R2I MBA from ISB or R2I Job

r2inyc · Post by **r2inyc** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:42 pm

Hello everyone,

I am planning to return to India next year. I currently have a Masters degree from US and will have 4 years of finance consulting and data analysis experience in Big4 (Deloite, PWC, EY, KPMG) by then. I would like to know what kind of job opportunities I would have after going to India. I intend to work for non-IT consulting firms in India but so far from what I have gathered, most of them seem to recruit from the top MBA schools in India. Also, what kind of salary should I be expecting on R2I in a city like Mumbai.

Considering that I do not have an MBA degree, would it make sense to get an MBA from ISB (even if it requires me to push my R2I for another year to prepare my profile for a top B school) and then launch myself in the Indian consulting market.

I want to thank everyone who is on this forum as it truely is very informative for an expat like me who wishes to go back to motherland soon. It is very insightful to read everyone's stories/dilemmas as it helps me take my decision more wisely. Thank You.

r2inyc · Post by **r2inyc** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:45 am

168 views and no reply :(..i would really appreciate if someone can give their opinion on my query above..thanks

OffWeGo · Post by **OffWeGo** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 11:44 am

Like in the US, non-IT consulting firms tend to get most of their pipeline from top undergrad and b-schools and don't expend much energy on in-market hiring. Since you have narrowed down to Mumbai and a few likely firms, your best bet is to see if you can connect with people working in those target firms and send in your resume through them. If you don't have any luck over 3-4 months, then apply to ISB as well. I don't think there is a short-cut to getting your resume out there and seeing if it generates interest.

r2inyc · Post by **r2inyc** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:32 pm

Thank you OffWeGo for the advice. From the information I am gathering, it sync with what you are saying. Though, I am interested in knowing the kind of pay/salary one gets in non-IT consulting firms for individuals with 4-6 years of relevant experience and whether my existing Big4 US experience will play to an advantage. As I believe, consulting is very much demographic driven, so does US experience count as relevant?

Please let me know if you have any idea.

ahirman · Post by **ahirman** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:47 pm

From Non IT consulting firms you mean MC firms and advisory firms such as Big-4?

Lakshya · Post by **Lakshya** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:00 am

[QUOTE]
will have 4 years of finance consulting and data analysis experience in Big4 (Deloite, PWC, EY, KPMG) by then.

What exactly you do?

r2inyc · Post by **r2inyc** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 8:41 pm

@ahirman..Well I am not that concerned about Big-4 as having worked in Big-4 for past few years, getting an internal transfer or getting recruited in India in one of them shouldn't be a big challenge (I hope I am not wrong :p)

Bain, BCG and Mck I realize hire pure MBAs or PhDs...I am interested in firms like Accenture, Oliver Wyman, AT Kearney..Would you be having any idea if any of these recruit MS candidates with relevant experience..thanks.

r2inyc · Post by **r2inyc** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 8:42 pm

Lakshya;382696What exactly you do?

@Lakshya...I am in finance consulting...my background has been mostly in data analysis and improving financial process (Finance transformation), performance improvement..

ahirman · Post by **ahirman** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 8:05 am

r2inyc;382839Bain, BCG and Mck I realize hire pure MBAs or PhDs...I am interested in firms like Accenture, Oliver Wyman, AT Kearney..Would you be having any idea if any of these recruit MS candidates with relevant experience..thanks.

Even if you do MBA from ISB it is not easy to get into top tier MC firms like BCG/McK. The competition is intense. These companies are selective about the candidates and recruit limited numbers from those who are shortlisted for interview. Your age and your experience though are on the right side.

Direct recruitment in these tier1 and tier2 firms on the business consulting side is a tough call too and will depend on available positions/skill sets. However for most part you need to move your application through someone you know in these companies. Bulk of the pipeline for these companies is through campus recruitments and attrition is low. OWG has said the similar thing and its true.

I have limited knowledge of finance consulting domain but Indian finance industry and general finance environment is nowhere close to US in term of maturity and some type of opportunities may be limited in number or not available at all in India. You need to keep this in mind. As an alternative to doing MBA from ISB, I would suggest you try moving to one of these companies (tier-2/3) in US first, gather some experience and then start exploring Indian market. If you have superior communication skills and good educational pedigree latter may be more efficient route than former.

r2inyc · Post by **r2inyc** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:57 am

ahirman;382979Even if you do MBA from ISB it is not easy to get into top tier MC firms like BCG/McK. The competition is intense. These companies are selective about the candidates and recruit limited numbers from those who are shortlisted for interview. Your age and your experience though are on the right side.

Direct recruitment in these tier1 and tier2 firms on the business consulting side is a tough call too and will depend on available positions/skill sets. However for most part you need to move your application through someone you know in these companies. Bulk of the pipeline for these companies is through campus recruitments and attrition is low. OWG has said the similar thing and its true.

I have limited knowledge of finance consulting domain but Indian finance industry and general finance environment is nowhere close to US in term of maturity and some type of opportunities may be limited in number or not available at all in India. You need to keep this in mind. As an alternative to doing MBA from ISB, I would suggest you try moving to one of these companies (tier-2/3) in US first, gather some experience and then start exploring Indian market. If you have superior communication skills and good educational pedigree latter may be more efficient route than former.

Thanks for the suggestion. Establishing contacts in India will not be that big of a problem as few of my friends currently are working in these tier 2 firms. My concern is

1) to find out whether even after having internal contacts, is there a strict policy of only recruiting MBAs or does relevant US experience counts. By education pedigree, do you mean top 10 colleges in US (even if its MS). Basically, I realize there is not exact answer to it, but to what extent does the college name plays a role in these firms (100%, 75%..??)

2) Does consulting experience in US can actually be counted as relevant experience, since its a profession which is very much dependent on the demographics