Apologies if this topic has been done, the search function prevents me from finding any relevant thread on the matter.
I'm wondering what the key comparative differences between management consulting (at the associate level) and product management are.
Specifically, areas pertaining to:
- The Work Itself
- Work-life balance
- Career Progression
- Compensation Structure/Benefits
I've done a fair bit of research through Google, but I'd love some advice or insights from people currently in the field.
the answer is, it depends. On pretty much everything you stated. Will say that non C-Suite PM's at FAANG's have a comp ceiling around 1.5 million while working no more than 60 hour weeks. Nothing to scoff at.
Highly recommend checking out levels.fyi, and blind for further info.
1% of PMs will ever get to 1.5m in comp - I'd guess that's L8+ comp at Google and the terminal level for PMs is L5 (meaning average performers will not be promoted beyond this point). You have to both work incredibly hard and be at the right place at the right time to get each successive promotion from L5 -> L6 etc. L5 comp according to levels.fyi is around 330, which is not a bad place to end up at, but it's not 1.5m lol
that's why it's called a ceiling. But the top 10-20% are all clearing north of $800k at FAANGS. Which is really really good considering very few consistently work more than 60 hr weeks.
Source: my roommate is a FAANG PM, and several friends are big tech PM's too.
$650k-2m (median of $1.2-1.3m) is like top 10% (e.g 2500 PMs at Google, ~250 Directors of Product / L8s) at a tier 1 comp band tech company (Google, FB, Uber, Snap, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Dropbox, Netflix, Airbnb etc). If you’re good you can get there well within 10 (people who don’t plateau rise very fucking quickly in tech), max 15 years of becoming a PM. One level below that (Group PM / L7) also pays well ($450k-1m, median of $700k) though similarly difficult to get promo’d to. Most people (not just PMs) at these tier 1 companies will be L4-6 and will make between $250-550k (median of $300-400k). Example L8 comp: GOOG, LNKD.
Tier 2 comp band companies (Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, Adobe, NVIDIA, Apple, Yahoo, Atlassian etc) at the same L8 type level would be more like $500k-1.2m (median of $600-700k). Still roughly top 10% or so. The level below this (also tough to get to) would be around $350-600k (median of $450k). And most people here (the chunk of mid-level ladder folks) would be making between $200-400k (median of $250-350k). Example L8 comp: MSFT, AMZN.
Those tier 1 and tier 2 groups are the best paying two tranches of established tech companies. Some tech companies (especially legacy businesses or semiconductor manufacturers) have L8 equivalent top out at like $300-500k and most ICs being around $120-225k. So that’s the “floor” and in between these companies sits another tranche (think GoDaddy, Expedia, Wayfair, Autodesk etc) that have L8 top out at $350-600k or so and bulk of ICs being $150-250k.
So comp is a bit more nuanced than just throwing around a standard number for all “tech companies”. And the GAFAM or FAANG acronym doesn’t do things justice in describing comp / prestige. For pre-exit companies, if they’re late stage they’ll roughly corroborate to this tier structure with the highest payers competing with tier 1, the the next best with tier 2 and so on. Though annual vesting stock portion of total comp would be illiquid, the value a year would be similar to an established company. Early stage, you’re taking less total comp now for hopefully more upside on exit as a holder of some % of the company.
TL;DR if you’re good and work at the highest paying tech companies or get lucky with a sizeable equity piece (say as a VP Product or something) at an early stage startup that has a solid exit you can get paid very handsomely. If you’re average and work for the highest paying tech companies you’ll be making more than most directors do at large public companies or about the same or more than the average doc which is a pretty solid UMC life for 60hrs a week.
I personally wouldn’t bother doing Product outside of the best paying companies or exciting early stage startups unless you’re only doing it momentarily to get your foot in the door. Really need to be in the core furnace of tech to get compensated well otherwise you’re making what any other white collar worker makes for a ton of responsibility and not a lot of decision making power.
let's just say that many people enter consulting in hopes of exiting into product management.
Previously worked at MBB, now work in PM (previously at non-Amazon FAANG [since Amazon PM isn't really PM a lot of the times]) and now at an early-stage startup.
Maybe my experiences in consulting were different than the typical experience, but IMHO the skillsets are actually quite similar. Tons of meetings (with clients in consulting, with customers / users and the dev / design teams for ideation / prioritization in PM) and syndication (e.g., here are the key recurring pain points we're seeing) Sure you need some technical experience in PM, but it's really quite simple as long as you've had some level of exposure to technical topics (not even coding, but more about architecture / system design)
Work life balance is much better in PM, though PM probably has one of the worst work-life balances in tech companies. Career progression is more defined in consulting and is faster (I think consulting has the fastest career progression in general. Making partner at MBB takes ~7-8 years from undergrad, compared to ~10 in IB), but PM compensation will be better for the first few years (I had an 100k jump in TC when I moved to PM initially, but my friends who stayed in consulting obviously make more now as they're almost partner level, especially since so much of my comp now is tied in illiquid equity). It's also much easier to get promoted in consulting vs PM (where most people never make the jump to Group PM, etc.)
Thanks for the detailed breakdown. How many years did you work in consulting before making the jump? Do you think it's possible to transition from non-MBB (or tier 2) consulting firm to PM (within Big Tech) or would it be better to lateral to MBB and then pursue PM?
Could you elaborate on Amazon PM not really being PM? Would love to know more about how PM varies across FAANG
mbb partner def takes more like 10-12 years from UG.
True for BCG/Bain Not Mckinsey
Mckinsey average speed: 2 years BA -> 1 year SBA -> 2 years EM -> 3 years AP -> partner (8 years)
Mckinsey Fastest: 2 years BA/SBA -> 1.5 Years EM -> 2 Years AP -> partner (5.5 years)
BCG: 2 years AC -> 2 Years C -> 2 years PL -> 2 years Principal-> 2 years partner (not true partner)-> Partner (10 years)
Bain: 2 years AC -> 1 years SAC -> 2 years C -> 2/3 years CTL ->2/3 years AP -> partner (10ish years)
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