I'm planning on going to insead for an mba in a few years time to try and get out of technology focused consulting and moving over to more strat based stuff.Can anyone shed some light on the sort of lifestyle a strat Associate would lead? Hours? Mon-fri or weekends too? salaries at tier 1 and 2 firms? time abroad vs time in london? I've researched a fair bit on what the day to day tasks of the job are and it appeals, just curious about the lifestyle that comes with the job.Any help would be gratefully received.

I wonder why there are so many young people from accenture and the likes that chase the dream of going from IT to top strat house? Have you fallen under the spell, or do you really understand what the work entails?The subsequent question about the hours indicates to me that youre looking for a quick win: i want strat, but not long hours, not long tavel. I dont think you will get in with that attitude! McKinsey is one of the companies in the world that recieves themost CVs every day - from people that dont mind dedicating thier sole existence to the Firm!To answer your questions, an Associate:- Will work very long hours: on average perhaps 70+ a week, with peaks of 100. working all nighters is not un-common. - Weekends are usual. - Salaries are high - check on Vault to get an idea. Roughly they will offer 50-100% increase of Big 4 salaries. - Travel can easily be up to 100% of time, usually its less. Remember the Firms wont hesitate to place you 3 months in HK, then LA, then Paris etc etc. In my internship i worked in 4 continents in the space of 6 months... Its not for the people that want to stay put!But my strongest advice is not to make it an obsession - its not easy to get in; rather its very hard to get hired. Dont stress about it, there are plenty of other good companies out there!

This guy might be brilliant for all you know. Why so keen to put him off?

Why do you think pop is trying to put D off? (S)he's answering honestly, point to point, with the good (salary, variety - of sorts) and the bad (hours, unpredictability). And giving some sensible advice re: the difficulty of getting in and the availability of firms with a less demanding culture/style

Agree with Pop 100%. Strat houses only SEEM glamorous...the day-to-day job of an Assoc is otherwise. On top of everything Pop said, as an Associate you live in constant fear of losing your job. All strat houses practice an "up-or-out" policy. Technically, this means if you're not promoted to the next level (Manager or Sr. Associate) within 3-4 years, you will be "outcounseled". In reality, everyone at your peer level is forced ranked twice a year, with the bottom 10-20% culled annually. That's why MBBB can hire hundreds of MBAs annually, when the industry as a whole is not growing. It's because it's a constant, never-ending, weeding-out process.And remember, the bottom 10-20% at MBBB is equivalent to the top 2% everywhere else. So these guys aren't idiots or slackers. They work hard, provide insightful analyses, etc....it's just that they're in the 98th percentile whereas their peers are in the 99th. So when your Proj Mgr says you need to work on Sunday putting a deck together, do you think you're in a position to say "no"?As I've always maintained, strat consulting is not for everyone. Go in with your eyes open and good luck.

Agree with a lot of above except the bottom 20% being equivalent to the top 2% elsewhere. Contrary to popular opinion, extremely bright and capable people choose to work in "lesser" firms as they realise life isn't all about 80+ hours a week crunching numbers. Maybe they're the brightest of all of you?

I'm sure there are also "extremely bright and capable people" who choose to work for the Department of Motor Vehicles because they realize life isn't all about working 40.1+ hours per week. Being in the top 2% isn't just about being "bright" and "capable". There are many "bright" and "capable" people in every industry and every country.

Bottom 20% of a strat house would not automatically be top 2% of other consultancies as other companies actually let their junior people speak to clients and not spend their first few years in front of a spreadsheet. Believe it or not, some clients don't want months of analysing and hypothesising, they actually want things done. I do laugh at the strategy analysts on here who belittle other consultancies and talk all about prestige when actually many of them would struggle to answer if a client asked them to fix a real world operational issue rather than recite verbatim some business case study they once read.

And you know "many of them would struggle to answer if a client asked them to fix a real world operational issue" because...? You've actually spoken with many strat analysts or associates and asked them that question? Or did you just pull that statement out of your KPMG ass?Contrary to your ignorant belief, almost all strat associates have 4-6 years of "real world" experience under their belt (analysts come straight out of undergrad). The typical Strat Associate is a former product manager, design engineer, IB analyst, lawyer, physician (yes, MD), research physicist, etc., and has an MBA or PhD from a top 10 institution. I spent 2 years as process engineer, 2 years as a sales engineer, and 2 years as a product manager before I stepped foot into the MC firm I currently work for. My experience is quite typical and average, not unusual or unique.

The thread is about associates and the up and out. You said those counselled out would be much better than elsewhere. I've seen first hand the mess created by some strat houses looking to broaden their horizons, unfortunately the words used by consultants and clients alike to describe paying a fortune for such messes are unprintable here. Get over yourself, good work is done by many different consultancies, you don’t need to work 80 hours a week at a “prestige” brand to be good.