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As someone who joined A&M from MBB and went to a target school:
I find that A&M has a “no nonsense” attitude towards staff; they care less about pedigree and more about a demonstrable ability to generate results. It’s a lot of “off the beaten path” folks.
Pro
Because those aren’t generally considered top tier firms…
They are great firms for many practices. For example, FTI/A&M are top tier restructuring firms. However, management consulting isn’t as “top tier” as an MBB firm, which is more sought after by Ivy League grads.
I think in some cases it’s obvious, others not as much.
For example, take someone at A&M in Transaction Advisory / FDD.
Since that service line’s inception, it has primarily grown through former Big Four talent (either auditors or FDD professionals, who were also likely former auditors).
Where do B4 firms primarily hire auditors from? Their pick from some of the big state schools or well-known accounting programs in the state of their respective office/s.
No one is going to an Ivy League for an accounting degree (if it’s even offered outside of like PhD level).
From what I've seen (not US based), we do very little to no on-campus recruiting, so there aren't consistent and defined pathways to go from undergrad/MBA into the company. No defined path and no real reputation at schools mean no students are really targeting A&M. Add to this that a huge amount of A&M hires come from knowing someone at the firm already, and you end up with very varied backgrounds, often coming from industry. Fresh grads also aren't really set up to succeed to be frank, we have little in the way of training and toolkits and everyone at every level is expected to be a massive contributor to projects and to be able to work very independently, which most people without significant work experience are not ready to do.
The firm also just doesn't care about pedigree. I couldn't tell you where most of my coworkers went to school, and nobody gives a shit (or even really knows) that I went to Oxford. Though this might be changing with the deluge of ex MBB hires over the past couple years.
Alvarez and A&M are the same thing, op.