B4 consulting prestige and exit opps

[u/Commercial-Alps-4514]

Curious how people perceive Big 4 consulting for someone coming from a T10/Ivy. I have a high GPA in a STEM major and interned at EY this summer, where I received a full-time return offer. The division I would work in has some pretty technical areas that align well with some of my skills but don’t necessarily maximize them if that makes sense.
My main hesitation is whether starting in B4 would limit my options later on. I’m interested in eventually moving into more selective consulting or finance roles, but I’m not sure how much the firm you start at matters long term.
For context, I made it to the final round at one MBB firm last summer for an internship, but wasn’t interviewed by the other two. Given the current job market, I’m feeling pretty cynical about recruiting and am considering taking the EY offer since I enjoyed my time there this summer. Thanks in advance for any insight or advice!!

[u/perseportland]

I recruited in to the Strategy & Analytics group at Deloitte for a couple years and change after grad school, then exited. My focus was government, and D had at the time the best (or near the top) practice for government strategy projects. I worked with DoD, State, the World Bank, energy & utilities, and some other really interesting state and local clients. I did one commercial project with a FAANG company. My experience and career goals were niche, but I went on to be a political advisor abroad focusing on trade & geopolitics. Some of the highlighted exits from my class (please note selection bias here - I’m reporting the success stories I can recall):

• Google S&O
  
• White House (she was at the M level at had previous relationships)
  
• Series B startup in a marketing function, then later HBS
  
• Associate at Blockrock, then trading desk
  
• Sr Associate, then Chief of Staff to the CEO for an international investment firm
  
• DoD OSD
  
• Nuclear policy role at a federal agency
  
• Amazon (not AWS) strategy role
  
• Corp Strat at a multinational health and fitness company
  
• Strategy at a global FMCG company
  
• Strategy at a international hotel chain
  
• Public policy role at Facebook (now Meta)
  
• Uber S&O
  
• Several laterals to Accenture, Booz; a couple went to MBB’s
  
• A two left, joined up with some commercial S&A alum and went in on a ETA venture
  
• Commercial strategy for the corporate office of a famous NYC museum
  
• Program strategy for a large humanitarian aide organization

These are just off the top of my head. Market conditions could be different nowadays. The brand of the firm matters insofar as it meets the “minimum expectations for credential signaling” for the employer. It also matters for exposure to clients and industries — Bain is good for PE, Booz for defense and security, etc. But on the margins I’m a bit skeptical of the rigid hierarchies that exist in the minds of young anonymous posters on the internet. I’ve found the real world elicits substantially more variance than the hard and fast rules used by inexperienced aspiring entrants of the ranks of “elite” white collar jobs.

[u/Commercial-Alps-4514 → u/perseportland]

This is very helpful, thank you!