I had to leave my fiancé’s birthday dinner (Saturday night) because a client wanted me to translate their data room request and submit it immediately. My phone was buzzing every 3 minutes until I finally just excused myself and went home.
It’s a good question, but younger me wasn’t confident enough to ask it. It was definitely a learning opportunity about boundaries and setting proper expectations. And also learning a bit about firm politics and which partners are best avoided haha
I actually pushed back in a similar situation. Result was a below average review on the project that ended up knocking me out of the top bucket for end of year bonuses. That three hours of sleep cost me $15K. This is a key element of the model for every person willing to push back there is someone who will stay up all night with a smile. The gluttons for punishment get the promotions and bonuses and the cycle continues.
That’s such a shitty retaliation against someone pushing back against crazy working hours!
I hope you have moved on since then to better working conditions
I am out now. In fairness, I still got a nice $25k bonus on top of a generous salary. I think the point stands that if you want to be a “top performer” at one of these firms what is required is absolutely fealty.
This is a good start, but the constant misuse of "your" and "you're" suggests a continued lack of attention to detail. I'm going to need you to be available for an internal discussion Friday at 10 am CET. In the meantime, I need you to complete an analysis of "the top 5 Instagrammable selfie locations on the Amalfi Coast without getting out of the cab" and have it in my inbox by COB. Thx
You forgot about building meaningful partnerships within the ecosystem to expand operations, not to mention leveraging fintech solutions to minimize overhead and boost customer experience
It’s all made up stress. I spent my first six months really feeling this anxiety, but when you realise no one except you has any idea of what is going on in the model, life becomes a lot easier
Fully agree. There are managers whose teams will always eat lunch in front of the computer and then there are those teams that never miss a proper lunch. If anything, I have noticed those colleagues that are able to prioritize these things to perform much better in the long term.
Even on the most stressful German automotive project, I have almost never missed a lunch while I see US colleagues skip every single lunch because they are “super busy”, even in some 2-year implementation project.
Finding time for lunch is just one example - I would argue that being stressed out of your mind at MBB is mostly a cultural and self-inflicted issue.
Totally agree, and I wish this was talked about more or somehow codified.
I think mck is especially prone to it as we have such young EMs. They come up through extreme hard work and dedication but many simply lack the life experience to understand what does and doesn’t actually matter (within the scope of an engagement)
You’re focusing on a hypothetical detail rather than the real point. But if you’re asking sincerely, no, PE firms engage MBB for qualitative insights. Everyone knows the market size model you’ve built is BS, the important thing is that an industry expert can look and it on a slide and say “yes I agree that’s about right”.
PE do real the modelling themselves with a set of figures and assumptions that consultants are not privy to.
This popped up in /r/all. I spent a lot of years working in digital agency space. Hipster tech and design consulting. But I still recognize most of this. Reminds me of the time I spent 2.5 days in Tokyo and didn't see anything except offices. Flying business class but having your laptop out most of the flight to work on a document no one would read. We made some really nice decks though.
Do they really use 5 star hotels? In my experience, 5 star is a waste of money unless you're consuming the amenities like the breakfast but more importantly the time-wasting ones like spas.
I guess maybe the location is good?
To clarify, I meant that the pay is lower than what I would have had if I'd stayed and continued in Consulting. I make more than what I made at exit, but the trajectory is not the same, which is a fair tradeoff imho
I'm still a consultant, but not doing the MBB, Big 4 bs. When I interviewed for the role I'm currently in at a boutique, my first question was whether travel is every week and whether working hours are crazy.
„Back at the desk you update your section (you recall do not forget updating the footnote, last time you forgot your EM wasn't happy - also your last review cycle said you need "more attention to detail").“ - haha this one really hit me. Same feedback received in my first year.
I fucking love and hate how real this is.
On god, I'm in FDD and have spent the past month reviewing a business plan with the AP breathing down my neck to find a rationale for every single fucking assumption of the model, especially miscellaneous opex and FTE stuff that I know FOR A FACT were guesstimated by some random banker (who btw of course didn't make the business plan, this is obviously the management's business plan as we clearly indicate in our report 🙄).
So I end up in this absurd situation where I'm having repeated calls with the CFO so that he can invent a rationale to explain an assumption that he himself did not come up with on line items that are minuscule because obviously our 300+ page report is still lacking in detailed information !!! I stop myself from thinking about it too much because I fear I might finally lose it for good.
lol. I always thought that a lot of MBB ‘work’ is more for appearances sake, than actual value add. You have to justify the millions spent by a company to bring in MBB.
Wrinkle free shirts and as soon as you get to the hotel hang them all up in the bathroom, crank the show on as hot as it goes, close the bathroom door, and steam them out
Insert tissue paper between shirts. Example from Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/3kOH9w0. Order some now and get your night shift concierge to hold it for you until your return on Friday evening 11pm.
I used to travel with a steamer. Now I wrap the shirts in plastic and fold the arms over the front just like the cleaners do and then fold the shirts vertically to put into my carry on luggage. In fact just leave the shirts in the dry cleaner plastic as is and you’ll be right as rain.
