Considering changing from law to consulting in London - salary advice?

I am considering making the change from law to consulting and would like some advice as to the salary levels one might expect at MBB in London.

I am 25 and work in a private equity team for a prestigious corporate law firm in London, where I have been for three years (two year traineeship, one year post qualification). I am aware that I lack a lot of the fairly basic skills which would be learnt very early on in a consulting career, however I would hope that my experience, particularly in working with PE houses, would count for something.

With this in mind, and having done some research into the relevant firms, I would guess that I would probably be going in at an Associate Consultant level, but perhaps the upper tier of that bracket if such a thing exists? I think I would be reluctant to go back to the same level as a new graduate at this stage in my career.

I currently earn around £80 - 85k including bonuses (around $124 - 132k). While I would be prepared to take a cut in salary to make the switch, I would like to still be able to afford my flat in London! I am only interested in MBB.

Does anybody have any idea of what level I might be looking at entering and the level of salary I might be able to expect? What tends to be the position re bonuses? Obviously my question relates to London specifically, but any guidance re US salaries at this level may also be useful as I imagine the differential will not be too great (that is certainly the case for US law firms).

Any advice (preferably constructive) is greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

5 Comments
 

I think comp for undergrads is about $70k USD at MBB. You might be able to make the case that your comp be on par with a 2nd year, and I'm not sure where that stands. Maybe $80-$85k? I highly doubt you could come in at a post-mba level, because most of those folks have equally prestigious 2-4 yr work stints, plus the top tier MBA.

 
Best Response

Can't speak for MBB but I can guarantee you that a non MBB would be much more flexible with salary for your situation. I can offer my personal example, I don't work at MBB (I'm at a firm most people would consider strictly second tier) and I managed to lateral in at a post MBA level without an MBA. I now make as much as a first year post MBA consultant at MBB would make (130K base) and have a considerably better work life balance than fellow 24 year olds at MBB (who are all pre MBA consultants at this age). This may be totally irrelevant if you are completely set on MBB, but I just thought you should know that the MBB name tag might not be worth taking a massive hit in pay, especially if you have no plan to get an MBA (without one, you wouldn't go very far at MBB anyway).

-MBP
 
2x2MatrixI'm not sure how British education works, but people who join my MBB after having gone to an American law school always come in at the same level as an MBA. If you did, my MBB pays about £100k/year to London post-MBAs, and probably £50k/year (I'm sure about the 100k, but not this one) to a first-year analyst, but laterals who come in as analysts may have some degree of flexibility in negotiating comp.
Woah seriously? £100k/year base for a post MBA? That's quite impressive. I think we pay £85k base in London for MBA grads.
-MBP
 

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