PwC Salary Offer Letter Delay

Hi Monkeys,

I need to some advice, I got a verbal offer to join PwC's FS Advisory group last Tuesday. The recruiter asked if I wanted to join and what may salary requirements were. I stated I was happy to join and that I wanted $135-140K. She said that was "out of the question" and said there maybe some wiggle room with the signing bonus (as by me joining I'd miss out on my current fiscal year bonus. I didn't hear from PwC so I reached out about the offer letter yesterday. I got an email stating "let's talk after T-giving". My question is should I be worried. I would only take PwC if the salary was on point, seeing how currently I make close to the Post-MBA salary. And does PwC always talk this long with experience hire recruiting? The recruiting has been sloppy, I'm really thinking about walking away and focusing on my current role.

PwC Experienced Hire Offer Letter Delay

Due to the fact that this exchange happened around Thanksgiving, our users felt that their failure to respond was simply due to bad timing. That being said - usually you are given the official offer letter a few days after the verbal offer.

Hugo Stiglitz - Investment Banking Associate:
They're usually pretty prompt - my assumption would just be bad timing - with Thanksgiving break right around the corner a lot of people tend to push things until after everyone returns. Most big 4 have a partial day Wednesday through Friday off, as a result a lot of people end up taking the week off - if your request needed to be escalated to multiple people, there s a good chance that they're out of office.

User @Infiniti242" shared that if they were actually going to pull your offer - they'd have already let you know.

Infiniti242:
I had my face-to-face interview with FS Advisory about 1.5 weeks ago. With the Holiday, they were pretty backed up. I received my verbal offer yesterday and should get the written in the next day or so, according to the recruiter. I would say to just reach out to your recruiter and ask for an update. If they weren't interested in you, odds are, they would have already notified you of their decision to not move forward.

Our users suggested that the OP reach out to the recruiter after the holiday to get an update on the situation. There is no downside to getting in touch with the HR rep.

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They're usually pretty prompt - my assumption would just be bad timing - with Thanksgiving break right around the corner a lot of people tend to push things until after everyone returns. Most big 4 have a partial day Wednesday through Friday off, as a result a lot of people end up taking the week off - if your request needed to be escalated to multiple people, there s a good chance that they're out of office.

Hugo
 

If you could send me the same info I'd really appreciate it as well. Waiting to hear back from PwC's advisory team as well. Completed all interviews 3 weeks ago.

 

Please keep us up to date, I've always wondered if companies actually pull offers if they don't like your negotiating. To me it sounds like you were perfectly in line so I wouldn't imagine them having an adverse reaction.

 

I had my face-to-face interview with FS Advisory about 1.5 weeks ago. With the Holiday, they were pretty backed up. I received my verbal offer yesterday and should get the written in the next day or so, according to the recruiter. I would say to just reach out to your recruiter and ask for an update. If they weren't interested in you, odds are, they would have already notified you of their decision to not move forward.

 
Best Response

Not sure what your background is (MBA? CFA? CPA? US/Canada/Europe/Asia?). Also not sure what's the level of the role you've interviewed. I don't think it's too senior because if you are going in as Senior Manager or Partner, you wouldn't be here asking other people.

I used to work at the FS Advisory group of one of the Big 4 firms in Canada and the salary you are asking is Senior Manager / Partner level (so VP/Director for the FS group depending on the city of course). Not sure if you are truly "uninformed" about the salaries at the big 4 or if you have other offers lined up and wanted to troll PwC.

For Junior/Senior Associates or Managers (which is what I think you are going in as, pure guess as you haven't disclosed that), the range is more like $60k-$80k base with 10k-20k bonus (max), but obviously the high-end (90k-100k all in) is reserved for the top performers, as in the top 5-10%. So just hiring you out of the gate, the realistic range is more like 60k to 80k. If I were you I would've started with $70k to 80k as the range rather than $135k to 140k. Another rationale for starting with a lower range is, the point of going into big 4 FS is to make a switch to IB/other roles, that's where the money is. Not the big 4. If you can get an IB role you would've gotten it, the fact you have a PwC verbal offer suggests to me that you might need a big more "experience" to land a traditional IB role. So that's why I feel it was unwise to start so high (for a junior role). Of course I may be incorrect with the "junior role" part, and maybe you did a H/S/W MBA with pre-mba experience at GS/MS and just want to work at PwC, but I figured that's not likely.