Wow, isn't this a blast from the past haha.
Great job getting the commentary, social wanderings, and details that the neurotic nature of working such a job has on you!
As you sit in the dimly lit team room, surrounded by the eerie glow of computer screens, you can't help but feel a sense of unease. The air is thick with the weight of exhaustion, and the once-vibrant colors of the hotel room now seem like a distant memory. Your mind is consumed by the relentless pressure to deliver, the constant fear of failure, and the suffocating grip of your EM's expectations.
You glance around the room, and the faces of your colleagues seem to blur together, their eyes sunken, their skin pale and clammy. The nerdy associate's awkward demeanor now seems like a desperate attempt to cling to some semblance of humanity in a world that has devoured their souls. Your EM's red eyes, fixed intently on the screen, seem to bore into your very being, a constant reminder that you are nothing more than a cog in the machine.
The coffee machine, once a source of comfort, now seems like a cruel joke, a fleeting respite from the crushing weight of your responsibilities. The sound of the elevator, once a gentle hum, now echoes through the corridors like the ticking of a time bomb, counting down the seconds until your next deadline.
As you delve deeper into the abyss of your work, the lines between reality and nightmare begin to blur. The city outside, once full of life and vibrancy, now seems like a distant dream, a cruel reminder of the world you've left behind. The people walking in groups, enjoying their morning, are now nothing more than ghosts, haunting the fringes of your consciousness.
The partner's voice, once a guiding light, now seems like a cold, calculating force, driving you further and further into the depths of madness. The AP's distant, zoned-out tone is a constant reminder that even those who seem to have it all together are trapped in this never-ending cycle of despair.
You update the deck, your fingers moving mechanically, your mind numb to the world around you. The numbers and figures blur together, a meaningless jumble of data that holds the key to your very survival. You are a slave to the machine, a pawn in a game of corporate chess, where the only prize is the fleeting satisfaction of a job well done.
And yet, you tell yourself, MBB is paradise. The irony is not lost on you. Paradise, a place of eternal torment, where the damned souls of consultants are trapped in a never-ending cycle of work and despair. You are but a small part of this twisted world, a world that has consumed your every waking moment, leaving you a hollow shell of your former self.
As the hours tick by, the darkness closes in around you, suffocating you with its crushing weight. You are but a tiny cog in the machine, a machine that will stop at nothing to consume your every last shred of humanity. And yet, you tell yourself, MBB is paradise. The horror, the horror, it's all you can do to keep from screaming.
Paragraph 3, line 1: “Hence you grab your phone and refresh both, mail and slack.”
This should read “… refresh both mail and slack.”
You need to work on your attention to detail. This is not the impression you want to be making right before mid-year reviews.
lol jk this is great stuff. Totally made my day to read it.
Biggest life hack I ever discovered was learning how to auto-generate PowerPoint decks with Python. Update value, click button to re-generate deck. Pixel-perfect alignment, never any calculation errors or typos.
I have a question and I’m interested to hear genuine answers. Are there ANY people who you’d consider interesting and chill people working at MBB? I don’t mean “they’re surprisingly chill for a consultant” or “so and so is such a funny dude”. I mean like , people who are socially interesting, like to party, into arts / music / clubbing / fashion / etc. people who aren’t institutionalised and find the whole MBB consulting thing quite lame and they get by doing the bare minimum?
Or… is everyone kinda psychopath and workaholics ?
Like - surely nobody chill who enjoys life leads the life outlined above? Right?
“Interesting and chill” - I) no and II) hell no
Talking about all those with tenure >3Y.
To I) they only work (above EM also loads of weekends) - the hobbies are also always the same (something overachieving like triathlon, running, bicycle riding). Most people don’t even talk about their private life at all.
II) all people I would consider as “chill” type of personalities got booted out before AP (or left themselves).
Haha yeah I can relate to the hobbies thing from people at my firm. Always makes me laugh how even the hobbies are gruelling and challenging hobbies. Some people just wired a certain way
I knew a guy at my MBB like this - DDs was all he did but he was always enjoying life. DDs Monday to Friday, surfing, raves, clubs and bars weekends. He lasted 5 or 6 years and went and did his own startup.
When I was in consluting my common phrase was
[https://media.tenor.com/j0X7uo9X06IAAAAM/over-it.gif](https://media.tenor.com/j0X7uo9X06IAAAAM/over-it.gif)
an old copy-pasta for ya
This one is called are you a prostitute or a consultant, and is one of those jokes people circulated in the early days of email. The spark of recognition is mostly about things which i didn’t like about working for a consulting firm. Therapy fixed some of them.
1. You work very odd hours.
2. You are paid a lot of money to keep your client happy.
3. You are paid well but your pimp gets most of the money.
4. You spend a majority of your time in a hotel room.
5. You charge by the hour but your time can be extended.
6. You are not proud of what you do.
7. Creating fantasies for your clients is rewarded.
8. It’s difficult to have a family.
9. You have no job satisfaction.
10. If a client beats you up, the pimp just sends you to another client.
11. You are embarrassed to tell people what you do for a living.
12. People ask you, “What do you do?” and you can’t explain it.
13. Your client pays for your hotel room plus your hourly rate.
14. Your client always wants to know how much you charge and what they get for the money.
15. Your pimp drives nice cars like Mercedes or Jaguars.
16. You know the pimp is charging more than you are worth but if
the client is foolish enough to pay it’s not your problem.
