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McKinsey vs. Quant

MichaelZ

MichaelZ

Joined
12/14/11
Messages
8
Points
11
Hello,
I am a Math PhD and have offers for McKinsey Consulting and for a Quant position at a low-brand firm. I tend to like both roles.

Suppose, I would choose McKinsey and would after 2 years decide that this is nothing for me, how much more easy/difficult do you think would it be to get a Quant job?

Also, any other thoughts on McK vs. Quant are highly appreciated!!! Thanks a lot.
 
I would take the McK job in a heartbeat. Much more variety work-wise and much better exit-opps. You get to work with super super smart people from both science and arts backgrounds. But it is definitely a completely different ballgame than a Quant position.

Longterm; do you see yourself mostly on an expert/technology or a business/commercial career-trajectory?
 
I can't say where I see myself longterm...I tend to be bored if I do s.th. that doesn't challenge me which might speak against certain expert roles, on the other hand I prefer diving deep and understanding something perfectly which might speak for an expert role, i.e. quant. That's why I am thinking about which possibilities exist for transition between expert roles and more mgmt/overseer-roles and whether one direction is more feasible than the other
 
What type of consulting would you be doing? If it was financial consulting or something similar, I'd probably go that route. I just think it would be more interesting. I would assume with all of the connections you'd make (especially at a place like that) it wouldn't be too hard to get a different job once you decided to stop consulting.
 
I could, in large, decide by myself what kind of projects I will do. Thus, I could definitely get exposure to senior banking staff. However, I need to keep in mind that the banking projects will mostly be about retail banking or general operational/strategic questions. Thus one probably recommends oneself for such roles rather than expert roles in trading/fund mgmt...
 
I would advise you to talk to people in both firms, look at what people have done with their careers in both places. Historically, people from McKinsey have tended to do really well (ignoring the few recent /past scandals) either in corporations/governments/non-profits. Moreover, its alumni network is really strong. I doubt quants have risen to any reasonable level in their firms or anywhere else for that matter.
 
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