McKinsey, BCG and Bain, collectively referred to as ‘MBB’, are widely recognized as the top management consultancy firms in the world. Each has well-established operations in several cities across the US. This article will focus only on the Dallas & Houston offices of McKinsey, BCG and Bain, and will answer some of the top-of-mind questions for potential candidates. Questions like:
- What kind of candidates are recruited by McKinsey, BCG and Bain’s Dallas & Houston offices?
- Which undergraduate universities give you the highest chances of getting into the Dallas & Houston offices of McKinsey, BCG or Bain?
- Is an MBA a good route to management consulting in Dallas & Houston?
- Is there an entry path to the Dallas & Houston offices of McKinsey, BCG or Bain from other industries?
The insights in this article come from a detailed analysis of over 350 individuals hired by McKinsey, BCG and Bain for client-facing consulting roles in their Dallas & Houston offices from 2020 to mid-2022.
Key takeaways:
- In MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices, 40% of hires are pre-experience students and 36% are MBA hires. 21% are experienced professionals, while advanced degree candidates only make up 3% of hires.
- McKinsey’s Dallas & Houston offices hired about 20% more consultants than BCG, and over 70% more consultants than Bain, between Q1 2020 and Q2 2022.
- 64% of hires by McKinsey, BCG and Bain’s Dallas and Houston offices were male, signaling significant room for improvement in gender parity in hiring.
- MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices were open to graduates from a long and varied list of schools, with only a minority of candidates hired from top-10 US universities or business schools. Therefore, we can gather that Texas is a great destination for candidates who want to secure a role at a top consulting firm and are open to relocating for the best chance of success.
- Four local universities in Texas supply about half (48%) of the pre-experience student hires into the Dallas & Houston offices of McKinsey, BCG and Bain. These universities are: the University of Texas at Austin (24%), Texas A&M University (8%), Rice University (8%) and Southern Methodist University (8%).
- Six schools supply 58% of MBA hires into the Dallas & Houston offices of McKinsey, BCG and Bain. These schools are: Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business (14%), Kellogg School of Management (9%), Texas McCombs School of Business (9%), Harvard Business School (9%), Booth School of Business (8%) and Darden School of Business (8%).
- If you did not study (at bachelor’s or master’s level) at a target US undergraduate or master’s program, an MBA at the top US programs highlighted in this article is your best route to breaking into MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices.
The main sources of candidates for top consulting firms’ Dallas & Houston offices
Hiring in MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices mirrors the US average
Overall, MBB’s offices in Dallas & Houston have a similar mix of recruitment channels as the US as a whole. Pre-experience students make up 40% of total hires and MBA hires constitute 36% of the total. Experienced professionals make up 21% of hires and advanced degree candidates make up only 3%.
To understand these categories better, here are quick definitions:
- Pre-experience students (bachelor’s degree or a non-MBA master’s degree) are hired out of university or shortly after. They typically have no more than two years of experience and are hired into entry-level roles (i.e. Business Analysts at McKinsey, Associates at BCG and Associate Consultants at Bain).
- MBA hires are graduates of a one or two-year MBA program. They typically have work experience before their MBAs and are hired into post-MBA roles (i.e. Associates at McKinsey and Consultants at BCG and Bain).
- Experienced hires are from other employers and typically have two to eight years of experience. Those with less are hired at pre-MBA roles (i.e. Senior Business Analysts at McKinsey, 2nd year Associate Consultants at Bain and Senior Associates at BCG). Those with significant experience are hired into post-MBA roles (i.e. Associates at McKinsey and Consultants at BCG and Bain).
- Advanced degree hires are hired during or soon (not more than two years) after their Ph.D. or medical school programs. They’re typically hired into post-MBA roles in the US (i.e. Associates at McKinsey and Consultants at BCG and Bain).
McKinsey hired more candidates than BCG and Bain
McKinsey’s Dallas & Houston offices hired about 20% more consultants than BCG, and over 70% more consultants than Bain, between Q1 2020 and Q2 2022.
There are some disparities in the hiring mix per firm. Pre-experience students made up 53% of Bain’s hires, compared to 40% for BCG and 33% for McKinsey. MBA hires made up 41% of BCG hires, compared with 33-34% each for McKinsey and Bain. Thirty-two percent of McKinsey’s hires were experienced professionals, compared to 16% for BCG and 11% for Bain.
MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices hire more men
64% of hires by McKinsey, BCG and Bain’s Dallas and Houston offices were male, signaling significant room for improvement in gender parity in hiring. This holds true across all three firms and all recruitment channels, although it is most prevalent in the MBA channel, where 74% of hires were male.
Pre-experience student hiring in McKinsey, BCG, and Bain’s Dallas & Houston offices
Pre-experience students made up 40% of total hires by McKinsey, BCG and Bain in Dallas & Houston from Q1 2020 to Q2 2022. This means that hires from a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree program (excluding MBAs) made up the largest recruitment channel for entry-level roles.
The next section will look closely at which universities the pre-experience student hires of MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices attended.
Where did Dallas & Houston MBB’s pre-experience student hires go to university?
All 49 of the universities that supplied pre-experience student hires into MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices are based in the US. Four universities supply about half (48%) of these hires. They are:
- The University of Texas at Austin (24%)
- Texas A&M University (8%)
- Rice University (8%)
- Southern Methodist University (8%)
These are all local universities based in Texas, suggesting that MBB firms are an attractive employer for local graduates. None of the local universities are typically ranked in the top-20 nationally, yet top consulting firms have managed to scoop many of their graduates to fill their ranks.
