MBB
McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company: the three large strategy firms, grouped because they sell the same kind of senior-level advice and recruit graduates in small numbers on overlapping calendars. The label describes a recruiting tier, not the quality of any one practice or office.
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Why MBB matters in interviews
MBB is shorthand candidates use for the three strategy firms, and it is useful only as a description of a recruiting tier. Treating it as a ranking of quality leads to applications made top-down, which produce a lot of rejection and a weak answer to why this firm.
How it works in practice
The three firms are McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company. They sell senior-level strategic advice on short engagements with small teams, hire graduates in small numbers and recruit on overlapping calendars, usually through an internship that converts to a graduate offer.
Their titles differ. McKinsey’s entry level is business analyst and BCG’s is associate, with Bain’s associate consultant. The substance of the levels is the same, and the guide to the consulting career path sets out the ladder in terms that do not depend on the firm.
Beyond MBB sit the strategy practices of the large accounting networks, firms such as Oliver Wyman, Kearney, L.E.K. Consulting and Roland Berger, and specialist boutiques. The firm landscape on the consulting hub names them without ranking them.
What candidates get wrong
- Applying only to MBB. The intake is small and the process selective, and a portfolio across the market is both a better plan and a better basis for answering why this firm.
- Assuming the logo is the learning. The practice and the people you work with decide what you are taught.
MBB: frequently asked questions
What does MBB stand for?
McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group and Bain: the three large strategy consulting firms. The term describes a recruiting tier rather than a ranking of any one firm’s quality.
Is MBB the only route into strategy consulting?
No. Other strategy firms, the strategy arms of the large accounting networks and specialist boutiques all hire graduates and offer the same core training. They recruit on different timelines, so applying across the market is sensible.
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