Also, don't take the salary figures around WSO to be "true" industry figures, I often found them grossly exaggerated, especially for the big 4. That post-MBA post for the consulting guys at EY/KPMG/etc was pretty funny.

I think you are now in a difficult position, the range you gave is pretty narrow and you haven't given HR a lot of wiggle room. HR may have moved on with another candidate already. Also since you've given such a strict range, it'll be awkward for you to lower your number now and go back to them again (but if you really want this offer and is willing to settle for a lower figure, with no other offers, I would suck it up and call them again with a much lower figure).

Good luck. -CDNdude

Edit: Saw prior posts made by you about post MBA etc. One guy (the healthcareconsultant) guy went with 110k-120k as a starting range? But that guy might have a phd in biochem or an MD, also healthcare is very specialized and key cities (San Fran/NYC/etc typically have higher costs of living). Your city might be different. But I finally kind of get where you got your 135k from. But if you just google "Senior Associate at a big 4", most sources would give a much more reasonable amount. Going with 135k right out of the gate doesn't make you look good bud.

One last note, FS Advisory is more aligned with transactions type stuff rather then the "Strategic Consulting" guys. So I would not have benchmarked the FS Advisory salary using numbers from Strategic Consultants at the big 4.

 
CDNdude:

Not sure what your background is (MBA? CFA? CPA? US/Canada/Europe/Asia?). Also not sure what's the level of the role you've interviewed. I don't think it's too senior because if you are going in as Senior Manager or Partner, you wouldn't be here asking other people.

I used to work at the FS Advisory group of one of the Big 4 firms in Canada and the salary you are asking is Senior Manager / Partner level (so VP/Director for the FS group depending on the city of course). Not sure if you are truly "uninformed" about the salaries at the big 4 or if you have other offers lined up and wanted to troll PwC.

For Junior/Senior Associates or Managers (which is what I think you are going in as, pure guess as you haven't disclosed that), the range is more like $60k-$80k base with 10k-20k bonus (max), but obviously the high-end (90k-100k all in) is reserved for the top performers, as in the top 5-10%. So just hiring you out of the gate, the realistic range is more like 60k to 80k. If I were you I would've started with $70k to 80k as the range rather than $135k to 140k. Another rationale for starting with a lower range is, the point of going into big 4 FS is to make a switch to IB/other roles, that's where the money is. Not the big 4. If you can get an IB role you would've gotten it, the fact you have a PwC verbal offer suggests to me that you might need a big more "experience" to land a traditional IB role. So that's why I feel it was unwise to start so high (for a junior role). Of course I may be incorrect with the "junior role" part, and maybe you did a H/S/W MBA with pre-mba experience at GS/MS and just want to work at PwC, but I figured that's not likely.

Also, don't take the salary figures around WSO to be "true" industry figures, I often found them grossly exaggerated, especially for the big 4. That post-MBA post for the consulting guys at EY/KPMG/etc was pretty funny.

I think you are now in a difficult position, the range you gave is pretty narrow and you haven't given HR a lot of wiggle room. HR may have moved on with another candidate already. Also since you've given such a strict range, it'll be awkward for you to lower your number now and go back to them again (but if you really want this offer and is willing to settle for a lower figure, with no other offers, I would suck it up and call them again with a much lower figure).

Good luck.
-CDNdude

Edit: Saw prior posts made by you about post MBA etc. One guy (the healthcareconsultant) guy went with 110k-120k as a starting range? But that guy might have a phd in biochem or an MD, also healthcare is very specialized and key cities (San Fran/NYC/etc typically have higher costs of living). Your city might be different. But I finally kind of get where you got your 135k from. But if you just google "Senior Associate at a big 4", most sources would give a much more reasonable amount. Going with 135k right out of the gate doesn't make you look good bud.

