I am looking for some advise. I am in mid 30's with family and young kids and was thinking of accepting an offer from the top3 strategy consulting firm. I am excited as I wanted to work in this prestigious area few years ago when I was single but could not break in. Do you have any advise on how manageable the family life could be given the stress of new job, steep learning curve for technologist (without MBA) and travel. What can you expect to do and get out of this experience for two years when starting out at a level that is post MBA? I have done well in my current line and am currently an Associate Director with responsibility of managing a group of 10+ people in technology area. Is this the right time for this transition and would the experience be very valuable?

Honestly, I'd advise you to get some advice before you advise anyone !DC

I'd suggest going back to school and re-doing third grade English.

I am not exaggerating when i say this, but i recently met someone who spent 5 years working for a firm you describe and he said he lost his wife and kids because of it. It would be great for the CV but you have to decide if its worth it because there is no escape or side stepping whats expected at these places.

Got my english lesson. Thank you for that valuable advice :)Can you please share your thoughts on the nature of the work that you do for first couple of years and the value of that experience. Could I be setting myself up for failure by transitioning at this stage with family and kids and not being able to put in as much time as fresh MBA graduates? How understanding are these consulting firms of your personal situation and do they give you any leeway regarding project choice so that you can balance travel? Has anybody transitioned to strategy consulting after industry experience and how easy/difficult that transition was? (I couldn't find a previous post on that topic)Also, folks with enough experience what are your thoughts on at what stage in your career does your leadership and execution capability start becoming more important compared to your skill set (MBA, consulting tool kit etc.). I am currently recognized as a good leader and have done reasonably well in my technical career but I fear being stuck down the road because I do not have any business experience.

Got my english lesson. Thank you for that valuable advice :)Can you please share your thoughts on the nature of the work that you do for first couple of years and the value of that experience. Could I be setting myself up for failure by transitioning at this stage with family and kids and not being able to put in as much time as fresh MBA graduates? How understanding are these consulting firms of your personal situation and do they give you any leeway regarding project choice so that you can balance travel? Has anybody transitioned to strategy consulting after industry experience and how easy/difficult that transition was? (I couldn't find a previous post on that topic)Also, folks with enough experience what are your thoughts on at what stage in your career does your leadership and execution capability start becoming more important compared to your skill set (MBA, consulting tool kit etc.). I am currently recognized as a good leader and have done reasonably well in my technical career but I fear being stuck down the road because I do not have any business experience.

The work us extremely challenging, partly intrinsically, mainly because you will be competing internally with younger, single alpha types desperate to progress to justify their MBA investment. They will wear their 80 hour week as a badge of courage.I'm afraid you would need to prepare for the worst - which at MBB often arises. Away from home all week, working 30% of weekends, international travel with no warning, no choice of project, very little down time.You might as well consider it like taking a two year job in the Middle East and leaving your family here...If you commit to two years of that lifestyle then it can pay dividends in terms of education, exposure and network. Pretty good chance of making it to strat director at a sizeable firm, etc.But, yes - divorce rates are high in this field an you'll see a lot less of your kiddies.

Yeah, and besides, the pay isn't that great anyway.In my experience, they ask for too much in terms of hours, commitment and personal sacrifice, and they give back too little in terms of pay. Education and future opportunities are all great things to have, but let's face it - the corporate world is a boring place to be, and your family needs you. If you could be chucking £100K a month back to the wife, then she might find it easier to explain to the kids why you aren't home much - at least, for the time being. But for an extra ten or twenty grand a year? Pfft. Balmy summer evenings playing footie in the garden with the kids, or all-nighters in stuffy offices, surrounded by pushy foriegn team mates wearing ties and suits, while you correct the grammar in a powerpoint deck that nobody will care about in a year's time - all for just a slither more cash. Which are you going to prioritise?

