After reading, with interest, some of the threas on this forum and also drawing on my experience and network of people who work in MC. I have the following observations to draw:1. Life in pretty much in many consultancy (excluding MBB) seems the same. The is pay OK, but generally the work is not particularly taxing. If you can work in one firm there is no reason why couldn't do the same at another firm. The pay increase would be incremental as most do pay market rates (otherwise why join in the first place).2. As for MBB, well, the much hyped about prestige is a fallacy. It really is. Put it another way, if you want to grind away at a strat house hoping that you will prgress further up the career ladder, it never turns out that way. Firstly, the salaries are that much more compared to consultancy at large (e.g. EM at McK makes 75k-95k I suppose, well a manager would make 65k-85k in a big four. Now think about the hours that a guy in strat has to work, the crap he has to go through to get in and then pressure he is under to perform when he gets in...for what gain? After say 5 years in strat vs 5 years in big 4, is the person in strat better off? Not really. If you don't believe me just find out..the much fabled MBB hype is not what it seems. Bottom line: if you have strong academics and a consistent track record in a consultancy say big 4 vs the same academic record and MBB experience over the same period..the exit options, inter alia, are pretty much the same.No-one in MBB can jump into a board level position straight away in industry (even at partner level it never happens)Neter

Dear Neter,you are totally wrong.1. Big4 are excellent in accounting, good in corporate finance (they do all the Info Memo and DD stuffs) and mediocre in consultancy services. An EM manager in McK does not earn 75k, it is more around 100k (and I am talking about the average guy). Pay in big4 is really really low, especially in the first 6-7 years. Finally, when you work in a big4 you will be always seen as an accountant.2. MC is great at MBB, worse at other firms. The market conditions are changing, and there are few strategy projects these days. So smaller consultancies are moving towars less strategic projects in order to survive.Concluding, it is clear that either you are a graduate who was not able to get into MBB or you are working at one of the big4 and you want to scream to the world how cool you think you are.Big4 are not bad, you have a name on the CV which is better than 95% of the firms in the market. Still, there is the other 5% which includes MBB.

I would add, in my opinion, there are a few firms outside MBB that are good and offer some valuable and interesting MC work. Though they each have their own areas of strength these include; AT Kearney, LEK, Monitor, Mercer and OC&C. However, they are not as well known.

Neter, you are right. But for some people, the truth really hurts.For the low performers, even though all the evidence tells them otherwise, it is very important for them to believe that MBBB is different. They need to believe that all the cr*p that goes on around them is nothing to do with their own behaviour but rather a product of the firm they are in not "doing" consulting in the right way.Simultaneously, the high performers who are killing themselves working every hour God sends need to believe that there is some nobler purpose to their efforts. They need to believe that they are achieving something more substantial than those around them. The MBBB legend satisfies that need.Both these groups suffer from being confronted by reality. The low performers have to face the fact that despite being above average compared to the general population, they are below average in the working world of professional services. The high performers have to face up to the fact that the world is not a meritocracy and that, despite their hard work, they will promoted and recognised no more than those poor performers who play dirty.Despite this, there is no need for despair about the state of the profession. The issue is wildly exagerated on this forum due to the proportion of students and junior consultants found here. Most of the individuals described above are found among the lower ranks. Those with more experience either come to terms with the truth or leave consultancy altogether (thereafter to complain incessantly about consultants). These groups are not found on this forum in large numbers though, due to not being of a generation that uses online forums, and due to having more time commitments (family, sales, firm management).

"EM at McK makes 75k-95k I suppose"Is that all, I thought a start level MBA would be making nearly 6 figure. Really, I need to know this as my decision to move to MC is largely based on the $$$. I knew about the 6 figure salary from the Wetfeet guide.So, could someone kindly please let me know the salary range in places like MBBB?

I partially agree with Nailer..MBB people (as I am) wants to make sure that everybody knows how cool is the place where they work...Big4 and other smaller firms guys think that their job is in all respect the same as MBB one..And then everyone starts with the same stories and legends again and again.. You work too much, you are an accountant, I earn too little, I have exit options etc etcHowever it is a waste of time.. Firms are different and comparison is in many cases useless.. I am happy where I work and when I will leave (because I will) I will join some smaller firm without trying to convince the others that Mck is actually worse than Pwc. For the same reason, I cannot understand why guys from Big4 need to write on this forum saying that they are better than MBB. If they are really happy at thei place, I don't see the point in making such statements.

"Life in pretty much in many consultancy (excluding MBB) seems the same. The is pay OK, but generally the work is not particularly taxing"How spectacularly condescending! "MC is great at MBB, worse at other firms. The market conditions are changing, and there are few strategy projects these days. So smaller consultancies are moving towars less strategic projects in order to survive. "Dear God, where to start? You’re obviously junior as you don’t remember the last strategy market lull of 6 years ago. That would be the same lull when the glorious and untouchable MBBB laid off (or counselled out, have it whichever way protects your ego the most) double digit percentages of their staff and – shock horror – diversified in to non-strategic stuff like project management, IT, operational improvement and pretty much anything that the wet behind the ears grads on here snear at as somehow below them. "Really, I need to know this as my decision to move to MC is largely based on the $$$. I knew about the 6 figure salary from the Wetfeet guide."Sam, I wish you all the best. You clearly will be a huge asset to any firm that you join.