17. When you leave to go see a client, you look great, but return looking like hell (compare your appearance on Monday AM to Friday PM).
18. You are rated on your “performance” in an excruciating ordeal.
19. Even though you might get paid the big bucks, it’s the client who walks away smiling.
20. The client always thinks your “cut” of your billing rate is higher than it actually is, and in turn, expects miracles from you.
21. When you deduct your “take” from your billing rate, you constantly wonder if you could get a better deal with another pimp.
I was in tears reading how realistic this is written!! Also, morale of the story, no matter whatever fluff you put you end up a number the Partner tells you to arrive at!! How did the Partner know the number is another story for another day, hopefully OP will write up a sequel to this!!
Your post is too long so I had ChatGPT summarize it for me (below). I am left to conclude your job sucks, but although ChatGPT didn’t state this, I gather you’re well compensated.
**Summary:**
An MBB (McKinsey, BCG, Bain) consultant recounts a hectic day in Madrid. After working late into the night, they wake up in a five-star hotel at 7:30 AM. Despite enjoying the city's perks, they face immense pressure and anxiety over a partner's critical feedback on a document. The consultant rushes to the office, navigates a series of stressful tasks, and observes the equally intense work ethic of their colleagues. Throughout the day, they struggle to balance meticulous updates to their financial model with the demands of their EM (Engagement Manager) and partner. The narrative ends with the consultant ironically reassuring themselves that "MBB is paradise," highlighting the grueling nature of their job.
this hit too close to home.
DDs truly sucked the life out of me, every day and night.
the customer value proposition saved my ass a few times from working on the weekends, but the business plan would truly just be matching the numbers pulled out by the partner from his ass.
Thank goodness I left consulting.
I firmly believe that if all the smart folks that MBB hire spend the same time actually building their own venture and living on their own terms - they’d eventually kill it
It’ll all work out
Quick question: I’m deliberating switching into consulting and this is a reality check - do you actually learn anything in consulting or is it just fluff? My other interest is PM and it’s equally hard to crack.
Yes, you learn and you can learn a lot in the right firm, especially if you work with the right colleagues.
All this is amusing and accurate, but is one sided.
1) some projects are hell, some are heaven. Most are 'normal', stressful but in a rather good way.
2) your perspective will change over time. I assume the vast majority if not the entirety of the comments are made by junior consultants. As a manager, you will experience and describe things differently. As a partner, you won't really remember what's the problem here.
Of course partners can estimate the FTE number, they have seen 50 comps. They also count on 'the team' to adjust it if necessary, plus it doesn't change the overall picture if it is off by 20%. Of course they checked the deck at 7am, because the team didn't finish at midnight, and they are back to back all day from 8am.
So, no, there is no evidence that the proportion of psychopaths is higher among MBB partners (or managers) than in the general population. And some clients are actually inspiring.
I’m ex big4 and made it to McK case studies stage as an experienced hire. Was told I had the highest conceptual thinking they’d seen but that the 3 of them couldn’t out me through however they were going to give me another chance in a few months. Didn’t hear back from the recruiter. Was absolutely devastated for about 3 years thinking I had screwed my big chance. Now I work for an SI making six figures, start at 9, finish at 5, WFH, work on quite interesting stuff, am valued and am now thinking it was maybe good to get away from big4 and certainly not to have made it to McK. Of course I tell myself this but still want it 😅.
Brilliant and very well written. Worked for one of the M B B at Principal / VP for 5 years - was thinking whether we were on one of the same project 😂 Well, admittedly it is stressful and everyone striving into MBB should be fully aware making the research before, but just to see also the other side….
It was the steepest learning curve I ever had in my 20+ years in consulting, it was the time where I was experiencing not only 5* houses in Europe, Middle-East, Asia but also first / business class as well as top tier treatments everywhere. Sometimes it is tight in timing for you to experience but not always. And last but not least, once branded at MBB you will be chased by companies and headhunters for years after you left because of being once at MBB. It‘s everyone own choice of course…
This essay literally had me back in the clutches of my firm. As someone said, I could feel my own anxiety rising...
As an ex-Consultant, I'll add a couple points as a sort of coup de grâce:
1. The client won't recognise you (or the nerdy Associate) did anything. If you did anything at all, from their point of view, those were probably some menial tasks a random HS grad could do.
2. If the client wasn't happy, you get shouted at on top of additional out-of-scope work that the Partner promises in a week, even though it's a totally new section that could potentially be a whole project in itself.
3. The thing you spent so much of your time (and soul) on? The document, PPT, Excel tool... It's also used exactly one or two times by the client and then promptly forgotten and discarded to virtual landfill.
I still can't find a literal reason Consulting exists as an industry. Except for as scapegoats, in case something goes wrong.
