Experienced MBA options?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd really take advantage of your career center. i have an MBA from a top 5 school and the career center seems pleased to work with alums. And alums are happy to network and do informational interviews. That's one of the benefits of going to a top school!

Can't help you on the function focus front. I do management consulting with an industry concentration so end up touching on a number of functional areas.

BCG?

Are the hours as crap as I hear? I'm thinking of giving a run at the interview, but I'm hearing a lot of misery out of the DC office.

[Anonymous]

OP here- I am a working mom (or trying to be) but really want stability and flexibility in the ideal world. I have worked in consulting for quite a number of years but that was before kids and before grad school. On a functional level, I have been working in a variety of fields- almost like an internal consultant. Originally post MBA worked in marketing, some sales management, then a strategy/process improvement role (not in consulting). Industry-wise, I'm not stuck in any one area. Good and bad- insufficient in healthcare to be considered there, some start-ups..

I did read some of the PPs comments on adding more education may not be as helpful. Like many others, I have tried the federal government (no responses), county government, associations - these are the perceived stable companies and stable hours (not OT, frequent travel). I appreciate all suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- I am a working mom (or trying to be) but really want stability and flexibility in the ideal world. I have worked in consulting for quite a number of years but that was before kids and before grad school. On a functional level, I have been working in a variety of fields- almost like an internal consultant. Originally post MBA worked in marketing, some sales management, then a strategy/process improvement role (not in consulting). Industry-wise, I'm not stuck in any one area. Good and bad- insufficient in healthcare to be considered there, some start-ups..

I did read some of the PPs comments on adding more education may not be as helpful. Like many others, I have tried the federal government (no responses), county government, associations - these are the perceived stable companies and stable hours (not OT, frequent travel). I appreciate all suggestions.

OP, not trying to shill the CPA route, but the attached list will show the bigger CPA firms included. Most accounting graduates are now women, and with a shortage of candidates to do audit/consulting/compliance, they are making the effort to attract and retain them. Plus, all of them have consulting arms where you can start if there is a match. But like others have mentioned, try the alumni career center or your LinkedIn contacts. One of the reasons we went to a well-ranked school was the networking potential.


http://www.workingmother.com/best-company-list/129110

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd really take advantage of your career center. i have an MBA from a top 5 school and the career center seems pleased to work with alums. And alums are happy to network and do informational interviews. That's one of the benefits of going to a top school!

Can't help you on the function focus front. I do management consulting with an industry concentration so end up touching on a number of functional areas.

BCG?

Are the hours as crap as I hear? I'm thinking of giving a run at the interview, but I'm hearing a lot of misery out of the DC office.

Same question - can someone who has BTDT comment on the hours and travel at McK, BCG as well as Deloitte, PwC etc. consulting in DC? I have friends in consulting at these firms in NYC and they are usually off in Ohio/Texas/wherever 4 days and home on Friday with long hours overall. They all say the DC consulting market is "better" -- meaning that a lot of the clients are fed gov't or companies in MD/Va so they feel their DC colleagues end up traveling less and thus having shorter hours/more time at home because their lives aren't planned around flight delays etc. How much of this is true and how much is "grass is always greener"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd really take advantage of your career center. i have an MBA from a top 5 school and the career center seems pleased to work with alums. And alums are happy to network and do informational interviews. That's one of the benefits of going to a top school!

Can't help you on the function focus front. I do management consulting with an industry concentration so end up touching on a number of functional areas.

BCG?

Are the hours as crap as I hear? I'm thinking of giving a run at the interview, but I'm hearing a lot of misery out of the DC office.

Same question - can someone who has BTDT comment on the hours and travel at McK, BCG as well as Deloitte, PwC etc. consulting in DC? I have friends in consulting at these firms in NYC and they are usually off in Ohio/Texas/wherever 4 days and home on Friday with long hours overall. They all say the DC consulting market is "better" -- meaning that a lot of the clients are fed gov't or companies in MD/Va so they feel their DC colleagues end up traveling less and thus having shorter hours/more time at home because their lives aren't planned around flight delays etc. How much of this is true and how much is "grass is always greener"?

In my experience, and I haven't worked for all firms of course, there's two tiers of consulting firms in DC: those with groups focused on federal, those with groups focused on general mgmt/strategy. Those in federal seem a mixed bag - some good hours, some shit. Those in strategy all have bad work life balance. Bain is perhaps known as being the best there, but as with all mgmt consulting firms, it won't be 40 hours. Rumour has it Bain is opening a new office in DC. Don't know if its true, but I've heard about it through some guys at Carlyle - and those dudes are connected.

