Having been there and done that, my advice is not to sell your soul. This is my personal opinion only however, and I know that many people do enjoy the lifestyle and manage to make a great success of it.The big strat firms (by which I imagine you mean MBBB) offer great work and good people to work with. The intellectual calibre of the people is first rate, yet occasionally I felt like they were mostly the sort who couldn't see the wood for the trees (the sort with 2 PhDs each and top MBAs yet also the kind that become literally paralysed when faced with actually having to deliver something tangible such as a powerpoint deck, hence the depressing regularity of all-nighters).Also, the uncertainty of hours and the travel is more suited to the singleton lifestyle (although even then, I'd possibly argue not, because how are you supposed to ever meet someone if you end up working 18 hours a day in some office in the middle of Hamburg).I'd say it all hinges on what $$$ they offer you. Personally, I'd go for the comfortable lifestyle. It sounds like you have it all... enjoyable work, good colleagues, plenty of time with wife and kids. I for one would only go back into the abusive big-firm style consultancy environment if they offered literally four or five times what I would be earning in a decent 'family friendly' job (and even then I would only be doing it for a few years to give my family a better life in the long run).For me, the most depressing thing was having to spend 70 hours a week (on average) in the office doing a job which I honestly could have done to exactly the same standards (which was a very high standard) in 35 hours or so, just because of dysfunctional team dynamics exacerbated by anxiety culture.Maybe you could try a smaller firm? Smaller firms can be great places to work... they may not have the brand or prestige, but I'd certainly recommend looking into them!