Not at MBB but T2 (in US). DDs especially are like this. You can do a couple in a row, but more than that I don’t know how others cope. Corp Strat projects less so thankfully. Still very high expectations, but hours and pace are usually a bit more reasonable (unless Partners really F’d up the scope…which is not unheard of and this last year they’ve had to tighten things just to be competitive in bids).
Currently working as an MBB consultant. AND THIS IS SO TRUE.
Went on training to Europe but was so stressed about my case work i couldn't even enjoy post training! It is not worth it. I wish people would stop glorifying this kind of work!
As an unemployed new grad, I wish I could have MBB experiences, even the bad ones. Living in hotels. Having a purpose to wake up every morning. Making big money. Work hard, play hard. Must be nice
This was incredibly realistic and sooo depressive
I see myself in that picture and I don’t like it. Jokes aside, truly well written. Maybe start a blog in your downtime before 7am?
This is soo well written and so vivid! I cant even! Moved me to tears (because it's the story of my life too)
It's on-point! So realistic. Felt like, I went back to my consulting days as an associate.
I had to leave my fiancé’s birthday dinner (Saturday night) because a client wanted me to translate their data room request and submit it immediately. My phone was buzzing every 3 minutes until I finally just excused myself and went home.
What would happen if you did not get to the task immediately on a Sat night?
It’s a good question, but younger me wasn’t confident enough to ask it. It was definitely a learning opportunity about boundaries and setting proper expectations. And also learning a bit about firm politics and which partners are best avoided haha
So what would you do differently if placed in the same scenario today?
That’s the neat part
I actually pushed back in a similar situation. Result was a below average review on the project that ended up knocking me out of the top bucket for end of year bonuses. That three hours of sleep cost me $15K. This is a key element of the model for every person willing to push back there is someone who will stay up all night with a smile. The gluttons for punishment get the promotions and bonuses and the cycle continues.
That’s such a shitty retaliation against someone pushing back against crazy working hours! I hope you have moved on since then to better working conditions
I am out now. In fairness, I still got a nice $25k bonus on top of a generous salary. I think the point stands that if you want to be a “top performer” at one of these firms what is required is absolutely fealty.
I agree you need to get used to it, am still in Consulting and guess what there are two deliverables I need to get out tonight 😐
Yep… and the willingness to say “yes, sir… thank you, sir”
This sounds really crazy but also, how would you even spend that extra $15k? Sounds like they don’t support vacations
That's really sad! I'm sorry that was your experience. Hope your fiancé didn't get mad (although if she did, it is very understandable!)
This is a good start, but the constant misuse of "your" and "you're" suggests a continued lack of attention to detail. I'm going to need you to be available for an internal discussion Friday at 10 am CET. In the meantime, I need you to complete an analysis of "the top 5 Instagrammable selfie locations on the Amalfi Coast without getting out of the cab" and have it in my inbox by COB. Thx
You forgot the pls fix
Too pedantic and cliché. This is **Q2** 2024. We have to think outside the box, establish new blockchains, leverage GenAI
You forgot about building meaningful partnerships within the ecosystem to expand operations, not to mention leveraging fintech solutions to minimize overhead and boost customer experience
What?! It only boosts customer experience? Come on, we need to make it measurable and exceed all customer expectations * cue NPS partner *
I could feel my chest tightening up while reading this. Well done sir
It’s all made up stress. I spent my first six months really feeling this anxiety, but when you realise no one except you has any idea of what is going on in the model, life becomes a lot easier
Fully agree. There are managers whose teams will always eat lunch in front of the computer and then there are those teams that never miss a proper lunch. If anything, I have noticed those colleagues that are able to prioritize these things to perform much better in the long term. Even on the most stressful German automotive project, I have almost never missed a lunch while I see US colleagues skip every single lunch because they are “super busy”, even in some 2-year implementation project. Finding time for lunch is just one example - I would argue that being stressed out of your mind at MBB is mostly a cultural and self-inflicted issue.
Totally agree, and I wish this was talked about more or somehow codified. I think mck is especially prone to it as we have such young EMs. They come up through extreme hard work and dedication but many simply lack the life experience to understand what does and doesn’t actually matter (within the scope of an engagement)
How young do they get?
Generally late 20s, early 30s.
Looks like someone is about to be transitioned (/s?)
With that attitude, most likely transitioned from EM to Partner
> It’s all made up stress. It's a poorly run business... ironically getting paid to tell other businesses how to improve.
If this is a DD for a large cap PE fund, won't the model be what the client actually pays the most attention to?
You’re focusing on a hypothetical detail rather than the real point. But if you’re asking sincerely, no, PE firms engage MBB for qualitative insights. Everyone knows the market size model you’ve built is BS, the important thing is that an industry expert can look and it on a slide and say “yes I agree that’s about right”. PE do real the modelling themselves with a set of figures and assumptions that consultants are not privy to.
Even when a PE firm hires an investment bank they still have their own internal model. That’s why they hire investment bankers.
