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Consulting salaries (progression)

So, I managed to nab some numbers from an ex-McKinsey guy's blog. These are merely estimates and the ranges seem to mostly apply for most of the higher end consulting shops.

I imagine the numbers for the Big4/ACN will look different.

Business Analyst:£35k to £45k (no bonus) - (graduate - 2 years)

Junior Associate:£55k to £60k (plus a performance dependent bonus of between 10% to 15%) (1 year)

Associate:£75k to £80k (plus a performance dependent bonus of 15% to 25%) (2 years)

Engagement Manager:£100k to £110k (plus a performance dependent bonus of 20% to 30%) (2 years)

Junior Partner:£150k to £180k (plus an additional payment based on both individual and overall firm performance- this can be very substantial, up to 40 to 50% of salary) (2 - 3 years)

Partner:£250k+ (plus an additional payment as above, up to 100% of salary) (5-10+ years)

Director:A lot. I actually have no idea but the general belief was that some directors are paid well over £1m

Source: http://www.theconsultingcoach.com/advice/what-will-i-be-paid-as-a-management-consultant
(edited 8 years ago)

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progression time between stages? ~
Original post by gr8wizard10
progression time between stages? ~


Edited my post.

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Reply 3
Original post by Princepieman
So, I managed to nab some numbers from an ex-McKinsey guy's blog. These are merely estimates and the ranges seem to mostly apply for most of the higher end consulting shops.

I imagine the numbers for the Big4/ACN will look different.

Business Analyst:£35k to £45k (no bonus) - (graduate - 2 years)

Junior Associate:£55k to £60k (plus a performance dependent bonus of between 10% to 15%) (1 year)

Associate:£75k to £80k (plus a performance dependent bonus of 15% to 25%) (2 years)

Engagement Manager:£100k to £110k (plus a performance dependent bonus of 20% to 30%) (2 years)

Junior Partner:£150k to £180k (plus an additional payment based on both individual and overall firm performance- this can be very substantial, up to 40 to 50% of salary) (2 - 3 years)

Partner:£250k+ (plus an additional payment as above, up to 100% of salary) (5-10+ years)

Director:A lot. I actually have no idea but the general belief was that some directors are paid well over £1m

Source: http://www.theconsultingcoach.com/advice/what-will-i-be-paid-as-a-management-consultant


Sweet dude. Glad someone is actually adding value to this forum.
Reply 4
Do you have any more information on this field? I'm looking at doing Mathematics and this sounds interesting to me as I like business and problem solving.
Definitely gonna go down this route

First I need to get into a target/semi target

Big up imperial/ucl/Warwick and KCL/notts/Bristol
looking for this thread. big 4 fwiw is between 32-25k starting, accenture is 41! tier 2s have no clue. there used ot be an ey consultant of six years, i think who used to post on here but he hasnt for the last year, shame.
Original post by welcometoib
looking for this thread. big 4 fwiw is between 32-25k starting, accenture is 41! tier 2s have no clue. there used ot be an ey consultant of six years, i think who used to post on here but he hasnt for the last year, shame.


Worth pointing out Accenture first year salary is a bit weird:

£31,500 base +
£5,000 sign-on bonus when you join +
£5,000 end of first year fixed bonus

So some of it comes in a lump and others is on a monthly basis which can seem weird. Although, pay progression compared to top consulting firms is slower. It's at the senior levels you start seeing relatively large pay differentiation.

I mention this because at other consulting firms you get it all in base salary so you're not comparing like for like. I think base may have increased also to £32,000 but can't confirm. And also like most consulting firms, you get all expenses paid plus free laptop and plenty of other great freebies.

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(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by will2348
Worth pointing out Accenture first year salary is a bit weird:

£31,500 base +
£5,000 sign-on bonus when you join +
£5,000 end of first year fixed bonus

So some of it comes in a lump and others is on a monthly basis which can seem weird. Although, pay progression compared to top consulting firms is slower. It's at the senior levels you start seeing relatively large pay differentiation.