The remaining half of Dallas & Houston’s MBB’s pre-experience student hires relocated from out of state. They were hired from 36 universities, including a few nationally top-ranked universities. This suggests that Dallas and Houston are great destinations for candidates who want to secure a role at a top consulting firm and are open to relocating for the best chance of success. No one was hired from foreign universities.
In the chart below, we list the ten universities that contributed more than 1% of hires to the total. Together, they accounted for 73% of pre-experience student hires.
Out of the top three firms, McKinsey and BCG appear to be the most open to a variety of universities. 30-31% of their pre-experience student hires originated from the long tail of universities, compared with 19% for Bain.
What did they study?
Sixty-five percent of pre-experience student hires into MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices graduated with a degree in either economics (20% of the total), engineering (22%) or business administration (23%). The remaining studied a variety of other disciplines.
Unlike in European offices (e.g. France and Germany), a master’s degree doesn’t seem to give candidates a distinct edge. Pre-experience students with a master’s degree made up only 8% of pre-experience students, compared with 92% without. This is similar to the US total and Canada.
MBA hiring in McKinsey, BCG and Bain’s Dallas & Houston offices
Thirty-six percent of all hires into the Dallas & Houston offices of McKinsey, BCG and Bain came from an MBA program.
As a reminder, MBA hires are graduates of a one or two-year MBA program, usually at a US business school. They typically have had some work experience, gained before their MBAs, and are hired into post-MBA roles (i.e. Associates at McKinsey and Consultants at BCG and Bain).
For MBA hires, we will explore two questions:
- Which business schools did they attend?
- Which undergraduate universities did they attend?
Which business schools did the MBA hires of MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices attend?
Six schools supply 58% of MBA hires into the Dallas & Houston offices of McKinsey, BCG and Bain. They are:
- Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business (14%)
- Kellogg School of Management (9%)
- Texas McCombs School of Business (9%)
- Harvard Business School (9%)
- Booth School of Business (8%)
- Darden School of Business (8%)
As with pre-experience student hires, MBB firms in Dallas & Houston have been open to graduates from a long and varied list of schools, with a minority of candidates hired from top-10 US MBAs.
This confirms that Texas is a great destination for candidates who want to secure a role at a top consulting firm and are open to relocating for the best chance of success. The lower cost of living in Texas compared to many other US locations may also make it an attractive option.
Which undergraduate universities did Dallas & Houston MBB’s MBA hires attend?
MBA hires into MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices came from close to 80 undergraduate programs. This is a broader range of universities (over 60% more) than were considered in pre-experience student hiring, where 49 universities were represented. This indicates more educational background openness for the MBA hiring channel.
The largest four undergraduate contributors for the pre-experience student channel – The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, Rice, and Southern Methodist – accounted for only ~21% of MBA hires, further corroborating that MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices are more open to a wider range of undergraduates in their MBA hiring.
Twenty-four percent of MBA hires into MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices came from an international undergraduate program, making it the largest channel of entry for international candidates. Thus, if you did not study (at bachelor’s or master’s level) at a target US undergraduate or master’s program, an MBA at a top US program is your best route to breaking into MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices.
Experienced professional hiring in McKinsey, BCG and Bain’s Dallas & Houston offices
The ‘experienced hires’ channel, in which candidates typically have two to eight years of professional experience, was the third-largest recruitment channel for MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices from Q1 2020 to Q2 2022. It made up ~21% of all their hires.
Experienced hires made up 32% of McKinsey’s total hires. However, this number was significantly lower at BCG and Bain, where only 16% and 11% of hires respectively were experienced professionals.
Experienced hires joined top firms at different levels:
- 26% of experienced hires were recruited into pre-MBA roles (i.e. Business Analysts at McKinsey, Associate, and Senior Associate Consultants at Bain and Senior Associates at BCG).
- 74% of experienced hires were recruited into post-MBA roles (i.e. Associates at McKinsey and Consultants at BCG and Bain). Candidates with team leadership experience at other consulting firms sometimes join at a more senior level, but will typically experience a small step back in seniority compared to their previous firm.
Which industries did Dallas & Houston MBB’s experienced hires come from?
Twenty-four percent of the experienced hires into MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices came from other consulting firms. These include Accenture and the strategy teams of Big-4 accounting firms. Seventeen percent of the firms’ experienced hires in Dallas & Houston came from Exxon Mobil (oil and gas). The remaining 59% came from a wide range of unrelated industries.
Which industries did Dallas & Houston MBB’s experienced hires come from?
Twenty-four percent of the experienced hires into MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices came from other consulting firms. These include Accenture and the strategy teams of Big-4 accounting firms. Seventeen percent of the firms’ experienced hires in Dallas & Houston came from Exxon Mobil (oil and gas). The remaining 59% came from a wide range of unrelated industries.
Where did MBB’s experienced hires go to school?
The largest four undergraduate contributors for the pre-experience student channel – The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, Rice and Southern Methodist – contribute ~23% of experienced professionals to MBB’s Dallas & Houston offices. This signals that, like the MBA hire channel, experienced professionals from a wider range of undergraduate programs are considered.
Only 8% of hires from the experienced hire channel had an international undergraduate degree, compared with 24% for MBAs. This is likely to be driven by the lower proportion of international candidates among experienced hires compared to that of top US business schools, where international citizens routinely comprise half the class.
Advanced degree hiring in McKinsey, BCG and Bain’s Dallas & Houston offices
Advanced degrees were the smallest proportion of hires for McKinsey, BCG and Bain’s Dallas & Houston offices, making up just 3% of total hiring. 60% of advanced degree hires came from Texas A&M University (30%) and The University of Texas (30%). The rest came from four other US schools.
What’s next if you’d like to get into McKinsey, BCG, and Bain’s Dallas & Houston Offices
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