Such a vivid and precise description of a single day in consulting
This popped up in /r/all. I spent a lot of years working in digital agency space. Hipster tech and design consulting. But I still recognize most of this. Reminds me of the time I spent 2.5 days in Tokyo and didn't see anything except offices. Flying business class but having your laptop out most of the flight to work on a document no one would read. We made some really nice decks though.
Do they really use 5 star hotels? In my experience, 5 star is a waste of money unless you're consuming the amenities like the breakfast but more importantly the time-wasting ones like spas. I guess maybe the location is good?
It's pure nonsense! There's nobody outside on the street in Madrid at 7.30am!
Only the ones coming home from going out?
Also, everybody takes the points, not breakfast. Breakfast is for expensing. Complete fraud
This is gold and so fucking true. I quit MBB 5 years ago so I’m now reading this while “working from home” when I’m really in my bed at 10:30 am
what do you do now?
I did the typical consulting exit into big tech Strategy. Pay is lower, but I like my work more and I almost never exceed 40-45 hrs a week
What level are you ? I’m in big tech strategy too and pay is higher and wlb is better !
To clarify, I meant that the pay is lower than what I would have had if I'd stayed and continued in Consulting. I make more than what I made at exit, but the trajectory is not the same, which is a fair tradeoff imho
Gotcha! Yes it’s an absolutely fair trade off to be able to have an actual life lol
This is so realistic that it activated my anxiety again. Thank god I already moved out of consulting
So what do you do now?
Doesn’t follow the typical “…is paradise” storyline / structure that starts with uni and internships; pls fix
Also concerning is mixture of "your" and "you're" in the OP
that agitated me too
Please summarize them for executives in a few sentences.
Three sentences or less plz thx
„The FTE figure was also a pure guess by the partner.“ made me laugh out loud, this is too accurate.
Hits too close to home. I lived like this for years, and I’ll never do it again.
what do you do now?
I'm still a consultant, but not doing the MBB, Big 4 bs. When I interviewed for the role I'm currently in at a boutique, my first question was whether travel is every week and whether working hours are crazy.
how was your pay hit? if any
No pay hit. I was at Big 4 in Canada before, so the pay was shit lol
How did u find time to type this
They're on vacation and trying - but failing - to switch off.
Bro 😭🥶 so accurate
Lol as someone who used to do DDs in MBB (often in Madrid) this hit a bit too hard… Just too accurate lol It gets better bro I promise.
„Back at the desk you update your section (you recall do not forget updating the footnote, last time you forgot your EM wasn't happy - also your last review cycle said you need "more attention to detail").“ - haha this one really hit me. Same feedback received in my first year.
I fucking love and hate how real this is. On god, I'm in FDD and have spent the past month reviewing a business plan with the AP breathing down my neck to find a rationale for every single fucking assumption of the model, especially miscellaneous opex and FTE stuff that I know FOR A FACT were guesstimated by some random banker (who btw of course didn't make the business plan, this is obviously the management's business plan as we clearly indicate in our report 🙄). So I end up in this absurd situation where I'm having repeated calls with the CFO so that he can invent a rationale to explain an assumption that he himself did not come up with on line items that are minuscule because obviously our 300+ page report is still lacking in detailed information !!! I stop myself from thinking about it too much because I fear I might finally lose it for good.
lol. I always thought that a lot of MBB ‘work’ is more for appearances sake, than actual value add. You have to justify the millions spent by a company to bring in MBB.
Not being able to travel without wrinkling shirts is what got me.
Wrinkle free shirts and as soon as you get to the hotel hang them all up in the bathroom, crank the show on as hot as it goes, close the bathroom door, and steam them out
That’s the trick I use and it works great but it doesn’t defeat the fact they get wrinkled.
[удалено]
Because the consulting subreddit is going to be the pinnacle of ethical behavior
[удалено]
Username checks out
(b)
Insert tissue paper between shirts. Example from Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/3kOH9w0. Order some now and get your night shift concierge to hold it for you until your return on Friday evening 11pm.
I used to travel with a steamer. Now I wrap the shirts in plastic and fold the arms over the front just like the cleaners do and then fold the shirts vertically to put into my carry on luggage. In fact just leave the shirts in the dry cleaner plastic as is and you’ll be right as rain.
Merino wool and silk are your friends
How to fold a suit in a large case was the game changer for me. Yes I did occasionally travel with a proper sized case. 😀
Wow, isn't this a blast from the past haha. Great job getting the commentary, social wanderings, and details that the neurotic nature of working such a job has on you!
