New to M&A and starting my first SMO / DMO project. How should I learn quickly? As a Sr. Consultant, what is the general expectation?

Hey, marketers! I'm just curious: have you ever had a client ask you to do something totally out of left field? Something that made absolutely no sense and didn't make any money for the company?

How's your utilization?
I've been placed on deals but randomly they get slow, client doesn't upload or I'm told to be mindful of my billing when I am on a deal.
Is this an issue for anyone else?

To anyone that made the switch from account management to project management, what made you pull the trigger?

Open to new opportunities as a project manager, however, the options I am finding are all 6 month contract or contract to hire.
Anyone else running into this or is it my area?

Does anyone here work for any public accounting firms in the Charlotte area with a decent work life balance? I am looking to go somewhere where I can focus on a few clients for longer periods of time rather than constantly bouncing around. I find it much less stressful to put in longer hours if it's a client that I have been scheduled on long term.

Looking for recommendations to generally upskill my Strategy work (or learn from scratch) — be it courses, classes, books, podcasts, people to follow.

For context, I’m a freelance Social Media Manager/Strategist and I came into Ad world via Startups. Throwing myself into learning on the job with more Strategy gigs - but I still don’t feel like I quite know the lingo or best practices or theories.

I have an offer from ITC 18 lpa and i joined ibm(13lpa) 1 month ago but project allocation is still awaiting, both of BA , 5 YOE. Please suggest what I should do urgently? @ibm @itc @deloitte @Tcs @capgeminj

I am planning on leaving teaching after 6 years in the classroom. I am not really sure where to start or what teachings skills translate to certain jobs. Any advice on where to start?

Asking for a friend

Have a close buddy who is looking to pivot from med school into health care ibd or biotech/biopharm ER. Actively working on technicals and SIE prep and is looking to connect with others in the space.

Anyone willing to have a conversation?

Tech exit question

I have 7 YOE -> 4 YOE MBB, 1.5 YOE PE, 1.5 YOE PE value creation (same UMM PE firm)

Would I be an attractive candidate for FAANG strategy roles? What total comp could I expect?

I have a few questions for people in consulting roles (both external/internal).

My partner is in corporate banking, but he wants to switch to a consulting/strategy-based role. I noticed people with those jobs typically have an MBA, and also majority of the job ads in similar roles has MBA as either a requirement or preferred qualification. So:

1) does MBA actually improve someone's chance in getting those roles?
2) are there any good Canadian MBA programs you'd recommend?

Thank you all!

What are typical exit opp roles with 3YOE - e.g., strategy and operations associate, corporate development associate, product manager, etc?

Thoughts on working in-house early in career versus the other way around? I’m a student and my past experience and internship offers are heavy on the in house ‘startup’ d2c brand archetype... Will this hurt my chances of later going into an agency role? Concerned if I’m pigeonholing myself too early.

Hi fishes, I have recently joined Infosys Bhubaneswar as Test Analyst with a 9Lpa package. I don't want to join any client project and want to join some internal project where there will be less work so as I can prepare for government jobs. Is it possible? Which are the units for less work pressure in Infosys

I am currently finishing up CFP course work. Does anyone have tips or tricks for studying for the actual exam? I am particularly concerned about the investment planning section. I have 12 plus years in the industry and CRPC. I do planning literally everyday but a test is a test and this is the module I have had the most trouble with.

How bad does an audit client need to be to get dropped? I’ve seen some god awful engagements that charge next to nothing and yet every year they’re still here

My boss is a dick. He waited until I was offered a particular promotion to try and secure the same job for himself.

Tax question: I’m a campus hire consultant about to start. Had to sell some stocks to maintain independence (look at ethical me 🤪🤮). I have long term capital gains that outweigh the capital losses long term. But short term I have capital losses that outweigh the gains. The long term gains I will pay long term capital gains tax federal, correct? the short term losses will be a deduction from my income, assuming there are no caps on these deductions? Curious if GA state taxes capital gains?

Where’s all the gossip on this page? I just see more normal work-related posts and I don’t feel like working today…Share your office stories, rumors, and secrets! :)

I am dating a girl who’s from a pretty wealthy family. She is a great person but her norm of life puts a lot of pressure on me (e.g. only fly first class and only stay at luxury hotels). I am financially alright but just can’t afford that kind of lifestyle. Has anyone run into this kind of issue before? What do you do?

