IB vs Consulting post-MBA?

What do you think? It seems to me that the PE recruiting advantage no longer applies to IB post-MBA, and the exit opportunities for post-MBA Consulting are broader. Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

31 Comments
 

At least at my T20-T25, the most impressive people tend to gun more for consulting vs. IB.

Wouldn't agree that exits are necessarily stronger for IB. If you want a finance related exit, yeah - IB is better.

Comp is true in terms of a huge variation. My school recruits fairly well into MM and I think average first year package has been around ~270-300K (I do believe one of our graduates went to a boutique recently, not an EB, and possibly cleared 400K their first year while consultants seem to average around 185-190Kish, B4/T2/MBB are 200+ all in).

 

After the recent IB pay increases, the comp difference between IB and consulting is huge. PJT for example is $225k base, $70k signing bonus, and approximately 100% bonus (obviously depends on the firms performance, but 100% bonus is the norm at EBs). Consulting on the other hand is $175k base, like $30k signing bonus, and about 25% bonus. BBs don't pay as much as EBs, but it's still way more than consulting..

 

Had people at my school who picked consulting because they thought it paid more since the employment reports only showed base salary #s (this was when it was typically 165 top consulting vs 150 IB associate) they were absolutely astounded at the total total comp differences once they found out

Also it’s pretty funny how much consulting recruiting centers around billing it as the WLB option. Sure it’s better than banking on the margins but still rough and a steep steep discount

 

This is actually incredibly common. I can count 3+ instances where close friends going into consulting thought banking bonuses were 15-35% of base (like consulting) and were shocked when I said its more like 75-125% of base depending on bank and ranking, sometimes 150%+. 

Lol saw same. And there are people at tio

schools. Like how little due diligence did you do man

 

The hours are absolutely not comparable. Where in the world are you getting this information from? Both my siblings as well as other close friends work in consulting (MBB and T2) and they usually work 60hrs on regular days and 70 when it’s busy (this INCLUDES travel time). There’s a significant difference between 60-70hrs and 80-100. In consulting, you have time to workout daily and sleep a full 8 hours almost every night. Lets not kid ourselves here. Consulting undoubtedly offers better WLB.

 

Animi molestiae repellat nihil sapiente ducimus repellendus ut. Quas ea asperiores occaecati harum consequatur numquam. Fugit autem eos facilis quia provident.

Adipisci dolores eveniet aliquam voluptatem placeat ex autem. Provident eum aut esse accusantium repellat nobis. Odit unde id minima numquam similique.

Quisquam deserunt molestiae sequi ut eius. Molestiae repudiandae cumque consequatur est deleniti facilis.

Perferendis aut nobis dolore occaecati architecto quibusdam. Similique fuga nisi et ut asperiores accusamus mollitia. Praesentium sunt voluptas aspernatur nesciunt totam iste expedita. Aperiam dicta iusto consequuntur voluptas asperiores consectetur quis.

 

Recusandae nisi eum beatae alias. Ullam reiciendis iste ducimus. Facilis molestias cumque amet nesciunt est facere beatae.

Magnam sunt saepe molestias iure commodi. Unde quo illo blanditiis. Repellat eum vel hic nisi. Aut repellendus quaerat quas. Eveniet recusandae eos fugiat recusandae. Exercitationem sit omnis cupiditate voluptatem.

Accusamus sunt dolores pariatur aperiam eos. Ea qui reiciendis odio assumenda expedita. Qui minus iure enim odio laboriosam. Aut autem labore saepe placeat.

Et natus accusamus quod. Odio ut maxime itaque voluptatem omnis. Velit dolorem occaecati alias nulla. In autem nam laudantium velit.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”