What do you think are the main differentiators between the big 4 plus Accenture for those who work for them?I.e. if a Manager from Accenture joins Deloitte what will the main differences be? Will it be different again, if that Manager joins EY, PWC or KMPG (and the KIP Muggers?)Do clients get something very different from when choosing one of these companies?

Really Frio? [i]Really[/i]?

Really. Interested to know whether most people think "not much really" - which is where I'm at.

I think the answer would be 'not much difference really'. They are all ultimately throwing bright, driven people in to fix stuff.I would be interested to know all your thoughts on who has the brightest employees/who is the most prestigious to work for? They all pride themselves on having the best but is that actually the case? A salaray check on Glassdoor would suggest that Accenture pays the best and Pwc the least (at Manager level). Would people on this forum echo that? I would be surprised if that were the case...

Anecdotally PwC is considered to pay the least, EY the most. Colleagues of mine who are ex-KPMG regard it to have the most fun, social atmosphere of the big 4.

Saw a PwC proposal recently, they seemed to be charging managers out at 2x the price I was being charged out at - obviously good margins to be had!

No bonus for MC in EY this year I hear?

Bonuses at Deloitte are (were) routinely pathetic. Do not go into consulting for the bonuses.

A little bit of relevant insight herehttp://goo.gl/Lyj3q1

[quote]No bonus for MC in EY this year I hear?[/quote]Depends where you sit in the org.

No, I agree, don't go into the Big 4+ACN for the bonuses. Having said that, the ~25% pay rise this year was rather pleasant.

Which one do you work for?

That would be telling.

[quote]That would be telling.[/quote]Yes, yes it would.

And I choose not to.

[quote]And I choose not to. [/quote]That's fine, was just a little curious which one was offering 25% pay rises. I am going to assume you have a top rating within the Co. you work for? Couldn't possibly be across the board.

25% is such a big pay rise

[quote]Bonuses at Deloitte are (were) routinely pathetic. Do not go into consulting for the bonuses.[/quote]Still are, as of 30 minutes ago

What sort of sums would we be talking here please

SC with a "3" rating, less than 2.5% of base salary

That's ridiculous! What is a 3 rating? Does it indicate a good performance?

3 indicates good performance. - Deliver consistently, very few instances of poor quality or late work- Good client feedback- Good internal feedback The big 4 would say "a level 3 is someone who meets our usual high expectations" A 4 would be all of the above plus:- sales - delivering above the day job- Exceptional client feedback - Exceptional internal feedback

[quote]That's ridiculous! What is a 3 rating? Does it indicate a good performance?[/quote]Frio's dead on. Scale of 1-5, 1 being awful and 5 being excellent. Most people get a 3. Bonuses given to 3, 4 and 5. A consultant with a "5" rating who got promoted this round (the year after being promoted from an analyst) got a 6% bonus.

6% is so poor for top rating.I'm intrigued to know if these figures are similar across Big 4 this year.

Watch this space. Based on the above though, some of my friends in the public sector made more this year...

Even worse! So the difference between being good and being God on earth is 3.5%?!? What's the point then? There must be some seriously smart people locked up in a dark room somewhere coming up with such genius compensation policies

I have to admit - if I was going to be on the receiving end of 6% for top banding I would be immediately out of there. The amount of sheer effort that goes in to making that level is not worthy of 3.5% extra....not by a long shot. Bushy - what are you paying bonus wise this year for top dawgs in the company - you may have a long line of CVs to get through over the coming months :)

I agree with Tacitus,Can you imagine a 6% raise with a 5 rating!?!You should use that 5 straight away to leave and get a role somewhere else, as you have just worked 25-40% harder than everybody else for a 6% return. Ouch.

Anon - I think ConsultingDuck said it was a 6% bonus. Plus a promotion. I bet he or she is quite pleased since on top of the 6% bonus their salary probably jumped from about 40k to 50k, ahead of most of their peers. I bet there are plenty more people feeling harder done by.Consulting has always been more about the salary than the bonus. That said, the financial attraction of consulting compared to industry roles and considering the effort has been declining for quite a while.

Mick,Got it - I had read it as "6%" and that was it, off course if he got a promotion as well then that is far better (salary jump).I have done the same before - the bigger salary was far better than a bonus, I agree with you.If it was only the 6%, that's where I had the issue.

The bonuses (or lack of) are not a surprise, I knew my bonus wouldn't be a life changing amount of money and negotiated hard on my base salary. The bonus will be around 3/4 of a months salary, which I don't budget for and will pay for a really nice holiday plus some money towards savings. Yes, I could go to industry and earn a much larger bonus and a slightly larger base salary but I can progress my career faster here.

Roughly in line with the topic, does anyone have any thoughts on the equivalent levels within the Big 5....Does an Deloitte M stack up against an M at the other 4? C vs C?I have been told that Deloitte will be making an off at SC level and PwC at M, both within consulting. Putting culture, pay etc. aside and looking purely at level of responsibility/progression, does anyone have any thoughts on career level alignment between the big 5?Deloitte emailed me to say that their SC level is equivalent to PwC M level...surely this isn't right...?

Quite possibly, if PwC uses more audit / corp finance style grades. In other areas of Deloitte a "Manager" is the same as SC in Deloitte Consulting, i.e. grade M2.

Depends on what you will be doing - they all have their pros & cons!Roughly speaking (as there's no such thing as exact grade matching....) PWC M = Deloitte SC = Accenture C3 (I think). Accenture manager and Deloitte manager are roughly equivalent.Anyone disagree?

Also struggling with what I presume is a fairly perennial problem. I am an industry hire being offered M2 and a highly competitive base from ACN - in the process with KPMG at Manager and Deloitte who are telling me they see me as borderline SC/Manager. Essentially my debate is whether to try and wait for Big 4 based on Big 4 having a) more prestige b) better opportunities. Or if it is much of a much I take ACN and the better money

Follow the money

That is where I'm leaning and suspect I will end up.My only reservation is whether increased brand prestige/perception of Big 4 vs ACN is worth sacrificing a reasonable wedge for.

Accenture has a pretty good brand, and in certain areas a better brand than the Big 4. If you're getting a seriously better offer, follow the money. Accenture has a slightly better package than the big 4 - one big incentive is that you can put 10% of your salary into shares. Big advantage is that you buy them before tax is taken from you.

Thanks Frio. It is so I am going with ACN.

I understand this is not related to the post, but I really need some help:I'm an IT professional with 5 years experience mainly in the consulting arena. I'm new to Australia and I could use some help to understand how much is reasonable to quote in my interview with Accenture for a technical consulting role?Any thoughts please!