SamMan - the figures quoted here are all in GBP, rather than USD

Oh, thanks anon. This is comforting.

"Sam, I wish you all the best. You clearly will be a huge asset to any firm that you join. "Thanks "experienced consultant". May I know why you say this? (I wasn't sure if you were being sarcastic?!)

He or she was being sarcastic.

Umm, I wonder why? Isn't $$$ the biggest initiative for people to join MC? I am sure it is not the long hours that attracts people to MC and I can't think of anything else. Therefore I really do believe that my incentive of $$$ would indeed make me a very valuable asset [as long as they keep giving my good raises :) ]

Personally, I was attracted to MC by the prospect of having some grey-haired millionaire force me to work all weekend and kick the sh1t out of my self-confidence and self-esteem with their venomous feedback, whilst simultaneously paying me about £10k more than a secretary.

You're paid more than the secretaries? Either you're very well paid indeed, or the secretaries don't have anywhere near the usual amount of dirt on the partners.

And guys, please stop saying that you are paid just 10k more than secretaries.. Assuming that a secretary makes 25k per year, you are making a LOT more than they do..And also the story of the hourly salary is pointless.. Why you can work for 16 hours a day, a secretary cannot work for more than 8 hours..

a) The assumption that secretaries make £25k isn't correct when it comes to professional services firms - secretaries on permanent contracts at the Big4 make between £35k and £60k depending on experience and seniority of the consultants/partners they support.b) Secretaries at professional service firms are rarely bound into 8 hours a week of work since paid overtime applies and is readily available. Given how the industry operates, there's always some consultant or partner who's working to a tight deadline and willing to sign off the overtime required to get their vital proposal, deliverable, etc. typed up.

A-Z is right, secretaries often earn a lot more than people expect. There I was, working away for an MBB firm, thinking that the secretary who went home to her own bed every night was earning a decent but not too amazing £30K. How wrong I was.On an hourly rate basis, the secretaries were earning a LOT more than many of the consultants (up to a certain level of seniority, of course, at which point factors other than pay again tip the balance in favour of the secretaries' deal instead).Also, the secretaries get showered with praise and even given stuff like bouquets of flowers at christmas dinners for being "so indispendable" and "such a great help to the team". Whereas the analysts get some grey-haired millionaire's size-14 boot up their ar$e for "lacking energy" after having worked for 20 14-hour days solid.And as for overtime if you're a consultant? Ho ho HO! Forget it!

I agree completely. Our PA earns more than the analysts, and doesn't work more than 5 minutes past 5.30 every day. And don't get me started on other support staff earning a fair but more than her...

So where is it that the support staff and PAs earn so much? I really don't think they do here at Deloitte

PwC and E&Y for certain. I've not recruited these positions for Deloitte or KPMG but imagine they're similar.

I do not know where are you working, but I am in my second month as an analyst in MBB and I know that I am making more than every secretary, except one..

Well, Mr 2nd month analyst, how do u know that for sure? When asked, people lie about their salaries. If a woman down the pub asks them, they inflate it by about 500%. If a snooty little analyst asks them, they deflate it so as not to make them feel bad or to set themselves up for a tough time (if more people knew what many secretaries were being paid, they sure wouldn't be given such an easy time, that's for sure).

I know it because I'm Italian and early this year a list of declarations of earnings in 2005 was published..So if you know a name of a secretary, you just search it in a huge access database and you know how much he/she earned in 2005..In 2005 the average secretary in my firm was earning around 30-35k €.. My contract is 34k plus end of the year bonus (4-6k)...Admin staff gets paid a little bit more. But they are more skilled than secretaries and generally around their late 30s. To give you a number, they are around 45k €.So, I am 23 and earn as a secretary and less than a 38 years old guy working as admin. By the time I will get to the next level (3 years) I will earn more than all the support staff and I will still be 26.However, in smaller firms and big4 it may be plausible that secretaries earn more. To give you an idea, a graduate in Italy in a big4 at the entry level gets 22k a year.

Ah ok, I was talking about London. stuff is probably different in foreign countries.

It's really not different in London. Exactly the same. I've worked on some renumeration advisory pieces. Some sec and admin at IB actually get more than some directors and senior management at MBB and Big-4.

Values may be different, but relative difference will remain..

To be clear, I assume by secretaries and admin at these levels of remuneration (presume we are talking £90k+ if > directors and senior managers) we are talking more about top flight executive assistants rather than secretaries (in the true sense, not "who do a bit of typing") and senior support roles such as heads of facilities rather than "admin".Or are you seriously suggesting that there are a significant number of people doing a bit of typing and diary management taking home £90k? Not sure this is credible. Where is the value proposition here? As we well know and experience, employers only normally pay what they have to and there is a scarcely of a shortage of people competent to do this sort of work at a much reduced cost.

Agreed, executive assistants. But they've worked their way up from more traditional admin staff roles.