will likely be very quick.
I don't even really think Cravath is an honorable mention in terms of relevance these days. But maybe I'm horribly out of touch. Feel free to roast me in the comments if that's the case.
But plenty of others offer world class deal experience, and I think your experience at BCG would be recognized. I would love to have a legitimately seasoned consultant in my group. Idk maybe Cravath and Wachtell have giant hard-ons for grades, but for me personally, apples to apples a student in top 10% of his class with no real experience vs top 25% with great people skills and several years worth of real world experience, especially working in an extremely professional environment dealing with high stakes representative matters and demanding clients, that sticks out to me.
Is this the Sun Tzu guy again?
Had a number of friends ask me this, half of them went into ops/strategy/management/MBA and the other half went to law school. 6 years later, those who went to law school are unhealthy, lonely, in debt and unhappy at v3’s while those who stayed out are contemplating vacation homes with their families and working 20 hrs a week with total comps at 350k+
Upper management is all about delegation, sales and biz dev for the big bucks
Mentor
As a big law associate considering going into MBB, let me know how to get into BCG
New to fishbowl as well and need hearts to dm. Could you message me please Op
Go somewhere that gives you the most scholarship money, crush your grades and you’ll be fine. Those firms pay the same as 90+ other firms, some with better WLB.
The point on pay is true for Cravath, not true for Wachtell. Wachtell gives 100% bonuses, so starting out associates there are making nearly double the amount associates at other biglaw firms are making.
Trading one grueling professional service job for another even more grueling professional services job that pays about the same is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.
What if I want to be the client someday? Is it not valuable to have both business and legal experience?
Maybe very marginally. You need the credentials and grades which will take you 99% there.
Go read the big law bowl or other sites and see how miserable junior associates are. Much better to stay on the business side.
Subject Expert
Consultants aren’t exactly the merriest bunch.
In the same boat as OP. Thinking about law school. I’m curious: For those in big law, why would you switch to consulting?
I get that WLB is slightly better, but in consulting, it’s honestly not great either and it seems like attorneys overall earn more than consultants.
Interesting. Thanks for the insight everyone. A11 — I would note that we still have billable hours and do a lot of isolated coordination, esp those of us on remote studies (though there is some genuine collaboration). And to back up A8’s point — most consultants don’t make it to the C-Suite after, though some certainly do. I also think most people only think of consulting as MBB but there are thousands of consultants from dozens of firms (everything from B4 to specialized boutiques) you’re also competing with for exit ops.
I think the challenge with strategy consulting is you don’t immediately have a valued skillset, so you really need to work hard to establish a brand and expertise to distinguish yourself.
I personally don’t love consulting and think that for what I want to do, I’d enjoy BL more and it would advance my career goals, but those are all great insights. I hadn’t thought about a lot of the reasons someone might go the opposite route.
Either go to a top tier school or if second tier, place in the top 10%. That’s pretty much the entrance threshold to large law straight from school. And it’s strictly adhered to.
Subject Expert
Some comments are missing the point…the biggest difference is sacrificing compensation for 3 years. If you want to be on the transactional side, I would consider MBA versus law school.
S T A Y . . .
There’s no such thing as “a Wachtell.” There’s only Wachtell.
Subject Expert
Nobody at biglaw firms cares about MBAs. You are almost guaranteed not to get a job at cravath or wachtell.
Sorry....what is MBB?
Mckinsey, Bain, BCG
Do not do this unless you have a GOOD reason for wanting to pivot.
I’m already doing a part-time JD. So not losing out on any years of work experience.