One last note, FS Advisory is more aligned with transactions type stuff rather then the "Strategic Consulting" guys. So I would not have benchmarked the FS Advisory salary using numbers from Strategic Consultants at the big 4.

Dude what are you talking about? I go to a top 5 business school. The big 4 offer $135k for MBA hirers, no one is exaggerating anything, they even advertise the fact their pay is the same as MBB (of course the salary progression is not).

 

Hey bud, I find it funny that's the only thing you got from reading that.

Anyways, the point I was trying to help op figure out is why when op asked for 135k the HR at PwC said it's "out of the question".

Why do you think it's out of the question if 135k isn't exaggerated. Because if what you're saying is right, then I guess the big 4 firms are not putting their money where their mouths are. Especially in this case when verbal offer is already out.

Or perhaps you wanted to emphasize the "top 5 business school" part. If that's the case you are making then congrats on attending a top 5 business school. I wished I went to a top 5 business school :). Maybe the op didn't go to a top 5 business school, and according to you, that's why PwC is not offering him 135k.

I guess the blame is on the op, for not doing due diligence on all those post-mba salary posts, cause obviously they only apply to the top MBA programs.

 

You can't just say top 5 business school because that's what you now believe...as much as you and Brady hate to admit it, Columbia is still top 5 (according to P&Q at least). You may be MBA business schools ">M7, but you're not yet top 5.

If you meant for consulting or something then that's a different story.

 
CDNdude:

Not sure what your background is (MBA? CFA? CPA? US/Canada/Europe/Asia?). Also not sure what's the level of the role you've interviewed. I don't think it's too senior because if you are going in as Senior Manager or Partner, you wouldn't be here asking other people.

I used to work at the FS Advisory group of one of the Big 4 firms in Canada and the salary you are asking is Senior Manager / Partner level (so VP/Director for the FS group depending on the city of course). Not sure if you are truly "uninformed" about the salaries at the big 4 or if you have other offers lined up and wanted to troll PwC.

For Junior/Senior Associates or Managers (which is what I think you are going in as, pure guess as you haven't disclosed that), the range is more like $60k-$80k base with 10k-20k bonus (max), but obviously the high-end (90k-100k all in) is reserved for the top performers, as in the top 5-10%. So just hiring you out of the gate, the realistic range is more like 60k to 80k. If I were you I would've started with $70k to 80k as the range rather than $135k to 140k. Another rationale for starting with a lower range is, the point of going into big 4 FS is to make a switch to IB/other roles, that's where the money is. Not the big 4. If you can get an IB role you would've gotten it, the fact you have a PwC verbal offer suggests to me that you might need a big more "experience" to land a traditional IB role. So that's why I feel it was unwise to start so high (for a junior role). Of course I may be incorrect with the "junior role" part, and maybe you did a H/S/W MBA with pre-mba experience at GS/MS and just want to work at PwC, but I figured that's not likely.

Also, don't take the salary figures around WSO to be "true" industry figures, I often found them grossly exaggerated, especially for the big 4. That post-MBA post for the consulting guys at EY/KPMG/etc was pretty funny.

I think you are now in a difficult position, the range you gave is pretty narrow and you haven't given HR a lot of wiggle room. HR may have moved on with another candidate already. Also since you've given such a strict range, it'll be awkward for you to lower your number now and go back to them again (but if you really want this offer and is willing to settle for a lower figure, with no other offers, I would suck it up and call them again with a much lower figure).

Good luck.
-CDNdude

Edit: Saw prior posts made by you about post MBA etc. One guy (the healthcareconsultant) guy went with 110k-120k as a starting range? But that guy might have a phd in biochem or an MD, also healthcare is very specialized and key cities (San Fran/NYC/etc typically have higher costs of living). Your city might be different. But I finally kind of get where you got your 135k from. But if you just google "Senior Associate at a big 4", most sources would give a much more reasonable amount. Going with 135k right out of the gate doesn't make you look good bud.

