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Has Deloitte gotten laid off yet?
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Rising Star
Honestly I think it’s stupid to think seriously about partner till early SM. You won’t really understand the lifestyle or expectations until that point
Obviously it’s fun to think about getting their pay checks at any level 🤷🏾♂️
There is a comment above that senior manager is the level where many re-evaluate and that is very true.
I was in it until I was on-track to partner and started having Q&A sessions. I was getting very obtuse answers to economic questions about compensation structure, equity, pension structure, and pension obligations.
Lifestyle was easy to understand and basically it doesn’t change or the travel and time away intensify.
I decided that partnership wasn’t a fit for me and that the compensation didn’t outweigh the tradeoff on work/life and health issues that can come with being gone so much.
I also didn’t like the economic model or trust the long term viability of the pension model. Consulting firms have too many layers and too much bloat. Most of leadership hasn’t done client delivery or generated revenue, in quite some time and they’re often disconnected from the market and often unnecessary overhead.
It varies by firm but if it isn’t a culture of “eat what you kill” then there will be partners that don’t carry their weight and are propped up by stronger partners who do. The game of assigning target sales, revenue and then giving various partners “credit” when often they had no involvement is exhausting.
Consulting will always have a place but I see the industry structure changing. The barriers to entry are low and expecting any firm to last 50 years seems unreasonable now.
Rising Star
I thought I was. Now I’m here and I know it’s not for me. 🤷🏿 looking for exits
Chief
🙋🏻♂️ I’m in it to win it
Pro
I mean once you’ve made Chief you may as well go the rest of the distance.
I've jumped around. Still have goals of making partner. Why not? If I don't make it, that's okay but I'll still try.
I think it could be generational in a lot of cases (not always though). “Job for life” mentality vs hopping around for instant gratification
Chief
Hopping around is less about instant gratification and more about remaining competitive.
Anyone who has been in an organization that has had layoffs knows that "job for life" mentality in this day and age is simply foolish.
Partners my age (early 50s) who complain about young people job-hopping are being either disingenuous or clueless. People in their 20s today aren’t operating in the same economy as we did at that age, and it can be perfectly rational to build skills through multiple employers (within reason, of course - ~2 yrs/role is probably a decent heuristic, hop jobs every 6 months and you’ll seem like a hiring risk.) And consulting has always had high turnover relative to industry.
Also not even sure most people realistically can assess if they want the job or not until a bit later in their tenure. You can often start to see the potential at the experienced manager level.
Rising Star
I believe the stats industry wide are that somewhere around 5-10% of consultants make it to partner. I saw a report a couple years ago that broke out the broad trends on exits at each level, but I I don't remember any of the numbers except for the partner one.
Given the presumption that the 5-10% figure is correct for partner promos, I think it's safe to say that quite a few people who join consulting with the goal of making partner revise that goal at some point.
5% of SM, not the entire Consultant pool.
Rising Star
I got into consulting too late in my career, so there was no path to partner for me since there’s forced retirement at 62. I left last month and went to a startup. It didn’t seem worth it to keep working long hours, sacrificing WLB, and being underpaid just to do be in Consulting
I love this job and wouldn’t see myself anywhere else. Definitely trying to stay till partner if I can.
I like the job and currently plan to stay for the ride. However, as I get older and overall life responsibilities/ priorities change I will continue to evaluate whether the role is the right fit for me.
Not sure if I will remain at my current firm or if I will switch firms. Really depends on a lot of things.
Rising Star
No desire to be partner
I did, when I was fresh out of college. After leaving PwC for a higher paying gig, I now have enough money where the slog to partner doesn’t seem worth it.
That’s not to say I don’t have ambition to climb, but the path to partner doesn’t sound appealing and I’d be happy with a slow and steady approach of climbing corporate hierarchies. If I don’t make it and cap out my earrings at 250-300k, that’s still plenty...the money won’t make me happy