In any case, my experience is that it all depends on your partner. Good partner? You get decent hours. Newer partner who is trying to make a name.... expect hell. Most of my friends have left consulting for this reason (myself included).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP, not trying to shill the CPA route, but the attached list will show the bigger CPA firms included. Most accounting graduates are now women, and with a shortage of candidates to do audit/consulting/compliance, they are making the effort to attract and retain them. Plus, all of them have consulting arms where you can start if there is a match. But like others have mentioned, try the alumni career center or your LinkedIn contacts. One of the reasons we went to a well-ranked school was the networking potential.


http://www.workingmother.com/best-company-list/129110

I worked for one of the consulting firms included in this list, for about 60 hours a week on average. At some point, after I had to work through the entire long weekend till 11 p.m. every day, my husband got so sick of my schedule and told me that he is going to find a new mother for our kids. And yes, this firm has been on the list of "The Working Mother 100 Best Companies" for years. How pathetic!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OP, not trying to shill the CPA route, but the attached list will show the bigger CPA firms included. Most accounting graduates are now women, and with a shortage of candidates to do audit/consulting/compliance, they are making the effort to attract and retain them. Plus, all of them have consulting arms where you can start if there is a match. But like others have mentioned, try the alumni career center or your LinkedIn contacts. One of the reasons we went to a well-ranked school was the networking potential.


http://www.workingmother.com/best-company-list/129110

I worked for one of the consulting firms included in this list, for about 60 hours a week on average. At some point, after I had to work through the entire long weekend till 11 p.m. every day, my husband got so sick of my schedule and told me that he is going to find a new mother for our kids. And yes, this firm has been on the list of "The Working Mother 100 Best Companies" for years. How pathetic!

Same here - I worked for one of the Big 4 accounting firms that's been on the list for years. It was SO not family friendly. I tried part time for a few months and got slammed on my reviews (totally retaliatory as I ended up not really working part time so my "schedule" had no impact). And the company got props for having day care. Except it was some part time care place in Boston. Not too helpful if you are in say, Washington, or any place other than Boston.

[Anonymous]

Hahaha I love this thread.

So there's this joke, I periodically remember:

An MBA is trying to get a job, and an angel appears and says to him he can have a sneak peek at a job of his choice. He says he wants to be a management consultant. So the angel shows him a bunch of people working normal hours, they seem happy enough, there's a few steak dinners, a guy counting Starwood points and a girl attending a "Manicures and Martinis" post project debrief. The next night, the angel appears again and offers the man the chance to wake up as a real management consultant, job offer and all. The man jumps on it - "Sure! That looked great!" The next morning he wakes up and people are crying and screaming, and a divorced 40 year old man is punching a wall, the junior staff are eating snickers bars for dinner... And the man turns to the angel and says "What the fuck? This isn't the same! Where are the steak dinners, the easy going fat paycheck?"

The angel turns to him and says: "Oh that was the summer intern class."

The joke has staying power because its kind of true. The internships are 10 week sales job. The turnover is high at these firms - how else are they able to hire 30+ people across the top MBA programs every year...

And I laugh my ass off when one makes "Working Mother Magazine" or some such bullshit. They always profile the one partner who happens to harve carved out some kind of decent schedule, ignoring the 100+ others who are in golden handcuffs. Then, toss in a stat or two like "90% of staff work a flex schedule" (Since getting on an airplane Sunday night counts) and pinko presto you are normal!

My only regret in not going back is the income it affords. I make $170 to $190 a year now, I'd be at $220 to $250 if I'd gone back post MBA. Then again I'd be a miserable fuck.

[Anonymous]

I also remember when I spoke with our auditors from another firm included in this list. I asked them how they are doing and a lady said: "Oh, not so bad! We haven't stayed here past 10 p.m. yet". Of course, if they go home at 10 p.m., this is the best place for working mothers, no doubt. Where do you get a chance even to become a mother with that schedule?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also remember when I spoke with our auditors from another firm included in this list. I asked them how they are doing and a lady said: "Oh, not so bad! We haven't stayed here past 10 p.m. yet". Of course, if they go home at 10 p.m., this is the best place for working mothers, no doubt. Where do you get a chance even to become a mother with that schedule?

Non smoking, King, Starwood Aloft Hotel off i90 inbetween client gigs ?