One last note, FS Advisory is more aligned with transactions type stuff rather then the "Strategic Consulting" guys. So I would not have benchmarked the FS Advisory salary using numbers from Strategic Consultants at the big 4.

First off, you are wrong regarding the salary ranges for MBA hires. The salaries listed on this forum (and thread) are accurate, and I personally know a few folks who can back those numbers up. Only because your firm's salaries were shitty, it doesn't mean PwC underpays its people.

Second, you seem to not grasp what FS Advisory/Consulting groups do. While there are projects that are transaction based, the majority of the engagements have nothing to do with transactions. Big 4 Transaction Services (Valuation, Financial Due Diligence, etc.) groups do work around transactions.

 

Whoa, chill man, it's not about what I think, it's about what's going to happen to op. No need to target my post bud, obviously op thinks the salaries listed on this forum are accurate and he went ahead and named his figure based on that. I didn't know much about the accuracy before to be honest, and I think often what happens is people who doesn't even work in the industry will post shit like "yea that's accurate" or "I had a buddy who says its something similar", and before you know it, that figure becomes the norm (the figure might even get higher as time goes by).

So what ends up happening is a guy who might not know any better, inexperienced, or naive (like our op here) goes in and actually uses that data. The issue is HR says the figure is bullshit and now the op's stuck between a rock and a hard place. I have no idea what happened when HR said 135k's too high, did the op just say "okay" and hang up the phone? If that's the case then PwC might not get back to him because apparently he's too expensive. That's the real issue here, not a pissing contest about salaries at the big 4.

But honestly the firm I worked with (a big 4) had "shitty" pay, that's why I left ;). Keep in mind it's in Canada.

I agree with the part where I don't know much about what FS Advisory does. But I know the salary range for Transaction Services (for senior associate it's nowhere near 135k). You mentioned FS Advisory do a bit of work around transactions, care to elaborate on the other part where the engagements have nothing to do with transactions? Because that will be the key part as to why FS Advisory's senior associates get paid 135k while the Transaction Services' senior associates get paid 70-80k. (Frankly I find it very surprising that one "Senior Associate" in FS Advisory gets paid 135k and another "Senior Associate" in Transaction Services gets paid 70-80k), especially when a small part of their work overlap. That's why I am curious about the non-overlapping part that justifies that extra 50-60k ;).

I did do a bit of due diligence on my own about the FS Advisory group: http://www.pwc.com/us/en/financial-services/ http://www.pwc.com/us/en/financial-services/regulatory-services/bios/da…

The first three bullets on that first site are: -Trends in market multiples -Related transactions -Transaction benchmarking analysis

All of that looks pretty similar to transaction services stuff to me.

But I get what you're saying though, there are a bit extra stuff near the bottom of that page that talks about asset management and stuff (things that I have little knowledge about). Found a guy called Dan Ryan (second link), and he's apparently a "Financial Services Advisory Practice Leader". Based on his profile, his experience seems to mainly be on the regulatory side. I don't know, maybe the Financial Services part with regulatory stuff pays very well. But I have a feeling you know a lot more than I do when it comes to this FS Advisory group at PwC. Love it if you can share a bit...I have a feeling I'm in the wrong business haha

Obviously if any of us end up in a top 5 or top 3 MBA program or Harvard MBA, any job at PwC would be pretty shitty. FS Advisory or not, regardless of pay, cause of the opportunity cost and all ;)

 

PwC FS SA here, graduated from an MBA business schools ">M7 MBA this past summer. The MBA base salaries last year was $135K flat across offices and practices. Moving on to the original question about the recruiting process. HR across companies ( PwC or any other firm), most often than not keep talking to more than one candidate till the very end of the process and have a couple of 'Best Alternatives' before making out the written offers. Before handing out the offers they try to get a sense of who will 'accept' the offer before making written offers because they don't want to screw their acceptance metrics up. So if you haven't heard back they might have made the offer to the 'next best alternative' and are waiting for him/ her to respond. I would just sit tight rather than following up and sounding desperate. How do I know this? Heavily involved with another Big 4 recruiting prior to B school and campus recruiting now.

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