Consulting is one of those careers that several new college grads end up starting in, but no one quite knows what the job is (besides the fact that it pays well and connects to several sectors). MBB is an acronym for the three most “prestigious” firms in management and strategy consulting. They relate to optimizing overall business strategy and work with high-level clients including major corporations and in some cases, the federal government. The three firms are McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Company. Both of us are starting off at an MBB firm this year (Dawson at Bain Atlanta and Saanvikha at BCG DC). Our path to breaking into consulting was far from easy but also, both of us had pretty distinct journeys into consulting. Before we share a guide on how to break into consulting for a beginner, we wanted to give you a glimpse into our stories, so let’s jump right in.
Dawson’s Story
I stumbled haphazardly onto the field of consulting during the late fall of my sophomore year. By that point, I was becoming dissociated with being pre-med and having a crisis over whether being a doctor was right for me. Specifically, I was in class and saw that an organization on campus was recruiting for consulting. I thought it was interesting and shortly after, applied for the organization in our Terry College of Business and thought nothing of it. Well, I received an interview and had no idea what consulting was and had one week to prepare for case interviewing. I was recommended to read a book called Case in Point and had it shipped the next day. I went to our dining hall on campus at about 11pm and spent three hours reading it. I was enthralled and inspired at a job that is 50% problem solving and 50% talking to other people. The concept of working at 23 years old and ‘advising’ and identifying solutions was extremely tempting, especially instead of spending a decade more in school.
Well, I got rejected. During my interview I said I didn’t want to become a consultant, and this was true, and that I would rather use the skills to develop for the future. I was bummed, but I left still thinking about consulting as a profession, especially since I was curious about doing an MD/MBA at the time (I know–very ambitious) to do hospital administration. Fast forward a few weeks, and I was getting coffee with a peer leader and he recommended that I talk to his girlfriend that is doing consulting. I reached out and had coffee with her, and thanks to her advice with providing me with the numbers of UGA alum that interned at MBB, I became even more entranced. At UGA, we have an organization called the Corsair society, a business club that takes talented students and helps with the final polishing to try and be successful in recruiting. Well, at this point, Corsair application season was coming around and I decided to apply. Now, I could actually see myself in consulting during a gap year before med school (Yes, MD was still on the docket). I began to case prep and learn how to really interview, and through this process, I became extremely interested and loved thinking about macro problems and started to see the world and business in a transformative and new way.
I got accepted! It was insane, and I found a tight community in that organization. That summer, I went through recruiting and very much did not get an offer despite interviewing, and really no one got offers. I was looking for something new and studied abroad at LSE, thinking about pivoting into policy and law school. So, I took junior year with consulting on the burner and ended up interning at a think tank during my junior summer. I loved this experience and knew that if I was applying to law school I wanted to have a summer in DC. During the full time recruiting of MBB, I decided to reapply and see what happens. Well, Bain was the earliest deadline and I shortly after received an interview invite.
I stepped up my case prep game and ended up having my first round interview on zoom in Seattle while visiting my freshman year college roommate. I received an invite the next day for round two. I then had 1.5 weeks and took it chiller and just focused on my why and some light preparation. My interview was on a Monday, and I drove to Athens right after it. I hadn’t heard anything for a day so I was obviously very nervous. But, while I was driving around on Tuesday, I got a call from my partner giving me my offer. This day is probably one of my top 5 memories. I can still perfectly recount it and am immensely grateful for the overwhelming amount of support from those at Bain.
I see consulting as a launch point to learn and grow with other incredibly gifted and ambitious peers. Although Atlanta wasn’t my first choice, Bain heavily focuses on healthcare in Atlanta, and I knew that it was the best place for me to learn from some of the best in the industry. I plan to stay at Bain for 3 years before doing a joint JD/MBA, as of now, and then afterwards, who knows! There’s so many possibilities but I know that whatever I choose, it will be in pursuit of trying to create a better healthcare system.
