We get many candidates asking us for MBA advice to land in management consulting. Here is a simple table put together using data from BusinessWeek MBA Rankings and data from the schools own placement statistics.
Harvard does not publish their data but its hard to believe they could top the leading school here.
We wanted to see which schools produce the most consulting hires for BBM! We also compared the top Canadian school and one fairly new school founded by 25 German companies including McKinsey & BCG. The winner is…..
…..by a landslide: INSEAD! Interestingly, the others are disappointing when compared on data alone.
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Michael,
Thank you for providing this material. However, I would like to challenge some of the data provided here:
Currently, there is a campaign running by Veritas Prep which offers three business schools’ reports for free. I took Harvard, Stanford, and Wharton. The employment statistics of these three reports tell that the consulting function (and consulting industry) tops with a 27 to 30% of the “total” class. So, let us take Wharton:
Wharton’s class size is about 1,700 graduates. If only 80% accepted offers (the remaining 20% were entrepreneurs and other cases), we have a sub-class size of 1,360. If 30% entered consulting (mainly management consulting), we get 408 graduates in the consulting industry. This number is 4 times larger than the number you reported in the table, above. Although you only reported MBB hires, MBB hires usually represent the vast majority. What do you think? Is this a correct way to measure the management consulting “affinity” of business schools in the USA?
Best regards,
Luis R. Villegas H.
Mexico.
Hi Luis – hope you are good.
All, I can say is our numbers come directly from the school and I cannot comment on Veritas. So, either my math is incorrect (which I doubt), or the school reported incorrect numbers, which I also doubt. Our calculations are also approximately similar to that reported in other major/reputable sites.
On your comment – I think you need to re-look at consultants placed in other firms. Actually, more consultants would be placed outside the top 3. Just because Wharton, Harvard etc are great schools does not mean they defy the law of averages and have no long tails. There will always be more graduates placing outside the top three. Always. That’s what makes the elite places to work. Consulting includes Deloitte which is the largest recruiter of MBA’s worldwide. They are clearly outside the top 3 and would skew the numbers. I am not saying Deloitte is a the largest at Harvard, but other long tail firms add up.
BBM hires do not represent the vast majority.
M
Michael,
I also hope you are good.
Based on your reply, I got to this conclusion: When talking about Management Consulting and Business Schools you need to look at two numbers: The BBM hires only and the complete consulting hires. These two numbers tell a different story and have different uses. For example, looking at the BBM hires alone will tell you the likeliness of entering BBM after graduation (in case you are interested in BBM). On the other hand, looking at the complete consulting hires will tell you if the Business School has a strong and renowned Consulting curriculum.
Best regards,
Luis R. Villegas H.
Mexico.
That is correct. We will add those numbers…
It would be interesting to know what percentage of the 235 INSEAD consulting recruits were already in MC before they did their MBA. The candidates that were previously at these firms and are completing their MBA, already have an offer to return to their firms. To really gage how strong the school is in consulting, it would be good to see new MC hires’ stats.
Last point: It doesn’t matter if you do your MBA at INSEAD or Wharton, if you are not prepared to crack the case, you won’t get the MC job at any firm. All of these candidates are members of their schools’ consulting clubs and practice cases like crazy.
Michael – we raise these very same points in our comments!
But I disagree on one area. A school is strong in consulting even it attracts consultants. It does not need to just be good at placing them to be strong in consulting.
Furthermore, being a member of the consulting club has questionable value. You just need to practice like crazy and have good communication skills.
If you go to INSEAD’s website you can find some of the information you seek. In summary: of the 235 BBM hires, 107 are returning employees. Therefore, INSEAD places 128 new BBM hires.
By sector group, INSEAD places 44% of its class into MC generally (2010). I can’t find the info for 2010, but for the class of 2011, 26% of the class came in with MC experience. So at max, 59% of INSEAD’s MC hires would have MC experience, generally. But since 26% of INSEAD students have MC experience (268 students), it’s possible that every single BBM hire has had MC experience in the past (not necessarily with BBM, but with some other firm, like Booz or Monitor, and decide to leverage that experience towards a BBM hire). But we do not have enough information to clarify the realities on this point.
And I do agree with the person that replied before me. Having a great number of students with MC work experience could support that a school has a great consulting curriculum. It could simply be that the school’s curriculum is particularly strong, with a particularly strong reputation among consultants (in INSEAD’s case, it seems to dominate the non-US geography), hence attracting a great number of top MC applicants (who tend to seek top-notch education).
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Micheal,
Mck BTO seems to hire profiles from non-targets and has selection process independent of strategy. Could you validate and share info about Consulting companies that have specialized divisions like that of Mck?
RGR,
McK BTO is no different from the rest of McKinsey – all McK offices hire from non-targets. It’s harder to get in, but there are many, many people from non-targets who joined BCG, Bain or McKinsey.
Wrt to specialised units, I could write a lot. However, it would help to know what you want to know.
Michael
A note about cause and effect. If you attend INSEAD it DOES NOT mean it is easier for you to enter BBM. If you are not prepared and not smart, you will not get a consulting offer! It is more likely that INSEAD simply selects people who fit the consulting profile AND prefer to join management consulting upon graduation.
So, does going to INSEAD give you an edge in landing a consulting gig? It is hard to say!
Using that logic, wouldn’t being accepted to INSEAD mean you fit the consulting profile? Your chances don’t improve, but it’s like a stamp of approval. A top candidate is a top candidate and probably would be a top candidate regardless of where they go, BUT, if an offer by INSEAD means you have been deemed to be the type of person to fit the consulting profile, wouldn’t an acceptance letter from INSEAD mean your chances are good, whether or not you go?
I agree with this.
I’m working on working there!
Upon further examination I just saw that 2010 Bain did eventually pass Bearing Point and slid into the top 10 in Germany – mea culpa!
Hey,
great idea! may I just add a couple thoughts from a European perspective:
INSEAD dominates even though you aren’t even taking into account the Roland Berger hires!
Roland Berger himself is a member of the board of INSEAD, so naturally they also recruit there.
Since INSEAD is a European school this is important as RB is a huge force there – i just have # for Germany, but on that market RB outclasses MBB in terms of revenue/capita.
http://www.luenendonk.de/management_beratung.php
also: this MBA-ranking shouldn’t be applied to a German school! you have to look after the Master in Management programs since MBAs are fairly uncommon in eurppe. consider adding the placement numbers of WHU, excellent school in Germany.
(don’t forget that Bain doesn’t even make the top 10 in Germany, therefore irrelevant!
MBB in Europe = McK, BCG, Berger
Best from Brazil!
Fredbull,
This is an excellent point. Thank you for raising it. If we compare INSEAD than we must add Roland Berger to the list. As you know from our previous posts and rankings, we rate RB very highly.Now if we add RB to the INSEAD numbers than INSEAD is pretty much unstoppable when it comes to consulting placements. Which is a real pity since the brand is virtually unknown in the US & Canada.
Michael
FredBull,
Do you by any chance work at RB?
Michael
Great – I just sent you an email!