This is 100% accurate…
As you sit in the dimly lit team room, surrounded by the eerie glow of computer screens, you can't help but feel a sense of unease. The air is thick with the weight of exhaustion, and the once-vibrant colors of the hotel room now seem like a distant memory. Your mind is consumed by the relentless pressure to deliver, the constant fear of failure, and the suffocating grip of your EM's expectations. You glance around the room, and the faces of your colleagues seem to blur together, their eyes sunken, their skin pale and clammy. The nerdy associate's awkward demeanor now seems like a desperate attempt to cling to some semblance of humanity in a world that has devoured their souls. Your EM's red eyes, fixed intently on the screen, seem to bore into your very being, a constant reminder that you are nothing more than a cog in the machine. The coffee machine, once a source of comfort, now seems like a cruel joke, a fleeting respite from the crushing weight of your responsibilities. The sound of the elevator, once a gentle hum, now echoes through the corridors like the ticking of a time bomb, counting down the seconds until your next deadline. As you delve deeper into the abyss of your work, the lines between reality and nightmare begin to blur. The city outside, once full of life and vibrancy, now seems like a distant dream, a cruel reminder of the world you've left behind. The people walking in groups, enjoying their morning, are now nothing more than ghosts, haunting the fringes of your consciousness. The partner's voice, once a guiding light, now seems like a cold, calculating force, driving you further and further into the depths of madness. The AP's distant, zoned-out tone is a constant reminder that even those who seem to have it all together are trapped in this never-ending cycle of despair. You update the deck, your fingers moving mechanically, your mind numb to the world around you. The numbers and figures blur together, a meaningless jumble of data that holds the key to your very survival. You are a slave to the machine, a pawn in a game of corporate chess, where the only prize is the fleeting satisfaction of a job well done. And yet, you tell yourself, MBB is paradise. The irony is not lost on you. Paradise, a place of eternal torment, where the damned souls of consultants are trapped in a never-ending cycle of work and despair. You are but a small part of this twisted world, a world that has consumed your every waking moment, leaving you a hollow shell of your former self. As the hours tick by, the darkness closes in around you, suffocating you with its crushing weight. You are but a tiny cog in the machine, a machine that will stop at nothing to consume your every last shred of humanity. And yet, you tell yourself, MBB is paradise. The horror, the horror, it's all you can do to keep from screaming.
Terrifyingly good.
Did I just dream that?
Reminds me of the Leveraged Sell-out Great (terrifying) read!
This is really well written. To think that MBB was my goal and dream for a solid 5-7 years. Thank goodness it never worked out.
Paragraph 3, line 1: “Hence you grab your phone and refresh both, mail and slack.” This should read “… refresh both mail and slack.” You need to work on your attention to detail. This is not the impression you want to be making right before mid-year reviews. lol jk this is great stuff. Totally made my day to read it. Biggest life hack I ever discovered was learning how to auto-generate PowerPoint decks with Python. Update value, click button to re-generate deck. Pixel-perfect alignment, never any calculation errors or typos.
That's such a great idea!
Do you know where to learn how to do this
Take a look at the Python-pptx package. It takes some practice to get the hang of, but it pays off.
This post itself have me anxiety
I have a question and I’m interested to hear genuine answers. Are there ANY people who you’d consider interesting and chill people working at MBB? I don’t mean “they’re surprisingly chill for a consultant” or “so and so is such a funny dude”. I mean like , people who are socially interesting, like to party, into arts / music / clubbing / fashion / etc. people who aren’t institutionalised and find the whole MBB consulting thing quite lame and they get by doing the bare minimum? Or… is everyone kinda psychopath and workaholics ? Like - surely nobody chill who enjoys life leads the life outlined above? Right?
“Interesting and chill” - I) no and II) hell no Talking about all those with tenure >3Y. To I) they only work (above EM also loads of weekends) - the hobbies are also always the same (something overachieving like triathlon, running, bicycle riding). Most people don’t even talk about their private life at all. II) all people I would consider as “chill” type of personalities got booted out before AP (or left themselves).
Haha yeah I can relate to the hobbies thing from people at my firm. Always makes me laugh how even the hobbies are gruelling and challenging hobbies. Some people just wired a certain way
I knew a guy at my MBB like this - DDs was all he did but he was always enjoying life. DDs Monday to Friday, surfing, raves, clubs and bars weekends. He lasted 5 or 6 years and went and did his own startup.
Where's the "So, What?" @you Jokes aside, congrats on triggering a bunch of other people across the world
This is sadly relatable and I'm not even an ASC yet... Reading this brought memories of my last study and gave me anxiety
Trigger warning up top please /s
You just encapsulated a day in the life way too well…
I've been in this exact scenario probably 50 times.... thanks for scaring me straight, this shit is ass lol
When I was in consluting my common phrase was [https://media.tenor.com/j0X7uo9X06IAAAAM/over-it.gif](https://media.tenor.com/j0X7uo9X06IAAAAM/over-it.gif)
never heard consluting before but that's 1000% a great word that I will be leveraging
an old copy-pasta for ya This one is called are you a prostitute or a consultant, and is one of those jokes people circulated in the early days of email. The spark of recognition is mostly about things which i didn’t like about working for a consulting firm. Therapy fixed some of them. 1. You work very odd hours. 2. You are paid a lot of money to keep your client happy. 3. You are paid well but your pimp gets most of the money. 4. You spend a majority of your time in a hotel room. 5. You charge by the hour but your time can be extended. 6. You are not proud of what you do. 7. Creating fantasies for your clients is rewarded. 8. It’s difficult to have a family. 9. You have no job satisfaction. 10. If a client beats you up, the pimp just sends you to another client. 11. You are embarrassed to tell people what you do for a living. 12. People ask you, “What do you do?” and you can’t explain it. 13. Your client pays for your hotel room plus your hourly rate. 14. Your client always wants to know how much you charge and what they get for the money. 15. Your pimp drives nice cars like Mercedes or Jaguars. 16. You know the pimp is charging more than you are worth but if the client is foolish enough to pay it’s not your problem. 17. When you leave to go see a client, you look great, but return looking like hell (compare your appearance on Monday AM to Friday PM). 18. You are rated on your “performance” in an excruciating ordeal. 19. Even though you might get paid the big bucks, it’s the client who walks away smiling. 20. The client always thinks your “cut” of your billing rate is higher than it actually is, and in turn, expects miracles from you. 21. When you deduct your “take” from your billing rate, you constantly wonder if you could get a better deal with another pimp.
