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lateral movement in consulting firms


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How important is the branding and the alumni networks of the big management consulting firms? How does this compare to working in a boutique pure strategy firm with better training- ie low levrage team with more partner interaction.

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Hi Peggy,

That's okay, I respect your privacy.

The short answer is that the MBB firms are not the be all and end all. Branding and networking are obviously important though, and the reason for my question above is that my advice depends partly on which boutique firm has offered you a position.

May I suggest that you take a look at the list of Australian strategy firms that I updated recently here: http://bit.ly/el5Y0o

Tier one firms are all strong.

Does that help?

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Yeah it is is the tier one-australian. I just don't know whether I should hold out and re-apply next year. Do you think I could work for the small firm for a few years and then transfer across?

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Hi Peggy,

As you know, each firm looks for slightly different things and I don't know much (read: anything) about your background or the boutique firm that has offered you a role. Having said that, if you work with one of the Australian tier ones, I don't know of any reason why you would not be able to transfer across.

It depends on your objective though.

If your aim is to get into a top MBA school (with consulting as your spring-board) then the Australian tier-1 boutique firms can play just as well as the MBB firms. I know a number of people from PJP who have obtained places at top US schools (eg Harvard). If this is the objective, then your best bet would be to talk to the people at the firm and see what schools past consultants have gone to.

If your aim is to obtain quality strategy experience, my understanding is that this can be gained at any of the tier ones.

Does that help?

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Yeah, I guess I'm not entirely sure of my aim yet. I just want to open as many doors as possible. I was more concerned with the lack of contacts and alumni of a smaller firm. For instance if I fell in love with a certain industry and wanted to leave consulting and pursue a career in that industry, I imagine the brand of a big firm would be a great signalling device and that the larger firms might have more contacts and be able to help me make the transition.

can I ask what your background is?

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Hi Peggy,

That's fair enough, everyone is trying to keep their options open. I think big firm branding is helpful when you haven't decided what you want yet.

Although, even more important than branding is to find an activity where you can combine passion, competence and market need. If you are passionate, competent and there is a need for what you have to offer - you will be unstoppable.

My education was BComm (Hons) LLB as Sydney Uni.

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Hi Peggy

Can I make some comments here. My take to the situation are:

Be a big fish in a small firm - familiar with services offered by the small firm and get to know the whole operation process of the organization - progress your own consulting business

OR

Be a small fish in a large firm - establish more contacts from fellow firms and/or clients - apply a position in a even bigger firm by taking advantage of the big branding of your previous employer and contacts established

All depends on your career planning for the future!

Regards,
Mark

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Basically I wanted to use management consulting as either a stepping stone into an industry I am really passionate about ( I haven't found this yet) or if I really love consulting, just stick with it. I am not really sure at this stage.
I'm just not sure if I should stick with my offer from a small firm or try and get into one of the bigs ones. Someone told me you get better training at the smaller firms because they use a low leverage structure and you are given more responsibilities and have more partner interaction. Do you believe this to be true?

I guess I am trying to evaluate the pros and cons of working at a small firm vs big firm and the relative importance of those factors.

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