Hi,I am about to turn down an offer from Accenture because the pay is too low and they won't negotiate far enough. The role is in Accenture Strategy, and I heard during the process that they are aspiring to be a "tier 1" practice. Now this was in fact a technology strategy role and I know that tech strat historically paid less than pure strategy, but I had still expected it to pay perhaps 15%-20% more than standard IT consulting rates, whereas they are using the exact same rates.Can I get some honest views on how ridiculous my expectations are?

Have you looked at Glassdoor for salary details?What level were you discussing? How many years post grad experience?

Yes - not helpful unfortunately, they don't have enough easily comparable data to paint a clear picture.It was for a C1 role which translates as "junior consultant" i.e. 2-3 years' experience and somewhere in the region of £45k pa.

Are you sure that this role would be part of the Strategy practice as in the past I don't remember any technology strategy folks to be part of that entity in Accenture?The Strategy practice used to be slightly better paid (something in the range of 10 - 15% perhaps) than the rest of the company; not sure if they kept that difference alive since in reality the majority of the work done was not really strategic or not different from what the non-strat folks did.

C1 is a pretty junior grade - someone with a total of 2 to 3 years experience. I think 45k is okay.

I agree this is a typical salary for that level. If you work on the assumption of ~220 chargeable days per year at ~60% utilisation = apx 130 days of fee revenue = ~£150-180k.On the basis of fully loaded cost = base salary * 3, it's difficult to make a case for much more than £50k.Appreciate this is open to variation, but as they say it's "directionally correct"

C1 is basically the first promotion point after Graduate, so £45k doesn't sound unreasonable. In my days there, a good Grad with Partner backing could make C1 in 18 months (normal track would be 2 to 2.5 years) - so it's reflective of that sort of experience level.How much prior experience do you have, and doing what sort of work? If you've come with 2-3 years from another strategy practice (i.e. Big 4) you could maybe argue to come in at C2.

I think 45k is as high as you will probably get. New C1 promotes have been getting several thousand less than that outside of Accenture Strategy so I think that unless, as Rothco suggests, you have an edge/ USP they won't budge.

Some solid views here. I'm perhaps going to be a bit direct in my view but there needs to be a reality check of what value you can actually create at this stage in your career. £45k isn't a bad salary, you can afford a decent life in London in a decent house-share and still afford to go to Infernos a couple times a week. In 3 years time, you'll be at the stage in your career where you're able to contribute more value, with more autonomy and increase your salary.

+1

Ha!Infernos. Classic Clapham. But Frio is right, you'll still be able to do the usual day to day things you want. If you are really lucky, you can even afford some of the more offbeat activities in Shoreditch...? I hear people whisper in the office "a pound in the glass"...

£45k pa sounds decent for C1 level. if you're not coming from consulting background then C1 is a good start with 2-3yr experience. You will need to prove yourself obviously, and from what I've heard, you will be offered every opportunity to progress further up the ladder.

I agree that £45k is a good salary for a consultant with the level of experience expected of a C1. What I'm querying is whether, in people's experience at similar companies, there is a general premium on people who work on the strategy side. Perhaps it is a myth that strategy tends to pay higher - but it would make sense given that day rates in strategy tend to be way higher.

[quote]I agree that £45k is a good salary for a consultant with the level of experience expected of a C1. What I'm querying is whether, in people's experience at similar companies, there is a general premium on people who work on the strategy side. Perhaps it is a myth that strategy tends to pay higher - but it would make sense given that day rates in strategy tend to be way higher.[/quote]Perhaps articulate your question in a clearer way next time ;) Yes, there is a premium for Strategy Consultants. Although the day rates are higher for Strategy work the firms are also looking to make higher margin % not just higher contribution. Therefore, a 20% premium (or more) on day rates does not equate to an equal premium for strategy consultants. At the C1 level, I'd expect the premium to be smaller.

You're more likely to see salary and rate differentials firm to firm, not practice to practice within a firm.You also have to consider when consulting firms agree on rates with clients, they often won't differentiate between types of consulting work. So it's not surprising to see a firm like Accenture have similar rates across consulting practices for a single client. You will however see dramatic rate differences when you move up the consulting tier and compare a MBB firm with Accenture. Those strategy houses that deliver strategy work will charge more and pay their staff more.

+1 for 45k being an absolutely decent salary to start with in LondonBig4s trying to boost their strategy practices have been known to pay their strategy staff a bit more to avoid them being pouched by higher tier firms. Not necessarily the almighty MBB, but also other names that, unlike the Big4, are perceived as strategy-only consultancies and therefore more prestigious.