Boutique Consulting Salary/questions? Also question about MBB recruiting?

Hi Everyone,
So I got an offer at a boutique consulting firm. The firm gets most of their revenue from 2 or 3 F500 companies. Pretty regional so not much traveling.

I got a 3 month contract as an associate with the option to renew for a full year (depends some on performance of course). I had a few questions. I start in June but was wondering what is typical salary for this. I was offered 40k. This is on the west coast (not SF/LA) but still a big city. I'm thinking a few things and need some guidance.

Originally I really wanted to go into management consulting. but when i got rejected from McKinsey and Bain (and was too late in the game for some of the other firms).

If I work at this firm for 3 months. Do you think it's possible to network (through alumni) a way into a larger/more reputable firm. Do these firms hire full times in august or september? I want to go to a top B-school and I recognize the importance of a feeder firm.

What are your thoughts? THe salary is meh, but I want some advice for leveraging this. I may want to move into finance but not sure. More importantly I want to work for a big firm. What places hire in august. My gpa is 3.2 Would I be considered an experienced hire if I work for 3 months and then want to move. Is this seen poorly.

3 Comments
 

40K seems low. You can probably renegotiate at the 3 month mark, assuming they want to extend you a full time offer.

A lot of boutiques have great projects, better than MBB, on a consistent basis. If that's the case for you, I recommend sticking w/ the boutique for at least a yr. You can definitely network your way into a larger firm, but again... if your boutique has good projects, may not be worth the trade off for a blue chip name on the resi.

 

The three month trial period is good for both you and the consulting firm. See if consulting is actually right for you. After the three months, take some hard facts about what you contributed and how you improved things to your boss and re-negotiate your salary. Normally, boutique firms can pay more than larger firms because of less overhead and more specialization.

How long-term are their relationships with clients? If they are worried about one falling through that is going to take 30 - 50% of their revenue, and probably your job - just something that you should be thinking about.

 

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