2024 grad looking for advice on two offers (Deloitte GPS consulting vs. NERA Economic Consulting)
Hello everyone! I would greatly appreciate any advice on two offers that I received. For context, I am currently a 4th year undergrad and will be graduating in June 2024.
Offer 1: Business Technology Solutions Analyst at Deloitte in their Government and Public Services (GPS) practice. TC is $88K + $12.5 signing. Location is San Diego. Start date some time in June-October.
Offer 2: Research Associate at NERA Economic Consulting. TC is $90K + $20 signing. Location is San Francisco. Start date is July 15, 2024.
I compiled some of my pros and cons for each:
Deloitte - Pros: Much better brand recognition and may give me a wider breadth of experiences. Greater opportunity for movement across functions within the firm. Better networking opportunities. Cons: networking seems like a requirement to find projects. Job security may be lower given current economic conditions. I am also worried about them delaying my start date.
NERA - Pros: I can build stronger data analysis skills. I won't need to network to get on projects, the work will already be available. Higher job security. Also the people I spoke to in the interview process were all very nice. Cons: Economic consulting isn't a super widely known industry so it may narrow my scope of exit opportunities. Not as much opportunity for doing different types of work outside of data analysis.
I'd appreciate any advice, thank you!
Hey there, future grad! Congrats on the offers, both sound like fantastic opportunities. Let's break this down:
Deloitte GPS Consulting: - Pros: You're right about the brand recognition. Deloitte is a well-known name and can open doors. The breadth of experience you'll gain here could be invaluable, especially if you're not quite sure what you want to specialize in yet. The networking opportunities are also a big plus. - Cons: Networking to find projects can be a double-edged sword. It can be a great way to meet people and learn about different areas, but it can also be time-consuming. As for job security, it's a valid concern in any job, but remember, Deloitte is a big firm with a lot of resources.
NERA Economic Consulting: - Pros: Building strong data analysis skills is a huge plus in today's data-driven world. Having work readily available is also nice, as it allows you to focus on doing the job rather than finding the job. And it's always a good sign when you connect with the people during the interview process. - Cons: While economic consulting might not be as widely known, it's still a respected field. It might not give you as broad a range of experience, but if you enjoy it and excel at it, it could still open doors for you.
In the end, it comes down to what you want. If you're looking for a broad range of experiences and opportunities to network and move around, Deloitte might be the way to go. If you're more interested in focusing on data analysis and have a clear workstream, NERA could be a better fit.
Remember, there's no wrong choice here. Both are great opportunities that will kickstart your career. Good luck!
Sources: Best big 4 consulting dept?, PWC Forensic Advisory vs Deloitte Risk Advisory vs EY Risk Advisory (HONG KONG) - Chances on getting into Management Consulting, Economic Consulting- NERA Consulting, Deloitte S&O vs. LEK
I would take NERA tbh. Probably stronger exit opps and higher caliber of coworkers
Thank you for the input! I've posted this question across multiple forums and haven't had a single pro-deloitte comment surprisingly (or unsurprisingly maybe). The consensus seems to be that NERA is the better opportunity
I've had a couple friends who worked at a different economic consulting firm who exited to pretty solid roles in business intelligence/data analytics at a few different publicly traded tech firms (non-FAANG). I doubt it'd be that different coming from NERA, plus the main factor in getting those roles will still come down to how data/tech-oriented you can articulate your experience in your resume and interviews.
IMO, on a risk-adjusted basis I think you're better off taking the NERA offer (assuming this sort of an exit is appealing to you) for a few reasons:
- Easier to get staffed on relatively high-profile work (even though you won't be exposed to key business decision-makers, you'll be able to speak to work on high-profile litigation instead of small, undifferentiated projects like "oh we built this dashboard for a small Fortune 500 team with a $1M p&l and increased their efficiency by 1%" - girl you didn't even justify your fee
- Developing a harder skill from the get-go (financial modeling, econometrics, big data processing, data cleaning, some light ML, etc)
- Less cyclicality - I haven't heard of layoffs at the econ consulting firms (although someone please fact-check me on this if you know the industry) whereas like, every big 4 has had RIFs over the past couple months. Also litigation is always happening, maybe even more in contractionary periods
- Finally you just stand out more and have more of an "angle" for hiring. Everyone and their mama has worked at a big 4 and done soft strategy work, but not everyone has big data/statistical modeling + analysis experience
Thank you for the input, super helpful! To your third point, I had a NERA consultant respond to my post on fishbowl echoing exactly what you said. So you're right on the nail with that one. Also the team I would be joining is the antitrust health care team, do you think this would still give me the opportunity to exit to data analytics roles in tech firms?
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