Late 20’s with $2M in equities (all realized through personal investments) living in Australia with 5 YOE. Currently working as a Manager doing Strategy Consulting at Big 4 ($180k). Recently turned down an Analyst IB offer with Lazard (~$250k) for it which i’m starting to second guess myself on. Background prior to that was Strategy Consulting at Tier 2 followed by 1 year at a boutique IB start-up.
I’ve realized that while the the bar is set quite low at the Big 4 and it will be easy for me to accelerate my career due to that, the earning potential / learning development opportunities isn’t that great. While I have a very strong network here and many Senior Partners have confirmed that I’m on an accelerated path to partner, I am wondering if I should start looking elsewhere for opportunities once I hit Senior Manager in 1 year or instead just keep my head down and stick to this path playing the long game (while focusing on side hobbies like investing).
My goal is to fatFIRE one day and have a decent work life balance in the future for when I start a family. I assume I can potentially achieve a small amount of wealth through a combination of reaching equity partner status at Big 4 and continuing to do well on my personal investments, but I’m worried I may be missing out on better career opportunities and I’m not making the most of my potential (e.g. I’ve taken the safe route).
Two other options I’ve been contemplating is
(1) Try for MBB consulting - noting there is a barrier as I don’t have the education pedigree they want (not grades but target school status). 2 years ago BCG / McKinsey didn’t provide me an opportunity to interview and the Bain one I landed I didn’t pass the final partner round
(2) Switch back to finance and start from square 1. Similar to others, I’m interested in PE but understand I will need to undergo a MBA at a top university (thinking of undergoing a 1 year program e.g. INSEAD) to even have a crack at getting my foot in the door at a decent shop.
Has anyone been in a similar position to myself or has any thoughts on my situation that they could share?
My ideal job would be to work for a large company in a position that combines strategy, marketing and operations of some sort. The most common or straightforward path I can imagine is to get an MBA, work in management consulting and then make the switch, but I’d rather not work in consulting if possible.
Is it possible to find a position like this without a consulting background maybe through an LDP of some sort?
I’m doing my MST (my parents forced me to get a masters and it seemed more useful than a MACC) and a tax internship at EY. I’m cool with sticking in tax as I’m interested in potentially opening my own tax firm, but like almost every other college student, I think consulting is so much sexier. How can I switch? I do plan on eventually either getting an MBA or sticking it out in tax. Is it possible to switch to strategy without getting an MBA?
Currently being offered an in-house role in an unnamed company that sells caffeinated beverages to the world, and curious about what the differences are between internal vs working for clients.
Just saw the news about a Senior Manager at Deloitte pushed onto the subway tracks and her profile showing that she held an MBA degree from NYU Stern and worked at prestigious investment banks such as Citi and Barclays. Another friend of mine started his career at McKinsey and then worked in a leading investment bank after his MBA, but is now also working at a Big 4 firm. Just wondering why people that have worked at prestigious banking/consulting firms would end up joining Big 4 firms?
I'm wondering about the probability of a career progression towards strategy consulting from where I currently am. I've just finished a Master's and got accepted for a graduate programme in finance consulting at KPMG in London from autumn. Tbh – it is my only consulting offer till now. Do you think a progression towards strategy is possible?
I'm not specifically interested in accounting or finance although I guess one would have to deal with it in a generalist role at a different firm as well.
Title. I'm hoping to learn more about what consumers - small/medium business workers/operators/owners in this case - value security infosec strategy/advisory services at. I need honest opinions. I've created a short survey that I imagine takes less than 5 minutes to complete. I am not doing this for a consulting company or for any marketing/advertising company either.
I am wondering if there is an opportunity to provide lower-cost services that still transfer knowledge effectively, but it's just a thought now.
Alternatively, if you know another person in a more relevant role, please feel free to pass this link along to them.https://forms.office.com/r/Rv5xetAA76
Also, open to discussing the value (or lack thereof!) of security advisory services for any kind of business in this thread too. Maybe this thread can serve as a helpful one.
