| Topic Name: |
Prestige |
| Message Name: |
Phew |
| Date Posted: |
03/21/2001 |
| In Reply To: |
"McKinsey Associates typically pull down $150K-200K their first year out,
while Big Five folks are lucky to make $100K." These facts are just plain incorrect as well as being wrong and inaccurate, particularly if you are
comparing BA levels at these firms ( as opposed to a first year process specialist at, say, CGEY ). Even if you do compare stat at firm A with
strat at firm B, the differences are not as great as he claims, nor are these guys getting under 6 figures at the Big 5, let alone the other firms I mentioned above.
"How about life after consulting? McKinsey and BCG people usually go off to manage companies at the executive level, start their own ventures, or return to school for their PhD's and enter academia."
The fact that many CEOs of Fortune 500 type firms got their start at McK or BCG doesn't mean that every entry-level employee coming in this year will top off their careers this way. Only a handful make it that far. In
addition, the vast majority of people who "start their own ventures, or return to school for their PhD's and enter academia" do NOT come from one of the Big 3 Strats. In addition, people from other MC firms as well as
people from industry do those things, too. So that statement doesn't make
any point about anything. It's just a meaningless fact.
"Big 5 folks typically go back to school for a 2nd tier MBA only to spend the rest of the lives hidden in the middle management of a huge
organization."
I'd like to know the source of THAT little piece of trivia. Did he conduct a survey? Is he misquoting something he heard on a message board? Is he just speculating? Did he, himself, work for a Big 5, then wash out and end up in some middle management job somewhere, pushing a pencil and hoping no
one will notice him until he retires?
. . . and what's this business about 2nd tier MBAs? Not only do I question his statistics about this, I also question the argument that if
you go to a top 25 program instead of a top 5 program, somehow your credential is meaningless and you are an idiot or a fraud or an also ran.
"You decide which firm you'd rather work for. In doing so, you're also deciding which firm is more prestigious."
Since the whole world can't work at McK or BCG, if you don't get an offer there (or you didn't apply because strat consulting wasn't your choice) wouldn't it be prudent -- from a making a living point-of-view -- to accept a position from a firm that did make you an offer? . . . and in accepting
such an offer, are you really making a comment on which firm has the most prestige, or can you actually take an job at firm A and still have respect for firm B?
"If you answer "Big 5," then no one wants to hear your opinion anyway because you're ineffectual - a poor decision maker with absolutely no
business acumen who is destined for mediocrity."
Here, in the final analysis, is the main reason this guy should be ignored. He is flat out saying "go ahead, respond to my post, but only if you agree with. If you disagree, then I don't want to hear it."
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So I don't mind responding to a reasonable post, even I disagree. This board offers a forum for a healthy and spirited (as opposed to overly
emotional) exchange of ideas. However, it's hard to play golf with someone who, everytime he drives one into the water trap yells "ah-ha! Hole in one! I win!"
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OK, fair enough? Should I cut and paste my response all over the Vault site like this guy did, or is my one posting here enough? |
| Message: |
Is it my imagination..or do consultants have a tendency to get into longwinded and highly theoretical arguments??!!
Every guy posting here seems to be solving some complex case...
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