<p>I'm a senior in college trying to decide what career to pursue. I can either enter into consulting (Deloitte) or go into options trading in Chicago. I was wondering how the entrance into a top MBA program would be influenced if I were to do trading vs consulting
1. Is getting into an MBA program more difficult as a trader as compared to working for Deloitte after 2 years?
2. How would my exit options be from an MBA as an ex-trader vs an ex-consultant?
3. How is Deloitte viewed from MBA programs and companies, I-banks, Hedge Funds, etc?</p>
<p>Traders have absolutely no use for MBAs -- in fact, truth be told, many traders despise MBAs.</p>
<p>That I realize. But what are the exit options for trading? I interned at a trading firm this summer and, from what I could tell, the burnout rate is quite high.</p>
<p>I ask because it's relevant: which precise group at Deloitte do you have an offer to join?</p>
<p>Among other things, Deloitte will pay for every dollar of your MBA if you rejoin them after graduation (and work for 2 years...), and even if you don't, they give you $3k "towards a computer purchase" as you start the program.</p>
<p>Business Analyst. And I know that they do sponsor a fair amount of MBAs however, if I were to do consulting, I don't see myself returning to that after grad school simply due to the extended travel.</p>
<p>yeah, but I mean - Enterprise Applications, Strategy & Ops, Technology Integration, Human Capital...? those all have very different career paths and are viewed differently by MBA admissions boards. HC doesn't travel that much, EA travels long-term (like 12-month engagements), S&O and TI travel for typical consulting engagements, etc.</p>
<p>One thing I can tell you is that compared to other consulting firms i've worked for, which includes small boutiques and large established strategy shops, Deloitte treats their employees like gold. Everything administrative runs really smoothly, the review process is the most fair and unbiased that any of the Managers I know there have ever seen, basically every friday there's free food for lunch at the office and free drinks in the evening, and so on.</p>
<p>The thing is, if you want to be a trader as a career, you're going to have a hard time convincing any trading shop to hire you after you've spent time in management consulting. It's tough to make a compelling argument for that transition. So really this is more of a decision of whether you want to be a trader as a career, or not.</p>
<p>Strategy and Operations... I'm essentially trying to gauge the long-term implications of this decision. Is consulting to MBA to whatever the best path vs trader. I would like to get into something HF related in the long run and think that getting an MBA could further that goal...</p>
<p>well if you want to be a portfolio manager for a hedge fund long-term (and there are MANY roles within a hedge fund, you know - it's not one big party for the in-crowd where the money rolls in on a conveyer belt...), then being a trader would be optimal, yes. If you want to work on corporate strategy for that fund, then an MBA makes more sense. If you want to do IT there, or recruiting, that's very different. If you want to work at a hedge fund that does more than public securities-market investments, like a DE Shaw, perhaps you can join in a role where you identify and help manage the PE transactions - that would be more of a situation where an MBA would help you.</p>
<p>"Something HF related" isn't going to clarify this decision. All I can say is that S&O is a good place to be, regardless of service line. I've done work for their M&A service line, their Outsourcing Advisory service line, Technology Advisory... you get a lot of different experiences you can talk about. </p>
<p>None of them really prepare you to make decisions on securities investments. But many prepare you to understand executives, the kinds of decisions they face, what separates the good ones from the bad, how they support and make those decisions... consulting and an MBA give you perspective on that. The art of negotiations, the science of contracts, the problems and solutions of management, and the fine line between science and art that is business data analytics... that's what consulting is about. What I tell my friends is, consulting is like a 10-to-15-year training program to become an executive - and years 3-4 (or 4-5) are an MBA program, after which you bounce back and forth between consulting and management positions in industry.</p>
<p>So I'd think harder about what you'd rather do for those hedge funds - or whatever type of organization you can see yourself in.</p>