EDIT: For additional detail, I'm thinking of providing an automated security plan/roadmap service by trying to capture a lot of the logic of my judgement and approach I usually use when engaging organizations to provide them a path forward in achieving whatever security goals they have.
Hi everyone, I am currently approaching my one year mark at the strategy practice of the Big 4 firm that I'm at. I have focused on CDDs, ODDs, and Market Entry cases for the past five months, with the 6 months preceding that being FDD experience. I came to this role straight from college. During my time here, I have gained quite a few buy-side/sell-side deal exposure from various industries under my belt to speak on.
Although I really enjoy the consulting work, I do find myself ultimately more attracted to the IB work and the opportunities it will provide me. I do see IB as a means to an end (better exits) and think the skillsets I will gain from IB are, loosely speaking, "more valuable." I think I can handle it given my stint in FDD and the hours I took on during my time there.
All that said, I want to pivot into IB and am gearing up for an experience hire lateral jump. I want to make sure I have myself ready and increase my odds as much as possible. My questions are as follows:
- How do I emphasize my experiences to best showcase my ability to handle IB work? I don't think consulting to IB is a common thing but I did do PE DD experience so I'm unsure how to frame it.
- Do technicals go beyond BIWS 400? I am gearing up on the technicals, but am unsure how technical these interviews can get.
- Do I need to network with just one person who will refer me or should I network with 5+ people? I think it's the former but open to hearing your thoughts.
- I love the work and am considering T2 consulting firms (IE EYP, LEK, etc) or even MBB to possibly exit from here. I used to be very dead set on exiting into an MM IB firm, but now I am giving consideration to consulting opportunities as well. How do exits from T2/MBB compare to MM IB?
Just got an offer for an internal commercial strategy role at a big pharma. Seems like 80% of the team is ex-consultants and the work described feels like it's an internal consulting team. Members of the team work with multiple functions and coordinate/support/facilitate to ensure strategic objectives are being met (successful product launch, strategy and execution of internal initiatives, long range strategic planning/road-mapping etc)
Does anyone have experience working with / joining an internal consulting or strategy team in industry? My questions are:
- How much 'weight' do these teams have when working with other functions? Usually there is a pretty short line to c-suite with these internal strategy/consulting groups. Related question - how do other functions perceive internal consulting/strategy teams?
- What are potential career paths within the company? I've heard many strategy groups are stepping stones to leading/managing functions and ultimately owning P&L.
- Can I expect better work-life balance than strategy consulting or similar?
Most of the team is associate director / director level, if that helps.
The day finally arrived. Having being following the principles of financial freedom and goals of lean fire by 35. I took the plunge today and left the corporate world behind.
I re-evaluated my lifestyle and prioritized my time, freedom and health over earning the maximum possible amount through a high stress job I had lost all passion for.
This led me to the decision to quit my $200k strategy consulting job!
I want to thank the folks on this lean fire subreddit, having a financial security blanket made it easier to follow through on this decision.
Going forward I will be putting my time into more passion projects to generate an income as I move closer to lean fire goal by age 35.
For anyone considering leaving their job behind. Here are some thoughts on what I learned.
- Trust your own Gut!
- Change is Exciting!
- Never accept the counter offer!
- Always leave on good terms. This is a small world we live in.
- Having a financial security blanket will give you the confidence to follow through!
Given the so-called 'Great Resignation' period we are in, I feel this may help some folks as they pursue their lean fire goals.
Thanks everyone!
I recently joined a fortune 100 and they are engaging with Baine, McKinsey etc to do strategy consulting for the product line where I was hired. The idea will be for them to do value stream mapping, assess whether we are working on the right problems, create some value framework etc etc.
Is that typically done?
Hello,
Looking for some advice from this community.
- 35, Male, Single
Two sources of income:- I work a full time job for a company (that I don't own), paid via a W2, $200k salary + benefits (health insurance, ...). I max out HSA $3.6k and employee 401k $19.5k- I have an LLC (taxed as an S-Corp) for my side contracting business:
- revenue: 470k
- expenses: 20k
- pay myself via a W2: 160k (cost to business 170k)
- employer solo 401k: 38.5k (so we are maxing out the 58k for employee + employer)
- => profit ~240k
The goal is to find ways to defer these taxes by being creative given that I don't need this cash right now and for the foreseeable future.
