Here are the companies which we have 2011 management consulting compensation data:
-A.T. Kearney
-Bain (post-MBA)
-BCG (undergraduate and post-MBA)
-Booz & Co (U.S. and Dubai)
-L.E.K. (post-MBA)
-McKinsey (undergraduate and post-MBA)
-Mercer (undergraduate and post-MBA; includes all areas - human capital, actuary)
-Oliver Wyman (Financial consulting)
This is for fulltime jobs that start in the Fall of 2011.
Signing Bonus: $5,000
Base: $65,000
Performance Bonus: up to $13,000 (20% of base salary)
Profit Sharing: up to $6,500 (up to 10% of base depending on firm performance)
- - - - -
Total compensation: up to $89,500
Retirement & relocation: Firm matches 25% of your 401(k) contributions up to 6% of your pay. Relocation assistance depends on the distance between your office and your school residence. 0-50 miles = $3,000, 51-800 miles = $5,000, and 801+ miles = $10,000.
*Our source also noted that in their contract, A.T. Kearney explicitly states that the base salary will not be increased until January 2013, which is approximately 1.5 years after starting fulltime. Interesting!
Retirement Contribution: 10% of base + 5.7% of bonus
For Booz & Co in New York... (Dubai numbers in parenthesis; key difference is Dubai has no income taxes and a wonky housing market)
Signing Bonus: $10,000 (Dubai: $5,000)
Base: $60,000 (Dubai: $62,000)
Performance Bonus: up to $12,000/20% of base (Dubai: up to $9,300/15% of base)
Relocation/Housing Allowance: $5-15,000 (Dubai: $20,500 for housing + $5,000 for relocation)
- - - - -
Total compensation: up to $96,800
Retirement: $6,000/10% of base + up to $684/5.7% of bonus
For Boston Consulting Group...
Signing Bonus: $5,000
Base: $72,000
Performance Bonus: up to $16,200 (22.5% of base salary)
Profit Sharing Retirement Fund: up to $4,400 (expected to be 5% of sum of base salary and performance bonus)
- - - - -
Total compensation: up to $97,600
Retirement: BCG also contributes 15% of your base + bonus into your 401(k) retirement account, with $0 required contribution.
For Mercer...
Signing Bonus: DNK
Base: $60,000 based on 40 hour work week
Performance Bonus: no bonus, instead paid time and a half for all hours over $40 = approximately $45/hour
- - - - -
Total compensation: Variable
Retirement & relocation: DNK
[inline_cta text="Looking to get into consulting?" sub_text="Click to see how our accelerated prep program can help you land an offer." button_text="Learn More" button_link="https://demo.managementconsulted.com/black-belt-supreme/"]
For McKinsey...
Signing Bonus: $5,000
Base: $75,000
Housing: $5,000
Performance Bonus: none for BAs
- - - - -
Total compensation: $85,000
Retirement & relocation: 12% of total annual compensation
For Oliver Wyman (Financial Consulting)...
Signing Bonus: $10,000
Base: $75,000
Performance Bonus: up to $15,000 (20% of base salary) for your first year, and 40% of base salary for your second year (guaranteed)
- - - - -
Total compensation: $100,000
Retirement: Do not know about 401(k) contributions or retirement funds.
*Our source also shared that Bain's numbers are very similar, a total of approximately $97K take-home in your first year, including the signing bonus
Some more niche roles...
- Accenture Systems Integration: $66,500 base + $1,500 relocation expenses
- Deloitte Consulting Human Capital: $70,000 base + $10,000 signing bonus
- Deloitte Consulting BTA (IT Consulting): $70,000 base + $10,000 signing bonus
- Milliman Actuarial Consulting: $60,000 + bonus of up to 25% of base
Signing Bonus: $20,000
Base: $125,000
Performance Bonus: up to $39,000 for your first year
- - - - -
Total compensation: $184,000
Retirement: 401(k) contribution up to $7,400
According to my Bain post-MBA source:
Deloitte's offers were very similar, except they had MUCH higher signing bonuses ($40k + $10k for signing early + pay for 2nd year of b-school). This was for folks who interned there, so the latter two parts of the bonus might not apply otherwise.
That means Deloitte covered your second year of bschool tuition for signing - wow!
For BCG...
Signing Bonus: $20,000
Base: $135,000
Performance Bonus: up to $40,000 for your first year
Relocation: $2-5,000 depending on distance
- - - - -
Total compensation: at least $197,000
Retirement: up to $9,000/5% of bonus+salary is put into retirement fund, no contributions required
Our source also noted that project leaders at BCG (approximately 2-3 years out of bschool) were paid $185,000 base.
For L.E.K....
Signing Bonus: $25,000
Base: $135,000
Performance Bonus: up to $25,000 for your first year
Relocation: $5,000
- - - - -
Total compensation: at least $190,000
Retirement and profit sharing: up to $30,000 (not sure of split between 2)
For McKinsey...
Signing Bonus: $20,000
Base: $125,000
Performance Bonus: up to $40,000 for your first year
Relocation: $2-5,000 depending on distance
- - - - -
Total compensation: at least $187,000
Retirement: up to $19,000/12% of bonus+salary is put into retirement fund, no contributions required
Please note that BCG and McKinsey post-grad/MBA salaries are almost identical, despite McKinsey having a $10K lower base due to a $10K higher retirement contribution.
For Mercer...
Signing Bonus: DNK
Base: $85,000
Performance Bonus: up to $17,000/20% of base
- - - - -
Total compensation: at least $102,000 (does not include signing bonus)
Retirement & relocation: DNK
Some perspective
Compared to 2008 consulting salary levels, it's about a 25-30% increase over 3 years...which is actually somewhat muted given the poor economy over the past few years.
We would love to share compensation data if you have it for other firms/seniority levels. We will directly update this post as they come in. Thanks in advance!
What do you guys think - is this fair compared to other careers and industries? It still lags banking pretty significantly...