The lowest management consulting salary you've seen?

I've received an offer to work for a boutique management consulting firm.

The problem is that the offered salary for an analyst is in the low 40s, with no more than 10% bonus. They've strongly hinted that this is a pegged salary that is non-negotiable.

From informal salary surveys of my friends in consulting, even small boutique shops should pay 60k starting. Is this right?

Any tips for negotiating a higher offer? Should I just turn them down outright? I feel a bit surprised that their "competitive" and "attractive" salary as stated in the job description would be this low, especially for a place in NYC that seems to exclusively hire analysts from only the top Ivys.

 

40K in NYC? Good luck with that.

-------------------------------------------------------- "I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcom
 

Try to talk to someone of the lower level people you interviewed with (analyst/associates) and see if negotiation is possible. Then, you can talk to HR/the higher ups you interviewed with and voice your concern, etc... I'm pretty shocked that they're offering 40k for nyc. You need at least 2-3 times that amount to live in NY. If you have no other offers though, it's better making 40k than 0.

 
AlphaGeneration:
Try to talk to someone of the lower level people you interviewed with (analyst/associates) and see if negotiation is possible. Then, you can talk to HR/the higher ups you interviewed with and voice your concern, etc... I'm pretty shocked that they're offering 40k for nyc. You need at least 2-3 times that amount to live in NY. If you have no other offers though, it's better making 40k than 0.

That's good advice, but... needing at least 2-3 times 40k is exaggerating a bit isn't it?

Either way, make sure you factor in benefits as well (ask the analysts/associates)... the standard medical/dental/vision stuff, but also if you're on the road 4 days/week (granted this is less likely for a boutique) and they're reimbursing your meals, that takes a lot out of your cost of living.

 
Best Response

40k in NYC is too low for a finance or consulting position. No company in those industries that is worthy of respect is going to pay you 50% less than market rates without offering you something in return. That said, you don't need 2 - 3x that amount to live in the city. 40k is about 2400 net per month. Factor in maybe 1000 - 1200 for rent and utilities (you're gonna need a roomate or two on this budget, but you can make this work even in the city, meaning Manhattan) and you have another 1200 - 1400 for monthly expenses. Figure $50 for laundry and dry cleaning, $600 or so for food, and maybe $80 for transport and you have maybe 5 - 700 left over to live on.

You won't live lavishly by any means, but you can survive. People on this board overstate NYC cost of living, which is hard to do, because it's damn expensive! But you can make 40k work and plenty of ppl do. If you make 80k salary you should be living well, not just getting by. And if you do land a higher paying gig, I would still advise going with a roomate because then you will actually save instead of just supporting a nicer lifestyle. I know 2nd year analysts at investment banks still paying 1k/mo for housing with roomates...better believe those guys will have a 6 figure nest egg 2 years out of undergrad.

So yeah 40k is doable, but why would you work for a firm that is nickle and diming its talent like that? And if you do, do it somewhere other than NYC where 40k can actually let you live well.

BTW to ppl throwing out McDonald's or bus drivers, those guys pull more like 20 - 30k, not 40k.

 
SquareMileMan:
you really need more than 40k to live in NYC? that's £30k - you could live in london pretty comforable on £30k

40k is approx £27k, but yea we can round it to 30. is 30k really enough to survive in london? i always heard that london was expensive

“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” - Albert Einstein
 

chances are he's getting 45K pre-tax plus a pre-tax bonus of 5K

if ur in consulting, you'll be traveling quite often, staying in hotels, eating comped breakfast/dinner/lunch and racking up those starwood points.

if u want to live on your own for an apt you'll be in maybe 1-3x / week, you'll be scraping by. if u want to live at home or crash at friends, you could save up a nice chunk of change.

during the downturn (2008-early 09), i had friends who were receiving offers around ~45K and these were guys with one year of bb ib experience.

other things to consider - what are your hours like? A job paying 45K / year and making you work 70+ hrs/week may not be worth it unless the experience is really good. You can take 6 months - 1 year get some experience and get a higher paying job elsewhere. the finance job market has turned and there are substantial opportunites out there for ppl with the right background.

what are your other options? what is your background? what else can you / do you want to do? do you have any obligations (i.e. 100K in school loans)?

Also, a few additional thoughts regarding salary - a few years ago (2006-2007), a lot of IBs, corporates and accounting firms were still paying ~48-55K for first years starting in back office, finance, etc. to this day, some firms do not pay "analysts" at all, its a success based model (which in all honesty, the analyst has no control over).

during the boom in 2006, we had investment banks paying first year IB analysts between 80% - 150% in year end bonuses. so those of us that work in this field might be a little disillusioned and shocked when we realize what the "real" world pays to those working in "normal" jobs. Many of my friends had rude awakenings when they received 55K/year offers from corporates and others were just grateful to get a job that paid something.

there are many variables to consider when choosing your first job out of college, unless u and your family are on the verge of being homeless or some other dire strait, money, should have minimal influence on your decision. this way, you can appreciate the opportunity you've been given and really put in the hard work when you're up til 3am on a pitch book and making 80K+/year.

the economy and the job market will go through booms and busts, but certain firms will stick to their principles that analysts should work to learn not to earn. the boutique consulting firm seems to be one of the few. they know they have an endless supply of eager undergrads willing to learn. ..limitless leverage

------------ I'm making it up as I go along.
 

i think with the sheer amount of banana points i've accumulated and the amount of hours i've wasted posting advice and utterly useless banter on this website, i've earned the right not to read the underlying posts.

also it isnt clear to me what minimal travel resp means.. does it mean that he will not travel or that he won't be responsible for many of the traveling expenses as the senior person on the team will pay for the lunches/dinners/etc

ringtailedlemur:
@Cornelius - Read the thread "According to the firm, analysts have minimal travel responsibilities."
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------------ I'm making it up as I go along.

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