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OP, you are delusional beyond belief lol. American average income is $50k/household. Idk how spoiled you grew up but starting in consulting and staying in consulting is a financial blessing most of the time.
Chief
OP I think you have valid points but I think you're missing a few things:
1) I think if given the option, many consultants WOULD choose a better paying job as a SWE or high finance. But those are different skill sets that most consultants don't have. After SWE and High finance, consulting is probably the third best option when it comes to compensation. Many consultants reach 100k by 24/25. That's a great trajectory.
2) also most consultants will not stay 10 years. I would bet most leave actually after 3-5 years. The 3-5 years working themselves to the bone (as you put it) has now set them up these consultants up to exit into a higher position than they would've gotten straight out of undergrad.
3) I think you are also vastly OVERestimating the ability for people to make money outside of consulting. Again, outside of SWE and High Finance, the clear path to 200k+ is NOT easy. In consulting however, 200k is basically manager/Senior manager and absolutely achievable given hard work and persistence. I really don't think this is the case for other industries.
Lastly, if you don't mind me making a reach, I think it sounds like you ARE intelligent and probably very good at your job. It sounds like you could've succeeded at being a SWE or High Finance and are now salty at the fact that you're a "mere consultant". Your title indicates that your still relatively young and i think you have plenty of time to go back to school to possibly pursue a higher compensation job. Unfortunately you do come off as immature and your age shows. We are incredibly blessed (whether by luck or hard work) that we have a job that basically guarantees we will never be anything below middle/upper-middle class. There are a plethora of other jobs that work just as many hours as us and are paid much lower. There's nothing wrong with you wanting to get paid more, but keep in mind where you are compared to the average American.
I consulted out of school and lept to industry when marriage and kids became more important than billable hours..
I returned to consulting after a rewarding career in industry and kids hit college. Joined the firm years ago as an experienced hire wi5h 50% increase over what I made as tech lead at an international non FAANG Dotcom.
Curren5 goal is retiring in my early 50s.
Rising Star
I was making six figures by 25, in what world is that below market rate?
P1, youre an SA in Tax making that much?
Pro
You think only senior partners make "decent" money....... What is your point of reference: movie stars? Private practice surgeons?
Get a grip on reality.
Also, just look at the results. We are all here, right? I don’t think we’re all doing it for warm fuzzies. It pays what it needs to pay.
Dude. Are you a 23 year old from a rich family that thought daddy's range rovers were as easy to buy as the sparkling water in your mini fridge of the wet bar of your private plane?
How out of reality are you? Have you accounted for corporate jobs across the us? Let alone average or median HOUSEHOLD income that combines both financial contributors?
Whatever firm hired you better take you back to BA bootcamp.
I hit 6 figures at 24 due to consulting. We are in a bubble. we are all very fortunate, even those of us still making 70k. Stop being so ungrateful and out of check
Agreed. So tired of the whining from consultants about salaries. Ridiculous hearing people in their 20s complain that make more than most of the country.
This. This right here.
This is the snowflaky entitled nonsense that makes me want to walk away from this high paying job.
You think you’re worth more elsewhere OP? Please go with my blessing. Or better yet try really hard to find that, fail, and get the market reality check that will make you far more tolerable should you ever join my team.
If you’re qualified to be a SWE and would enjoy the work, I would definitely suggest jumping over for the pay and better hours. Other careers like IB, PE, HF, etc. usually come with worse hours and a different nature of work, so those are tradeoffs you’d have to weigh. Non-coding tech jobs are an option as well, but from what I’ve seen the good pay mostly comes from higher level exits meaning you might need to stick it out a bit longer as an analyst.
I’m sure all of us would love to be paid more, but I don’t think consulting pay is “well below market” for us undergrad hires because it reflects the hours (e.g., pay is higher than typical entry level jobs but lower than finance) and skills/expertise (e.g., doesn’t require specialized skills like coding) required for the job.
Also I like client service because it gives me the flexibility to move around and try different areas of work. Having worked for a finance company, I found it very restrictive. So it all depends on priorities
You appear to need a serious reset for what you consider to be "decent money."
"Junior partner" income would put you in the top 1% at any age.
