Moving from PwC Banking S&O to Deloitte S&O

Hi guys & girls,

First timer here so please ignore any rookie mistakes. I joined PwC as lead senior associate (one level below manager) in the Banking S&O practice early last year. I had close to 8 years of independent and smaller firm consulting experience prior to that. I am up for manager promotion this year but the engagement that I am on right now is one of those very long term operations kind of project and I feel like I am not learning anything and as a matter of fact losing my competitive edge.
I was kind of upset that PwC would screw my career this way so I starting passively looking. Now I have an interview with Deloitte's S&O in a couple of weeks but they told me upfront that they may not take me as a manager and that I would have to spend a year learning their culture. More or less the same shebang that PwC gave me when I joined.
I do realize that Deloitte does more strategy work and will probably pay me more than PwC (even at a senior role) but is it worth leaving PwC for Deloitte after just 1.5 years in the hope of better opportunities in terms of the nature of work (primarily) and a manager's title or should I stay put and hope this engagement ends so I can do some real consulting work? I am very confused and do not want to jump from the fire into the frying pan. Also, I plan to working outside of the US in the next 2-3 years and switching within the US may not be that great of an idea at this point in time.
So the bottom line, is switching now worth it or not?
Any advice would be appreciated.

 
Best Response

I'd suggest taking the promo at PwC, then try to move to Deloitte or somewhere else at the Manager level. Pretty sure Deloitte also does a lot of implementation work that you will find boring. And as a new experienced hire with no network, you will not get the good assignments that will meet your intellectual expectations and promotional needs. Promotions can be political, and you need a good game plan and placements to make it happen. Remember that grass is always greener on the other side.

 
abacab:
I'd suggest taking the promo at PwC, then try to move to Deloitte or somewhere else at the Manager level. Pretty sure Deloitte also does a lot of implementation work that you will find boring. And as a new experienced hire with no network, you will not get the good assignments that will meet your intellectual expectations and promotional needs. Promotions can be political, and you need a good game plan and placements to make it happen. Remember that grass is always greener on the other side.

Deloitte doesn't do strategy. They're an ops firm that throws multiple headcount on an engagement, requires 100% travel, and does not have great exits career wise. Most of Deloitte's S&O work is tied to tech/IT transofrmation projects. If you want true strategy you should look at MBB or smaller niche strat firms (booz, etc), there are hunderds of those out there. However given your resume and alck of a top MBA (I assume), it will be difficult to migrate.

If I were you, I think you're overlooking an enormous asset at PwC, PRTM. That is an excellent firm with great brand and does true strategy work, especially in the transformation/ops space which is what companies are in desperate need of today to maximize free cash flow. So, I'd try to get into PRTM versus Deloitte S&O. Most guys at Kellogg at Deloiite S&O are unhappy and trying to get out, again placement sux for them, at least in this market, but then again placement sux for everyone in this market...

good luck!

 
socola2003:
Deloitte doesn't do strategy. They're an ops firm that throws multiple headcount on an engagement, requires 100% travel, and does not have great exits career wise. Most of Deloitte's S&O work is tied to tech/IT transofrmation projects. If you want true strategy you should look at MBB or smaller niche strat firms (booz, etc), there are hunderds of those out there. However given your resume and alck of a top MBA (I assume), it will be difficult to migrate.

This seems a little shortsighted to me. I'm at an MBB right now and know we regularly compete with Deloitte S&O when bidding for projects, and I'm aware through a friend that their MBB firm was fired from a project which the D then took over.

I know people who have done M7 and PE post Deloitte. Obviously the opportunities from there are not as great as MBB and one might have to work harder, but I think you're exaggerating how poor they are. Also, I've chatted with Deloitte people I know about their projects and I've never heard of any IT being related to their work, so I have no idea what you're talking about there.

I would however note that Booz probably pays better than Deloitte.

 

Thank you everyone for your feedback. Socola2003, you are right about my lack of top MBA. I actually went to school in the United Kingdom and do not have an MBA but a Masters in Finance. Anyways, lack of exit strategy seems to be a common theme with most of the Big 4. Also, I did not want to imply that I wanted to do strategy but I really feel that I am not challenged in the current work environment.

As for PRTM, you would be surprised how difficult it is to maneuver within PwC to land on something which is being handled by the PRTM crowd. Anyway, I will probably stick with PwC (for now) and see where else I can land. I guess my focus is a bit short term. If I planned on staying within the US for 5 years, staying at PwC would not be too much of an issue.

Thanks again..

 

Necessitatibus corporis consequatur et id iste sint est. Dolorem omnis perferendis adipisci tenetur. Occaecati exercitationem culpa quaerat cum aliquid nihil sint. Adipisci saepe quisquam temporibus dolor nemo. Veniam vel aut unde nobis minus ut.

Sint voluptatem itaque tenetur est. Saepe itaque dolor quo sed consequatur iusto laboriosam. Sit esse tenetur sint expedita. Occaecati omnis numquam qui distinctio qui.

Unde in vitae nihil consectetur facilis qui. Et perferendis quae deleniti perferendis omnis animi vero. Optio veniam excepturi eligendi dolorem. Eum dolor delectus sint fuga est minima. Nihil autem aperiam eveniet rerum impedit et quis. Quis porro id aut similique ut aperiam.

Alias et eum recusandae eum harum velit ut. Odit odio quibusdam enim. Aspernatur aspernatur sunt occaecati est. Voluptas possimus in est corporis eaque. Et explicabo adipisci quidem id iste vel.

anamerican

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • Cornerstone Research 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • McKinsey and Co 97.7%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Consulting

  • Partner (4) $368
  • Principal (25) $277
  • Director/MD (55) $270
  • Vice President (47) $246
  • Engagement Manager (99) $225
  • Manager (152) $170
  • 2nd Year Associate (158) $140
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (108) $130
  • Senior Consultant (329) $130
  • Consultant (586) $119
  • 1st Year Associate (538) $119
  • NA (15) $119
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (145) $115
  • Engineer (6) $114
  • 2nd Year Analyst (342) $102
  • Associate Consultant (166) $98
  • 1st Year Analyst (1046) $87
  • Intern/Summer Associate (188) $84
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (547) $67
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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
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...”