Planning to hold another Zoom mixer. The last one was a while back. Please respond or dm if interested - looking at time zones (I’m pst) and a date that would work for most people. Last time it was for singles but I think a mixer where everyone on this bowl and friends are invited.

How do you manage up with a partner? Any tips or systems? I have a partner who is inconsistent with directions. I decided to take the most conservative approach and borderline be annoying. However, I’m wondering how to do all this without it taking up so much time/automation?

What are great CPG agencies in SF? I have a friend who works for a large meat company who’s asking! They aren’t happy with their current agency.

Who has pet insurance? Who do you go through, how much do you pay and for what kind of dog and age? Is it worth it? The more research I do the more conflicting answers I get. TIA!

Puntastic names for agency bands...

Hi fishes,

How to handle the situation where the notice period is high and even after mentioning at every level that notice is so and so number of days, after last round they say we want immediate joiners and put the profile on hold. Even the organisation with highest notice period want early joiners.

Hi Everyone,

I am working at EY in India as Sr Consultant and looking for a job opportunity in UK. Can anyone please refer me. Total exp in Internal Audit is 9 years and currently into Business Consulting (Risk Advisory).
Many thanks in advance.

41F, just found/joined this bowl and the bowl picture is cracking me up 🤣🤣🤣

Looking for DC gay bar I could go to by myself - have a free night this week in DC and want to go out. Something chill - not into clubs or scenes. Would prefer to walk or short uber - staying at the park hyatt by dupont circle.

What is persona in LTI. I see WO persona. Can we ask for change to hybrid or remote. Is it 5 days office in LTI mandatory.

I just swiped right on a guy that has the job title I want at an agency I'm interested in. I swiped right solely for that reason so I can ask him about his job

Can anyone in PWC DDV give me a detailed day to day or “day in the life” that I could expect as a senior?

Former EY, now in the wide world of Corp Dev -

I regularly hear that cultural mismatch is one of the most typical reasons deals fail, but when I hear about the diligence process for other strategic buyers, it rarely includes any formal analysis of cultural fit - it seems mostly driven by educated guesses made on mostly qualitative bases (i.e., vibes).

Are companies actually doing real diligence on cultural fit as part of the HR diligence process? Are there consultancies that help with this?

Is EYs ops m&a team being paid Parthenon salaries?

Other than upsell, cross sell and geo expansion, pricing, are all the other revenue synergies completely imaginary? I've seen CDD reports and folks on my teams try to get creative with R&D, product, CX, type synergies. These are either difficult to implement, or the cost to achieve is so high it basically becomes a dis-synergy through margin contraction. Are we getting too creative with these non-traditional revenue synergy ideas? Have any of you seen the creative ones quantifiably work?

Our corporate in Atlanta is planning to extend its territory to India but strictly for outsourcing and reducing work load. What would be the best approach? A project office, a branch or acquisition

Does anyone have recommendations for thought leaders/influencers in the M&A space? Looking for blogs, books, YouTube videos? Not currently in the space, trying to learn more as I’m thinking about a pivot after a few years in consulting/startups

Since there’s no PE bowl and I know a lot of m&a consultants have PE clients, figure I’d ask this. How will current interest rate levels affect the deal structures of LBOs moving forward? Cont.

Have a corporate development interview tomorrow and have absolutely no experience on how to lessen the mileage. Plz help - any tips appreciated. coming from B4 risk consulting

Is there a difference in Deloitte M&A Strategy and Deloitte M&A Restructuring and Cost Transformation teams? I’m trying to get referred but I see these 2 diff reqs and I’m getting confused

Rank the big 4 for its financial due diligence/ overall deal strategy business.

Looking for good people with Finance and Transaction background at EY-P. Send me a DM if interested.

Anybody in consumer and retail at BB’s? Would love to connect

What’s better, working for an M&A advisory group or doing M&A transactions in banking? I honestly have no idea what the key differences are.

Does ODD and FDD happen before or after LOI?

🍁November Job Thread

Do you know of any opening or opportunity? Share it in the comments below!

Help another Fish. 🤝

General practice or specialized center of excellence (CoE)? KPMG Strategy has certain CoEs, one of which I am part of. The TMT general practice hints at wanting to bring me over. What are the pros associated with becoming more of a “generalist”? I’m current in the technology CoE. M level

Anyone in EY-P TSE willing to chat about the practice, opportunities, etc. Looking to move from PwC FDD.