| Topic Name: |
Management Consulting or I-Banking |
| Message Name: |
Trust me... |
| Date Posted: |
11/25/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
I was being cute when I said I wouldn't give my name. I'd rather not get into every bit of my background. But I was at McK. And I've been enouigh other places to have a bit of perspective on what "good work" is. Since, McK I've done some independant work and found many (but less) of the same problems. I haven't found the end-all, be-all job. You should take my comments with a grain of salt therefore. But wrt consulting, most people I know think it is something of a mind-suck. For somebody looking at jumping into consulting, you should at least look at the negative views. I may be a bit outspoken, but my views are not alone.
Consulting could be a pretty cool job if it were anything like what it is described as. But look at the trendy, shoddy work that was done during the boom. Ask yourself, was the problem a "one-off" mistake. Or are there indemic faults in level of intellectual rigor and ethics within consulting firms. My view of intellectual rigor is more like a challenging HS teacher. My view of ethics is more like a challenging grandmother. (This stuff is NOT that complicated--people often try to use complication as an excuse for a flaw--look at Enron.) McK and other firms give themselves a lot of pats on the back, but when you peel back the onion...the emporor has reason to feel cold in winter...
As far as McK, they are an OK firm. Pretty bright people. Not the most probing problem-solvers though.
Try this out. Go get the two public books by Marvin Bower (grandfather of the Firm). Their titles are "The Will to Lead" and "The Will to Manage". Ask yourself how many insights Bower got in decades of consulting. Is there anything interesting in those books?
P.s. No more background questions. It makes me worried you are stalking me. ;) If you think I'm full of it, let's debate specific points. |
| Message: |
I'm not stalking you.
I am, however, looking at strategy as the optimal job out of undergrad, and that's why I ask about your background. I'd like to eventually get into venture capital.
Most people on the McK board -- and most people in strategy in general -- laud the great problem-solving skills they develop, responsibility heaved on their shoulders, etc. Few are as blunt as you have been.
My feeling about strategy is that it offers a similar learning curve, with more responsibility and less hours at the analyst (BA) level.
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