Salary progression in Forensics? Does this career path pay well?

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Forensics is new enough that there really isn’t a standardized pay scale. You’ll see a lot of variation between practices and firms. Especially because there’s a lot of different types of firms in this space.

In general I would say the pay is good. Better than accounting, audit, or tax. Not as much as strategy consulting or high finance. It’s pretty much in line with general financial advisory work.

My rough estimate for MCOL would be:
0-3 years: $85-$100K
3-6 years: $100-$150K
6-9 years: $140-$200K
9-12 years: $175-$250K
12-15 years: $200-$300K

Past that and you’re probably a partner or MD and idk how much they make. I’ve heard seven figures

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It's not unheard of to be a ppmd in the 12-15 range and there are sm's over 300k but otherwise those ranges aren't that off

Only pays well and properly if you leave whatever firm you start with and hop around. Your 1st firm will never pay you what the market is guaranteed.

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Learned this the hard way after being loyal to EY for 13 years. Definitely not maximizing my earning potential

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IMO yes. I’m at just over 2.5x my starting salary after 7 years.

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MA1 EY, and just a vendor certification for an e-discovery data processing tool

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Really depends on service line, Advisory, probably every 2 years or so. I know of one guy who's done 3 of the big4 and 3 mid tier firms over 8 or 9 years.

What has your experience been like in Forensics?

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I’ve been with EY for 5 years. Started right out of undergrad. I make 155k now

So you’re a manager 1 making 155k?

Best time is at manager level. Before that and you won't get a big pay increase when you leave. Keep relationships warm while gone and come back as senior manager. Short path to partner.

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