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Roland Berger Strategy Consultants

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Roland Berger Strategy Consultants

by 24837 » Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:25 am
Dear Stacy,

I am asking for an expert opinion not so much about my individual profile but rather a (possible) future employer.

I'll just "throw it out there" without context because what I'm most interested in is the first impression it gives to someone who knows everything about MBA admission, F500 employers as well as the usual US consulting firms.

If a German applicant has 2 years experience as an Analyst at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants right after college - how would you rank this in terms of prestige/experience when applying for an MBA in the US?

Thanks in Advance!
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by Lisa Anderson » Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:37 am
Dear 24837,

What matters most about professional experience in terms of MBA admissions is not the name of the company, but the quality of the experience. If you will have opportunities at Roland Berger to broaden/deepen your skill set while gaining solid team and leadership experience, then it is quality experience that will be an asset to your future MBA applications. How valuable that experience will be for future employment opportunities will vary based on what your future goals are, but generally speaking, strategy consulting experience is solid training valued across industries.

Good luck,
Lisa
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by 24837 » Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:23 pm
Thank you Lisa!
Lisa Anderson wrote:generally speaking, strategy consulting experience is solid training valued across industries.
Would you say the same thing to someone from McK or BCG?
Please don't take this the wrong way, but to me this sounds somewhat generic - anybody can call himself "consultant".

RBSC is not incredibly well known in American MBA programs. There have been people at H/S/W and everywhere, but definitely less than from the top US firms.
Basically, this is what I'm concerned about:
1) The RBSC brand is not very strong in the US market but rather Europe, China, Latin America
2) German consultancies prefer PhDs over MBA, hence there is no established "pipeline" that brings endless consultants to the shores of business school every year as is the case for US firms.

What I am worried about is being seen as a guy from "some boutique", when really RBSC is just as competitive as Bain or BCG in Europe (e.g. https://www.vault.com/wps/portal/usa/ran ... gYear=2011 )

I believe I got your point about the actual experience being most important.
That being said, wouldn't you agree that all things equal, an applicant with BCG on his resume would have an advantage over a guy from "some boutique"?
Do you truly believe "all strategy consultants are created equal" and I'm worrying about a non-issue here? I'd be very surprised to hear this.
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