Things I have considered/Questions:
- Buying a car: the business doesn't really need it and I personally don't need it. I am against spending money to save taxes
- Cash Balance Plan: I have talked to a company that provides it and told me I can contribute $145k this year, and 130k going forward. they asked me to increase my W-2 from self employment from $160k to 230k (I actually don't know why). The big drawbacks are the cost ($2k initial fee and $1.5k annual fee) and the fact that I am limited to 6% of my W-2 for my Solo 401k (so $13.8k instead of $38k on a $160k salary or $58k). So I also need to withdraw the $25k from the Solo 401k I already contributed because of the 6% rule.
- 412(e)3: I read that I cannot do a Cash Balance plan and a 412(e)3, or they are the same thing ?
- Am I eligible for QBI ? It seems that there is an income limit but I am not sure how this works.
Notes:- My CPA is not equipped to advise me for this- I have met with a financial advisor at both Schwab and Chase Private client, they were not knowloedgeable at all
- No need to tell me to consult a profesionnal, I wouldn't be here otherwise- I have called several Tax Strategist in my city and have appointments in several weeks.
Thank you !
I have a post MBA full time offer for Google Finance and a Deloitte Strategy consulting offer. What makes more sense to take?
A bit of background - did corp finance prior to my MBA and goal is to leave corporate finance. Is that easier to do after a year with Google by transferring internally (my team is in go to market finance) or should I do consulting as it will give me more flexibility for different types of jobs in the future?
Should I go for the Google brand (I don’t know the next time I get this chance) or do consulting which will give me an experience that is more flexible for future opportunities, but with a less strong brand?
title says it all. i’m a cdp hire and i want to get traditional management consulting experience. therefore, i was wondering about the odds of lateraling within my first year after starting.
share your experience if you’ve done this successfully.
title
Hey there. I'm 22 and currently I'm working in a Big4 firm. I'm planning to stay here for a while but my aim is to move to strategy departments. How can I do it?
I speak 6 languages, I'm planning to become an Excel and a Power BI expert as well to learn to program in some codes but I'm afraid my background is not enough sadly.
Is it feasible to achieve this? Not necessarily a MBB.
I am looking to call on local small businesses and essentially offer them the outside the box independence that larger companies have earned the opportunity to have. The company would focus on companies that are aware (or unaware) that they are struggling and offer fresh perspective on how to operate. The fee will be $100-$300/engagement. Thoughts?
Hi all, I'm over the moon to have accepted an offer to join Deloitte as a graduate consultant in business transformation. I was just comparing BT to strategy, and they seem very similar, to the point where I wonder how much overlap there will be. Can anyone give any input on the differences, or what I might expect in BT?
Hi, long time lurker of this sub (been checking the historical posts as well)!
I am currently an Associate in Finance Transformation (similar to Accounting Advisory (AAS) but I'd say more broad).
My aspirations are that I've always been interested in getting into M&A work. I currently have the opportunity to switch out of my current group into the FDD/TAS practice - is this worth pursuing or should I try do interview for M&A Consulting work (think Integration / Divestitures, IMO / SMO work, post Deal Implementation work)?
I appreciate the client-facing nature of my current role (consultative - more decks / presentations), which I heard will be similar to M&A Consulting. However, this jump from my current role to this would be much harder compared to FDD (I am a CPA and FDD hires lots of ex-auditors / associates from my group).
FDD seems like they are excel focused, with the three deliverables (QoE, NWC, debt/debt-like), less focus on travel, and less daily conversations with the client. I heard there can be stretches of weeks of not talking to the client daily, compared to my current role / M&A Consulting.
I am still early in my career, so my future aspirations are still uncertain. I heard FDD -> MM / Boutique IB is feasible, whereas M&A Consulting can have the whole gamut / broader exits of opportunities.
I appreciate any thoughts or ideas to bounce off of!
Looking for people with consulting background or someone who is familiar with casing interviews ASAP. Rate can be discussed but around ~$200/hr. Please pm for more details.
