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GK_Gmat
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E&Y M&A or Accenture from biz school perspective? 27 Mar 2008, 01:20
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Hi - I need some advice regd. which job I should take. I took my GMAT earlier in the year and scored a 730. I plan to apply to biz schools for Fall 09. I have 4 yrs of mgt. consulting experience. I have 2 job offers at the moment: one from E&Y's Ibanking division (working in M&A) and the other from Accenture in strategy consulting. Pay is significantly higher w/ Accenture since I have previous experience. I plan to work for an ibank or pvt. equity post MBA.

My question is that if I work w/ Accenture till my MBA starts, will it decrease my chances of securing an internship with an ibank during the summer vs. if I work with E&Y? Conversely, will my chances of securing an internship with an ibank/pvt. equity increase if I can show M&A w/ E&Y? Does having no banking experience and only consulting experience decrease my chances w/ banks?

Finally, from the perspective of getting into a top MBA program, which one offers better brand value?

Thanks!
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E&Y M&A or Accenture from biz school perspective? 27 Mar 2008, 08:19
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I'm pretty sure E&Y sold its true M&A advisory business to Giuliani a couple years ago. Unless they recently started a new division, which I doubt with the non-compete agreement I'm sure they signed, the type of M&A work you would be doing there is more transaction advisory (validating EBITDA add-backs, assessing integration risks, etc).

I think having Accenture on the resume holds much more brand value, especially if you've been offered a role in its strategy/management consulting group (not the IT related consulting groups). If you're goal is to make it into ibanking, I think either on the resume will get you an interview for the summer internships. If your goal is to make it into PE, I think the experience at Accenture would be much stronger.

Just my opinion. Note I am not the admissions consultant.
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E&Y M&A or Accenture from biz school perspective? 27 Mar 2008, 09:33
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I'm pretty sure E&Y sold its true M&A advisory business to Giuliani a couple years ago. Unless they recently started a new division, which I doubt with the non-compete agreement I'm sure they signed, the type of M&A work you would be doing there is more transaction advisory (validating EBITDA add-backs, assessing integration risks, etc).

I think having Accenture on the resume holds much more brand value, especially if you've been offered a role in its strategy/management consulting group (not the IT related consulting groups). If you're goal is to make it into ibanking, I think either on the resume will get you an interview for the summer internships. If your goal is to make it into PE, I think the experience at Accenture would be much stronger.

Just my opinion. Note I am not the admissions consultant.
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That is very informative; thanks. The E&Y position is indeed w/ the transaction advisory services group which they market as their investment banking M&A division. And yes the offer with ACN is with Strategy. So your take is that not having any previous banking experience will not decrease my chances for summer internships (and starting salary for ft jobs) with banks right?
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E&Y M&A or Accenture from biz school perspective? 27 Mar 2008, 11:15
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If I were you, I would research a bit more into the function of the Transaction Advisory Services group in the LBO process and see if it interests you. I work in banking (though not the “investment banking” you’re thinking of) and we receive the TAS reports as part of our diligence in evaluating EBITDA (figure used as a multiple for purchase price as well as leverage). While it will give you great insight into accounting/financial statements and may give you some connections with ibanking analysts/associates and PE associates (your points of contact when reporting findings), it is definitely not investment banking.

As far as interviews… remember, most people go to bschool for a career change; you’ll be competing for interview slots against engineers, folks with liberal arts backgrounds, non-profit, and of course consultants and bankers. Investment banking is not brain surgery. If you know your way around excel you’re well ahead of the gang. Banks will be looking for articulate, motivated people that can pick things up quickly and can handle 80-100+ hours a week.

As far as starting salary... No clue how the supply/demand shift will change comp levels with the current recession (assumption on my part that there will be less ibanking jobs in the next 1-3 years), but I assume banks offer market compensation for all interns/recent MBAs (no matter your background).

As a side note, E&Y probably will give you lots of flex room to negotiate your salary. Your hourly billing rate compared to what they pay you is ridiculous. If it is a role that interests you, I'm sure you can get them to match the Accenture offer - if $$ is a deciding factor. Again, just my opinion.
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E&Y M&A or Accenture from biz school perspective? 27 Mar 2008, 13:57
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If I were you, I would research a bit more into the function of the Transaction Advisory Services group in the LBO process and see if it interests you. I work in banking (though not the “investment banking” you’re thinking of) and we receive the TAS reports as part of our diligence in evaluating EBITDA (figure used as a multiple for purchase price as well as leverage). While it will give you great insight into accounting/financial statements and may give you some connections with ibanking analysts/associates and PE associates (your points of contact when reporting findings), it is definitely not investment banking.

As far as interviews… remember, most people go to bschool for a career change; you’ll be competing for interview slots against engineers, folks with liberal arts backgrounds, non-profit, and of course consultants and bankers. Investment banking is not brain surgery. If you know your way around excel you’re well ahead of the gang. Banks will be looking for articulate, motivated people that can pick things up quickly and can handle 80-100+ hours a week.

As far as starting salary... No clue how the supply/demand shift will change comp levels with the current recession (assumption on my part that there will be less ibanking jobs in the next 1-3 years), but I assume banks offer market compensation for all interns/recent MBAs (no matter your background).

As a side note, E&Y probably will give you lots of flex room to negotiate your salary. Your hourly billing rate compared to what they pay you is ridiculous. If it is a role that interests you, I'm sure you can get them to match the Accenture offer - if $$ is a deciding factor. Again, just my opinion.
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Thanks a lot for the insight; very helpful. $$ is definitely an issue and I'm pretty sure that E&Y will not anywhere close to match ACN's offer, especially since E&Y market this position specifically as a pre-MBA position. Regardless, I will research more into the E&Y role before making a final decision. If working w/ ACN (as opposed to working w/ EY) is not going to decrease my chances of making a career switch during b school then I would definitely be inclined towards ACN.
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E&Y M&A or Accenture from biz school perspective? 28 Mar 2008, 10:56
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GK_gmat,

I think you've gotten some excellent advice from the previous responders. Don't worry about needing to show IB experience to make your post-MBA IB goals credible to the B-schools. You *do* need to show the schools that you have done your homework regarding that career switch, but you don't need to have attempted that switch before B-school. B-school is where people go to execute career transitions so no need to jump the gun.

Good luck,