I mention this because at other consulting firms you get it all in base salary so you're not comparing like for like. I think base may have increased also to £32,000 but can't confirm. And also like most consulting firms, you get all expenses paid plus free laptop and plenty of other great freebies.

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hey buddy, i completely forgot you got acc, was going to ask you for help lol. do you know any other perks? apparently at a couple of the big 4 you also get iphones lol, may seem like nothing but when i have a ****ty phone its a little nice upgrade :tongue:
bare P
Original post by Anonynmous
bare P


dank profile pic
Original post by Rabadon
dank profile pic


bare bants :lol:
Original post by welcometoib
hey buddy, i completely forgot you got acc, was going to ask you for help lol. do you know any other perks? apparently at a couple of the big 4 you also get iphones lol, may seem like nothing but when i have a ****ty phone its a little nice upgrade :tongue:


Haha, I'm not sure on the others. Will let you know when I find out! Wouldn't surprise me though if you get a decent phone although I don't mind, I have a gold Samsung Galaxy Note 4 :mmm:
Reply 13
Hi, m8. Do you know which degrees would be preferred by the BIG 4. Would PPE make my application stand out, since it has such high entry requirements, you would expect it to be desired. However others have advised me to take a pure economics degree, thing is a lot of them need A* at Maths a level, and Further Maths, and I'm most likely going to get A.

I have also heard that firms look at your Maths A level grade, I have even heard they look at individual unit scores, do they want A*.

Also as a side note how do financial consultancy hours compare to IB?
Original post by Shuerer
Hi, m8. Do you know which degrees would be preferred by the BIG 4. Would PPE make my application stand out, since it has such high entry requirements, you would expect it to be desired. However others have advised me to take a pure economics degree, thing is a lot of them need A* at Maths a level, and Further Maths, and I'm most likely going to get A.

I have also heard that firms look at your Maths A level grade, I have even heard they look at individual unit scores, do they want A*.

Also as a side note how do financial consultancy hours compare to IB?


Your degree doesn't matter, choose the one you want to study.

The big 4 usually set requirements at 340 UCAS points (AAB).

Still pretty long, it's not going to be a 9-5 gig. I've heard roughly 60-70 hours depending on the firm and type of project.


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Partner at 5 years would be superstar material, most won't manage that.

It's quite a sweet gig, what puts me off is all the time spent out on site with the client. My consultant mates seem to spend a lot of time on an industrial estates near MK, which is a bit **** now but would really suck with a family.

Quite nice lifestyle though and they do jack all on Fridays!
Original post by Le Nombre
Partner at 5 years would be superstar material, most won't manage that.

It's quite a sweet gig, what puts me off is all the time spent out on site with the client. My consultant mates seem to spend a lot of time on an industrial estates near MK, which is a bit **** now but would really suck with a family.

Quite nice lifestyle though and they do jack all on Fridays!


Those numbers represent the length of time one would expect to stay at each level. So, it's really 10-11 years to get to Partner.

I quite like the travelling aspect of the career, it keeps things a bit fresh - even if you're bogged down in a less desirable locale.

The plus side is that you can spend your weekends pretty much anywhere as some firms give you the opportunity to use your return ticket to an overseas location. Also, as you get more senior, you have more say on the kind of projects (or cases) you want to work on which extends to how much travelling you want to do.

(The issue is actually breaking in, Oxbridge have a huge hold on the undergrad entry point - not so much for MBAs)


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Original post by Le Nombre
Partner at 5 years would be superstar material, most won't manage that.

It's quite a sweet gig, what puts me off is all the time spent out on site with the client. My consultant mates seem to spend a lot of time on an industrial estates near MK, which is a bit **** now but would really suck with a family.

Quite nice lifestyle though and they do jack all on Fridays!

with the small intake at nearly all strat firms, youll be accelerating quickly after passing associate, or youll be asked to pack your stuff nicely and clean your desk before you leave.
Original post by welcometoib
with the small intake at nearly all strat firms, youll be accelerating quickly after passing associate, or youll be asked to pack your stuff nicely and clean your desk before you leave.


Pretty much this.

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What sort of degrees will get you into this?

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