Saanvikha’s Story
To be quite honest, I didn’t really know that consulting existed as a career until halfway through my sophomore year of college. I came into college as a Biochemistry & Molecular Biology major and envisioned myself doing something with health policy or public health in the future. In fact, when I first learned about consulting (through Dawson, naturally), I had been accepted into and was completing coursework for the Double Dawgs program for an MPH with a Health Policy & Management emphasis. But, I honestly was not enjoying the program as much as I thought I would. I was also worried about starting off a career in health policy because I did not want to get a general legislative staff assistant position on the Hill and was not ecstatic about any of the other health policy careers people had spoken to me about. During my spring semester, Dawson had tried to convince me to explore consulting but I was very much opposed to the idea of working in management consulting. I thought the work hours were terrible (and still kind of do), was nervous about getting sucked into the corporate world, and didn’t think I had the skills or background to even get an offer.
I spent the summer after my sophomore year in Athens, GA doing research and volunteering, and I had quite a bit of free time. So, I decided to look into consulting a little more – just to learn a little more about it. Even though at this point of time I still didn’t see myself pursuing it, I figured there was no harm in learning about it. So, what did this look like? Reading Case in Point, of course (to see what casing was like), reaching out to people working in consulting who were alumni of UGA, participating in Connect with McKinsey and BCG Launch, and reading as much as possible about it online. I was exclusively looking at healthcare consulting companies at the time (ex. Huron, Avalere, Deloitte GPS) because I knew that healthcare is where I wanted to be long-term. I also still didn’t think I could actually place and vividly remember saying that I was solely looking at boutique and maybe Big 4 firms because I didn’t have what it takes for MBB. Surprisingly, I ended up really enjoying my conversations with everyone working there, but unfortunately, by the time I came to this realization, the recruiting season for the consulting summer internships had come to a close.
Consulting was on the back-burner for most of my junior year besides networking calls every once in a while until I did the Bain Atlanta Women’s Leadership Summit. I absolutely loved the two days I spent in the office. Not only were the culture and people at the office amazing, but the actual projects were so interesting. I also saw how people were able to use their job in consulting to create change and do good in the world, which was inspiring and encouraging. Post-summit, I was guaranteed a first-round interview with the office, so I spent several hours casing and speaking with associate consultants in the office (even while abroad in Cortona and my internship in NYC). By completing Solve for McKinsey, I also had the opportunity to attend several ATL recruiting events. I ended up applying in the summer for Bain, BCG, and McKinsey.
When my first-round interview for Bain came around (the first consulting interview I ever did), I felt prepared and both excited/nervous. But, the actual interview didn’t go so well, and I ended up not getting a second-round. I was pretty discouraged after this because Bain ATL was my “dream” company, and I pretty much lost all hope for consulting and basically went through a crisis of applying to every/any job on Handshake because I was scared of being unemployed. Very shockingly, I ended up also getting first round interviews from the BCG Washington D.C. office and the McKinsey ATL office. I was still bummed about Bain and had a pessimistic outlook about the interview, but I did both of those interviews right before leaving for the U.K. and got calls about a second-round interview for both. I ended up not getting an offer from McKinsey, but I did my second-round interview for BCG in Scotland and got a call the same night! Honestly, every time someone asks me what I did to get an offer from BCG WAS, I don’t have a clear answer (I didn’t talk to anyone from the office before nor did I have any connection to DC besides loving policy). I think what was more important was being able to tell my story passionately and really honing in on my strengths in casing and interviewing. Consulting, for me, is an avenue to learn about various fields, tune my analytical and creative skills, and make connections that will help me towards a future international health policy career.
Wrap-Up
We know that was a lot to gather from both of our paths to consulting, but we hope that gave a little more insight into how we “broke through.” There isn’t a recipe or foolproof guide into how to start at an MBB firm. Everyone has their own path and story (as seen in our distinct ones). This is simply what worked for us. In the future, we’ll give some more guidance on how to network for consulting, what programs to consider, casing/interview tips, and more. So…stay tuned!