Turnaround Consulting Info

Ran into this field at the start of the week randomly and honestly learned a lot about it since then. I am at the point where I am seriously considering not giving a fuck about my return offer for a SA stint in IB (M&A group) and recruiting into RX cosulting FT for one of the big 3. What I read about the work seems a lot more interesting than what I am going to be doing in IB anyway. The only two things that are holding me back is the varied responses in terms of pay and exits.

  1. I know it's based on billables but is it fair to expect 170k-210k if I get into one of the big 3?
  2. For me having optinality within the buyside is a big factor. I know IB opens doors for most buyside gigs. How would exits into buyside look like out of turnaround. (are most of them ops based or investing if PE?) I have no interest in going into RX IB so that's not really a big deal for me.
13 Comments
 

Thanks for the reply back! I would be going into MM. For more of a background, (if it makes a diff in terms of giving advice) I am coming out of a well-regarded target school for IB, and my resume is very well put together (3.8+ gpa, HF, PE and IB internships).

For me I want to go into a role where I learn a lot (not just excel macros, more like actual financial aptitude and I think RX consulting hits this spot better than M&A/Coverage IB). From there I want to ideally go into the buyside whether HF or PE. I don't have a preference for Ops or investing side within PE. (On that note I do think Ops is better than investing since investing at the junior level at least looks like making up fuggazi numbers on excel and ops seems more like getting your hands dirty)

I would love to hear what you think given my background and goals. I would honestly commit to Rx co recruitng right now if it wasn't for the uncertanity on exits.

 
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Not really an uncertainty in exits when you look at it. As numerous others have pointed out, RX consulting is an exit, so it's much less defined as to where you can exit from an exit, as opposed to exiting from a feeder career. Also, there's 100% certainty on the feasibility of exiting from RX consulting to corporate (C-suite). Saw in another post that there's a greater % of RX consultants in CEO / CFO roles than from MBB. That trend will only continue.

You're trying to go down the path less traveled, so there's obviously going to be less datapoints. At the end of the day, however, as with any career, execution, networks, and positioning your experience in a way that's appealing to recruiters matters.

If you genuinely enjoy the work that you'll be doing in RX consulting, then go for it, and grab your exit opportunities as they come. If instead, you're looking at RX consulting as a stepping stone for distressed investing, you'll likely be disappointed. IB remains the feeder career, RX consulting is where IB / distressed PE people exit into, not usually the other way around.

Another note: RX consulting has a very limited amount of internship spots - if the demand gets as high as this forum implies, those spots will become hyper-competitive.

 
  1. No. You're unlikely to get 170-210k at the Big3.
  2. Exits for both Ops and Investing exist, but investing exits are definitely more competitive than some on this forum indicate -- especially in a tougher market. Have seen some people lately imply the exit is easy and that most people simply don't take it by choice, but that isn't entirely true -- especially at the junior levels.
  3. Even if you plan on recruiting FT for turnaround, you should care a lot about your IB return offer. All your interviewers will ask if you have the return, and an answer of "No" will hurt you. 
 

hey sorry but could you provide a number that I could expect to make at a place like Alix (they started FT hiring out of undergrad) or FTI as an analyst. Honestly the money aspect I am willing to sacrifice if it isn't way below IB.

 

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