If you want to accrue a nine-figure net worth (which it sounds like is your target) - you need to be an entrepreneur. Period. Outside of a ~handful~ of partner positions at top HF and PE firms, and an even smaller number of C-suite positions at the largest companies in the world, you can’t get there working for somebody else. You won’t get there in IB, you won’t get there in tech. Full stop
You have a higher chance if making partner if you stick it out in consulting than making the C-suite in market without consulting experience. The promotion track like this doesn't exist in industry.
@all thanks for the information, trying to decide between aiming towards CISO or cyber partner in the future
Chief
What market are you below?
Junior Partners can make $1m/year, which is def not below market
No, they don’t. Big4 retirement pension would pay more than a SVP job. Alix, OW and many other firms pay a ton of money to Partners.
Rising Star
you lost me at below market rate 🤣 Consulting is one of the best ways to make $ faster than a typical corporate job
Pro
With a post like this, you’re not smart enough for PE or a HF
Many others have already said this, but you need a reality check. Scoring a job at a good consulting firm is a golden ticket to financial security. You’ll be making more than 90% of people within a few years, and Partners are the literal definition of the 1%, even junior ones. I’m a mildly low paid Big 4 Manager and I support a family of 5 in comfort, save for college/retirement/etc, do fun events, pursue hobbies, etc. It’s all about expectations and, as ppl always say on Fb, “comparison is the thief of joy.”
Pro
It gives below par people a chance to earn more than they can earn anywhere else. If you’re smart enough go to big tech and consulting won’t make much sense. However, for every below average Joe out there, it’s the best way to make above average money with little to no skill set. E.g - Me. I don’t even properly know what cloud means and I’m currently a senior manager leading big cloud engagements with 250k TC. Big tech would laugh at me if I ever interviewed with them.
Chief
Haha I think it makes sense! I was absolutely below or at par before consulting.
Straight B student in high school, improved a bit in college, (only a ~3.3 gpa which is basically half abs and half As) SOMEHOW lucked into a consulting job and am making six figures a few years after UG. most people in my shoes never even touch consulting and are relegated to 50-80k jobs for life. I feel extremely lucky that I got into consulting and jumped forward a bit.
As a BA, is it always us BAs with the unrealistic expectations? 😅
Considering our average tenure is 2.5 years and we pride ourselves on exit opportunities and MBA placement rates, I’m not sure what the hell you’re talking about.
@OP You seem to have your mind made up and seem to think you have a plan of sorts in mind. Looking at your response to folks in this thread, I doubt anything will change your perspective. Why don’t you take the leap and try and make the move to one of these roles you keep mentioning. I would think that would be the best step for you at this point. You’ll either succeed and hopefully get the economic happiness you seek or you’ll crash and burn and hopefully get some much needed perspective.
I was making in the top 5 or 10% of my country’s income distribution **my first year** after undergrad. How is that below market pay?! (And also making easily 50% more if not double what a lot of my peers graduating from the same program made their first yearS, and my income has almost doubled every 2 years or so since..)
That being said I don’t do it just for the money. I’d happily take a pay cut to work much fewer hours and I have seen options in my market. But i haven’t yet found a job that would really excite me, as cliche as it sounds I really enjoy the people I work with, the type of work/teaming we do, and the variety in the work. I’m taking a view of my career one year at a time and reevaluating often if I am happy / satisfied or not, which I think is healthy for anyone.
You are missing something here... the biggest part to me being the fallacy of having to work yourself to the bone to succeed.
I’m 10 years in, make $350-400k depending on the variable comp for the year and average 45 hrs a week or so. Set your boundaries, give people opptys that also lessen your load and use your time wisely and you can be successful without being a grinder...
@D8 - 10 years, came into consulting straight out of UG
Our PMs are technical.
Invariably those jobs are taken by undergrad CS / CE majors who decided they would rather be a pm than SWE either because they had an interest in business or design or because they just found being a straight coder boring. However all of them were good enough to get SWE jobs at those firms (some did SWE internships / projects ) and could code circles around most other engineering grads and the average other CS / CE grad at my school.
No tech firm is going to sit around letting someone who can’t tell the difference between a for loop and a do loop be a PM at any level unless they have significant other skills.
Source — know several people who became pms at FAANG and various late stage startups out of undergrad. And have gone on to do roles like — PM on the MS Edge team, PM on the Google Sports widget team, PM on Uber Eats Priority orders etc in their first year or two out.