That's the thing, sell your soul for £10k more a year, after tax that's hardly a life changing amount, where as the demands they place on you are totally life changing. You can have all the money in the world, but if you get to 40 years old, find yourself fat from all the hotel food, bald from the stress, pasty from never being outside, and your wife and kids have left you, is that being successful? You're kids wont respect you for how big your bank balance is, that's just superficial...

Thank you for the input. This is what I was expecting but I can't understand why given these tradeoffs one is still so much drawn to the MBB? Can two years do wonders to your career or is it delusional thinking that grass always looks greener on the other side? From the limited profiles I have seen there doesn't seem to be a huge jump in industry career after couple of years at MBB but how easy it is to move to VC post advanced degree + industry exp + 2 yr MBB and at what level do you start? Seems it must be pretty hard as everybody wants to work there. Has anybody drawn enough courage to say no to such an opportunity?

MBB. In 2 years you can/will be--careerwise--where no corporate job can take you in terms of progression and next step opportunities.

[quote] Has anybody drawn enough courage to say no to such an opportunity? [/quote]Well, I did, and I will regret it for the rest of my life.

So melodramatic!Really, it's just a job. A demanding one which has good exit opportunities and pays ok but sucks the life out of you while you're there.I really don't understand why people are so desperate to get into those firms. Like doing an MBA, I'm not convinced there is a positive ROI when all factors are taken into account.

menete, At what level did you say no? Analyst/Consultant/Associate? I don't think you should feel bad because from the several linkedin profiles I have seen it can be a hit or miss with some people doing very well and others OK particularly if they spent only couple of years there. Those who did well probably would have done well anyways. I also see so many people in industry who have done very well and have never been to MBB. In fact in any company probably 90% of the senior management is non MBB and have risen through the ranks and have amazing people leadership skills. What makes you feel that your career could have progressed much better if you had just spent couple of years there? Is it the lack of opportunities in your curent role? Just curios what was your rationale for saying no was?

The world is not black and white, it is grey - people asking questions in these types of fora need to take into account that the comments they receive in reply are from people with a variety of backgrounds. You will rarely get full agreement to a question such as this and you will often get people making forceful statements based only on their own opinion and views - from a scientific perspective, we are talking anecdotes versus evidence. Someone like the OP needs to filter through the crap and try to find the points relevant to them.I view this along the lines of:1) [u]On average[/u], people that spend a couple of years in a MBB firm will advance their career significantly 2) People that do not have/take this opportunity will, [u]on average[/u], not have the same career trajectory, but a proportion will do just as well anyway - they would have succeeded anywhere3) There is a trade-off from working at these firms - the work/life balance is poor and the expectation placed on you is huge. This is painful at the time but the counter is that you subsequently benefit from it wherever you go (particularly if that is to industry)4) Older people (e.g. BEP) may have a very different viewpoint on the value of this sacrifice (same as for MBAs) when compared to a younger person at an earlier stage of their career - the person asking the questions needs to consider comments in this contextThe original poster needs to balance the trade-off of potential rapid career advancement versus loss of lifestyle, considering his particular place/time of life and what he wants out of his life.Personally, speaking as someone nearer the younger end of the scale, if I was in the OP's shoes I would take the job.Just my 2 cents

jayzee,Ordinarily, I would agree with the view that MBB is a great career accelerator and you should take the opportunity. Amazing exit options. Surrounded by some of the brightest people. Etcetera, etcetera.But, since you are in the mid-30's with young kids, it is very difficult to appreciate the high bar of expectations these firms will place on you.People perceive pressure in different ways, but you will be under a constant push for output, insights and client impact. You have to earn a reputation for excellence very fast. By that I mean, you must earn it in your first case, maybe your second. After that, you must maintain that reputation. If you screw up, people are written off very quickly. And they have a fresh new, hungry class right behind you. That is why 'up or out' works so well. People are paranoid about underperforming and give their everything ... all the time.Don't get me wrong, the people are great and very nice. But you must walk into this structure / system with eyes wide open.