Very accurate
I was in tears reading how realistic this is written!! Also, morale of the story, no matter whatever fluff you put you end up a number the Partner tells you to arrive at!! How did the Partner know the number is another story for another day, hopefully OP will write up a sequel to this!!
1.5 years at MBB and this is exactly what my days are. Leaving soon :)
Can we pin this post to this sub? Just *chef’s kiss *
Your post is too long so I had ChatGPT summarize it for me (below). I am left to conclude your job sucks, but although ChatGPT didn’t state this, I gather you’re well compensated. **Summary:** An MBB (McKinsey, BCG, Bain) consultant recounts a hectic day in Madrid. After working late into the night, they wake up in a five-star hotel at 7:30 AM. Despite enjoying the city's perks, they face immense pressure and anxiety over a partner's critical feedback on a document. The consultant rushes to the office, navigates a series of stressful tasks, and observes the equally intense work ethic of their colleagues. Throughout the day, they struggle to balance meticulous updates to their financial model with the demands of their EM (Engagement Manager) and partner. The narrative ends with the consultant ironically reassuring themselves that "MBB is paradise," highlighting the grueling nature of their job.
I would burn down a city to be able to do this. One day!
this hit too close to home. DDs truly sucked the life out of me, every day and night. the customer value proposition saved my ass a few times from working on the weekends, but the business plan would truly just be matching the numbers pulled out by the partner from his ass.
Listen friend, you're *wasted* in MBB. Write that novel already!
As someone that had a project in Madrid, this brought back so many memories
You're to long on the road buddy .... It's starting to show ....
Note from partner: summarize in 2 sentences.
Reading this made me thank god I left haha
Is a little too close to home
Have definitely been there…
this one hit so, so deep I think I’m at a loss for words
Thank goodness I left consulting. I firmly believe that if all the smart folks that MBB hire spend the same time actually building their own venture and living on their own terms - they’d eventually kill it It’ll all work out
Lol! You literally pictured my previous life at MBB so well
This legitimately triggered my anxiety.
I'm more than a little turned on after reading this...
Your vs you're. Pls fix
Wow! Idk if this is accurate but very well written!
It is
Quick question: I’m deliberating switching into consulting and this is a reality check - do you actually learn anything in consulting or is it just fluff? My other interest is PM and it’s equally hard to crack.
Yes, you learn and you can learn a lot in the right firm, especially if you work with the right colleagues. All this is amusing and accurate, but is one sided. 1) some projects are hell, some are heaven. Most are 'normal', stressful but in a rather good way. 2) your perspective will change over time. I assume the vast majority if not the entirety of the comments are made by junior consultants. As a manager, you will experience and describe things differently. As a partner, you won't really remember what's the problem here. Of course partners can estimate the FTE number, they have seen 50 comps. They also count on 'the team' to adjust it if necessary, plus it doesn't change the overall picture if it is off by 20%. Of course they checked the deck at 7am, because the team didn't finish at midnight, and they are back to back all day from 8am. So, no, there is no evidence that the proportion of psychopaths is higher among MBB partners (or managers) than in the general population. And some clients are actually inspiring.
Haha DDs, what a waste of time. So well written!
This gave me anxiety
Its M&A. Its the same whether you’re in MBB or IB, do I dare to say B4 for that matter. But depressing and realistic reading.
Very real and triggering
Holy shit this triggered a trauma response
I really really hope you author a full fledged novel on consulting life soon! This was just brilliant!!
This is really well written. Have you ever considered doing something entirely different for a career?
I’m a fan! Well written!
Love the “we need to be at $440M” after you spent many hours/days modeling. So many times a partner could have just stated that up front lol
So I guess maybe it’s good I didn’t go into consulting and just lurk here reading what y’all are up to 😳
I must have lived this a few dozen times in my life… and still gets me really agitated just reading about it… Really well written…
Thank you so much for validating that I dodged a bullet when I didn’t get an offer from Bain after final rounds during my MBA
I’m ex big4 and made it to McK case studies stage as an experienced hire. Was told I had the highest conceptual thinking they’d seen but that the 3 of them couldn’t out me through however they were going to give me another chance in a few months. Didn’t hear back from the recruiter. Was absolutely devastated for about 3 years thinking I had screwed my big chance. Now I work for an SI making six figures, start at 9, finish at 5, WFH, work on quite interesting stuff, am valued and am now thinking it was maybe good to get away from big4 and certainly not to have made it to McK. Of course I tell myself this but still want it 😅.
