Big 4 Consulting is not an Accomplishment
I wholeheartedly believe that Big 4 consulting is not an accomplishment. I go to a state school and I feel like they give offers to anyone with a pulse and resume.
Big 4 consulting has bottom tier comp and frankly does not hire the smartest people. In addition, the exit opportunities are extremely limited when compared to Investment Banking, S&T, or AM.
I am also baffled that people would want to go into a career field that is actively shrinking. Major corporations and banks have all scaled back the amount they are spending on consultants.
Maybe stop obsessing over your career and derive your self worth from something other than your job for a change intern? Big 4 is a decent place to start out and better than most other jobs people get out of undergrad. It’s only considered shitty in the WSO/High Finance bubble where everyone’s self worth comes from their job. Jesus you sound so obnoxious & entitled.
Have a friend who just got a FT offer at E&Y for audit starting at 90k and can fully expense his commute both ways and shit ton of other perks. He'll work on average 40-50 hours a week with busy season being maybe 60 hours. I'd say that's pretty sweet career start imo, coming from me whos in IB
Wow they are offering $90k salary for audit? Not bad.
Yah E&Y gave all audit employees like a 20% raise, they used to start at around 75l last year
sir this is a Wendy's
fr just put my fries in the biggie bag bro
Who cares? Relevant to both the status of landing big 4 and your opinion on what an accomplishment is.
Don't forget the extra honey mustard packets bro
No offense but you sound like an idiot, which is expected from state schooler.
Field is actively shrinking? Sure, it's called the economic cycle bud and it feeds into almost everything. If you have lived long enough to see one you would know.
Accomplishments can be on different levels. Those are still difficult spots to land in the grand scheme of things. They just might not be quite as difficult as breaking into IB.
Also, everything is relative. Someone from Princeton breaking into a MM bank is not as impressive as someone from a non-target in Nevada breaking in.
I work in consulting at a Big 4 and you're certainly not wrong that it's not the most prestigious job, the highest paying, or even offering the best work-life balance. Over time though, you'll realize that your preferences/values will change and there's no one "obvious" path for anyone. I had a huge chip on my shoulder for a while for being at Big 4 vs MBB, but I'm now honestly fine with where I'm at and don't envy the lives of people in IB/MBB just given the lifestyle they have. Even though my job is busy in general and exceptionally busy at critical junctions of an engagement, my bad weeks are closer to the norm in certain consulting groups and my "exceptionally busy" periods are just another day in IB/PE.
Yes, folks in IB/PE/MBB make more than I likely ever will and will have doors opened to them to even more high-paying roles down the road. The thing I've realized is that most jobs that pay exceptionally well also will require some combo of exceptional hours put in or exceptional expectations (often both). That comes with a lot of stress and other trade-offs that requires a unique personality to endure long enough to get the payoff. I really don't know if I have that and am honestly almost at the point already where I'd rather even take a slight pay cut and grab some random industry job in an industry I care about than climb the cutthroat consulting/prestige ladder.
So all-in, your post isn't totally wrong and I'd even advocate someone start off in MBB/IB over Big 4 advisory/consulting. But, I also think it's highly probable you'll look back and realize that a lot of this stuff doesn't matter. Outside of a tiny % of the population that's obsessed with prestige and the nicest, material things in life, most people truly don't care and think people who humblebrag about their money and fancy things they do are insufferable. Maybe you're the exception to the rule, but realize that there's plenty of ambitious folks like you who've been there, done that, and realized worrying about these things isn't worth it in the long-run (don't ask me how I know).
Among regular people in society, it is prestigious. Among people in finance or high finance, it is just a notch above Northwestern Mutual.
I met a partner at PwC that made $900K - not too bad.
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