Ladder of Consulting firms?

What's the ladder at each consulting firm?

Deloitte Consulting:

Analyst (Undergrad) => Consultant = > Senior Consultant (MBA) => Manager => Senior Manager => Principal / Director.

Principal E => Principal D => Principal C = > Principal B = > Principal A.

Director should be (not 100% sure on this) => 1,2,3,4,5.

Deloitte also has the specialist route - for its technology folks that don't want to do Project Management and want to simply stay in the system.

Analyst => Specialist => Senior Specialist = > Specialist Master = > Specialist Leader

I know you can't make Principal this route but not sure about Director.

48 Comments
 

From memory, so I could be off.

McKinsey: Business Analyst -->(MBA) --> Associate (Senior Associate) --> Engagement Manager --> Associate Principal --> Partner --> Director

Bain: Associate Consultant (Senior Associate Consultant) --> (MBA) --> Consultant --> Case Team Leader --> Manager --> Partner

BCG: Associate --> (MBA) --> Consultant --> Project Leader --> Principal --> Partner

(EDITED: Thanks for the corrections)

 

mckinsey has a junior associate, tho i'm not sure what that means..

"... then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it."
 

time frame would also be helpful ( i realize all firms and employees are different) say how long from (MBA) --> Consultant --> Manager --> Partner?

 
Best Response

It's variable.

55-65 hours would not be a killer week. 70-80 is not unreasonable in the lead up to delivery of a major deliverable. 45-50 (or less) is also to be expected if on the beach without a major proposal to work up.

My experience has been that the team - from Partner down - typically work similar hours in the office. Partners and other seniors probably do more reading/review/prep work at home but face time is all about the same.

Partner's typically have more travel as well, so that's a factor.

Experience's vary though - some partners are a lot more hands on, others are happy to let their juniors own the work and will focus on selling new work (these partners tend to work fewer hours).

 

Actually, I think the hours are the worst as a Senior Manager. There might be an uptick as you go from MBA to Manager but, imo, Partners, on average, work less hours than Sr. Mgrs. They might travel more since it's predominantly a sales job.

Grga Pitic
 
Zzari

From my impression, the hours get worse as you go up the ranks until you hit Senior Manager, then the "hours" start to decrease slightly. However, Senior Managers/Partners/Directors spend a lot of time thinking about the job outside of working hours, so I think they're under more stress overall.

Same impression I get. Though I think in terms of pure bitchwork, Project Leaders (who can't/refuse to delegate) have it the worst.

 

Hours get worse just as you're in line to get promoted (whether to manager or partner). Partners travel a whole lot more than anyone else. Managers and partners may not work less than analysts, but they do have more control over when they put in their hours (subject to client constraints of course).

 

from what I know. (starting at PwC full time next summer)

Associate = 1 yr (65k + 10k signing + year end bonus) Experienced associate = 1 yr (75k + bonus(es)) Senior associate = X yrs ( near 100K and above [salary increasing while SA]

Yes there is a partner/principal on MC side and they can make A LOT more than accounting partners.

What vertical & horizontal would you be aligned to?

 

I concur with The Sour Patch Kid. After B-school if you perform really well you become a partner. Plus you have to be a great salesman to establish new relationships with potential clients.

 
boomgoesthedynamite

okay i see what does BA stand for then.. bachelor of arts undergrad?

have you really done your research?

BA = Business Analyst at McK

 

Typical career progress is as follows. Titles vary by firm, but the amount of time in each role is pretty similar.

Analyst/Associate: 2-3 years (post-undergrad role) B-School: 2 years Consultant/Senior: 2 years (post MBA/APD role) Manager/Engagement manager: 2-3 years Senior manager/Director: 2 - X years

I put "X" as the length for Senior Manager because a lot of Senior Managers don't make it to partner. For those who do, some make it in 2 years, and others take 5-6 years or more. A lot of Senior Managers get recruited by other firms to become partners if it becomes apparent that they aren't going to make partner at their own firm.

 

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