What matters more to y’all money or prestige. Would you rather be at a Slalom Consulting with $2MM a year or McKinsey with $1MM, assume same salary for life.

I earn between $2M and $3M at a company whose prestige is probably similar to Slalom’s. There’s no way I’d ever work at McKinsey for less or even for the same amount. They’d have to pay me a lot more for me to even entertain a conversation.

1) I don’t care about prestige and haven’t for my entire professional career. Why should I? Have you ever gotten a free first class upgrade by flashing someone your McKinsey business card? Will the chef cook my steak to exactly the right medium rare every time if they know how important my firm is?

2) I have a lot of respect for the McKinsey business and their people. But I like my firm and my coworkers and see no reason to think I’d be any happier there.

3) I have no inferiority complex. I know my firm isn’t as prestigious. I know that if you get an offer from my firm and from McKinsey, you’re taking the McKinsey offer. I know that I never even got a sniff at McKinsey because my GPA was only so-so after my junior year of college in a down economy. But I also know that I’m every bit as talented and capable as the typical McKinsey partner. They’d be lucky to have me and not the other way around.

I’ve worked at slalom and at MBB. Right now, I’m focused solely on money to pay off debts and build wealth. I loved both experiences. At slalom I worked 60 hours on average because of my internal involvement. At MBB I worked 60 hours on average because of the demanding projects. MBB paid more per hour with my average work week. MBB helped me get the work I needed to launch my career. Slalom helped me build my confidence. I think prestige doesn’t matter, it’s what you earn and what you learn at a company that matter. I left Slalom for MBB because I wasn’t earning a market competitive salary and I wasn’t being challenged anymore. I left MBB because I finally landed a role in my dream industry.

Does anyone outside of consulting, MBB, etc really care about company name? I feel like this prestige thing literally only exists in our own bubble which accounts for like 2% of the population.

I mean this is a dumb question, but the way you phrased it obviously Slalom. In this scenario, Slalom would eventually gain a lot more prestige due to how above market it would pay.
There’s a highly positive correlation between pay and prestige.

Money

Slalom no contest.

How is this even a debate

The prestigious thing about McK and other MBB is literally the salary

Bro you could pay me 1 million to flip burgers at McDonald’s and I’d laugh leaving the parking lot in my Bugatti

Money, definitely money.

prestige (n.)

1650s, "trick, illusion, imposture" (senses now obsolete), from French prestige (16c.) "deceit, imposture, illusion" (in Modern French, "illusion, magic, glamour"), from Latin praestigium "delusion, illusion" (see prestigious).

Work at Slalom for the money, once I reach a comfortable number in savings, I’ll invest most of it.
The assumption is, I want my investments to make enough to “survive” without working another day in my life.

Would not working ever again at a young age be considered prestige?

Tell me you are 21 years old without telling me your age.

Slalom, hands down.

No one would care about McK if it didn’t have a reputation for paying well. Slalom would soon be the “top tier” in your scenario and McK the second choice landing spot for non-target consulting hopefuls.

Another tough question for everyone: Would you rather eat ice cream or get punched in the face

95% of people have never heard of the Big 4 or MBB or slalom whatever. For the other 5%, they only care about themselves and won't be impressed anyways, so what's the point?

Forget McKinsey, I’ll work at McDonald’s for an extra million.

I may have worked for each at one time or another...

In my mind MBB’s prestige is inherently tied in the theoretical top earning potential while working there or after exiting; things that are relatively hard to get into but don’t pay well are just selective (I.e. Deloitte, gonna self roast before y’all do).

If McKinsey paid half of the other less prestigious consulting firms, they would go from prestigious to selective real fast.

(Inb4 Deloitte isn’t selective 😭)

Money