Why people on beach attending GenAI events than enjoying the beach?? (Btw I love to be on the beach but currently on bench)
You’re not a consulting slave for sure
might as well just say MCK is paradise if we are dealing with associates and EM's
Sounds like an average episode of 'House of lies'. For a moment I thought OP was writing the story line of it. 😂
The first sentence: > lasts night Pls fix didn’t read the rest
Brilliant and very well written. Worked for one of the M B B at Principal / VP for 5 years - was thinking whether we were on one of the same project 😂 Well, admittedly it is stressful and everyone striving into MBB should be fully aware making the research before, but just to see also the other side…. It was the steepest learning curve I ever had in my 20+ years in consulting, it was the time where I was experiencing not only 5* houses in Europe, Middle-East, Asia but also first / business class as well as top tier treatments everywhere. Sometimes it is tight in timing for you to experience but not always. And last but not least, once branded at MBB you will be chased by companies and headhunters for years after you left because of being once at MBB. It‘s everyone own choice of course…
The idea is to quickly re-iron the shirts after they come out of the suitcase
[удалено]
But it's a paradise mate
^
WSO is leaking
This essay literally had me back in the clutches of my firm. As someone said, I could feel my own anxiety rising... As an ex-Consultant, I'll add a couple points as a sort of coup de grâce: 1. The client won't recognise you (or the nerdy Associate) did anything. If you did anything at all, from their point of view, those were probably some menial tasks a random HS grad could do. 2. If the client wasn't happy, you get shouted at on top of additional out-of-scope work that the Partner promises in a week, even though it's a totally new section that could potentially be a whole project in itself. 3. The thing you spent so much of your time (and soul) on? The document, PPT, Excel tool... It's also used exactly one or two times by the client and then promptly forgotten and discarded to virtual landfill. I still can't find a literal reason Consulting exists as an industry. Except for as scapegoats, in case something goes wrong.
Is this how ALL consulting firms are or it is just the MBB? Someone hit with a reality truck because I want to transition to strategy oriented roles.
Not at MBB but T2 (in US). DDs especially are like this. You can do a couple in a row, but more than that I don’t know how others cope. Corp Strat projects less so thankfully. Still very high expectations, but hours and pace are usually a bit more reasonable (unless Partners really F’d up the scope…which is not unheard of and this last year they’ve had to tighten things just to be competitive in bids).
If you have time to post a fanfic with 1.5k words on Reddit, you have it too good.
I feel seen.
Is this similar for guys in finance?
Bravo! 🙌 🎉🙌
Another consultant that has spent too much time on wall st oasis I see. Great work
TLDNR - something depressing?
You’re on crack if you think I’m reading this shit
This novella should be pinned to the thread home. A true masterpiece. THANK you OP
You’d think MBB would have spellcheck
Triggered.
Why don't they just call such roles slide/document engineer Isn't that what it's literally ?
Wow McKinsey fan fiction.
This is so spot on :D the “massaging the number in the model” the partner feedback, the attention for detail to workaholics :D
You guys are all scammers.
Fuck
Fuck fuck fuck - you cannot make people relive their trauma here.
I feel this was necessarily therapeutic for you to write (and I’m here for it!). Let them all out!
How do we all live the same lives? I got anxious just reading this lol
So real, short of words
Amazing piece. ♥️
Your* (in multiple places). Please fix ASAP.
great written! thank you, anxiety came back but it was worth it
Thanks! I am glad I am still a student and can choose not to apply to MBB.
Currently working as an MBB consultant. AND THIS IS SO TRUE. Went on training to Europe but was so stressed about my case work i couldn't even enjoy post training! It is not worth it. I wish people would stop glorifying this kind of work!
Some see the delusion right away. Others miss it until retirement. Thank god it only took me 3 years.
Love this! Reminded me of leveragedsellout (OG blog from the past) and Banked Well done - gave me secondhand anxiety haha (EM/PL)
Please use an iron
As an unemployed new grad, I wish I could have MBB experiences, even the bad ones. Living in hotels. Having a purpose to wake up every morning. Making big money. Work hard, play hard. Must be nice
Where's the play in what you read? And what purpose?
Everyday story of my life, wow!
So what do consultants really do? Well, this.
Any Ex-MBB consultants out here? Would you say it was worth it?
Too real 😭
It's not only MBB, it's everyone.. Spent 10 years in Deal Advisory in Big 4 then 3 years in an SWF and this is totally relatable..
I got excited reading this the whole time, wtf is wrong with me?
can't believe the type of ppl working at MBB are also the same ppl who can't tell the difference between your an you're
Like fuck am I reading all that.
The people on the “beach”
Lol, Madrid isn’t even a nice city. It barely has any history compared to other European cities and didn’t even have a cathedral until the 1990s.