Experienced hire (consultant level): is salary negotiable at a wide range?

Question

Hi all, I'd like to seek your advice on experienced hire. I have graduated from MBA 2 years ago. And because of that, I can only apply through the "experienced hire" track. A couple of questions:

1) Given that I have an MBA degree, if I get an offer from MBB, is it definite that I will be hired at the consultant (at BCG/Bain) or associate (at McKinsey) level?

2) Given that I have related consulting experience at a tier 2 firm, is it possible to negotiate specific rankings, such as "2nd year consultant" or "2nd year associate"?

3) Do MBB firms give ranking according to whether the candidate is from a target school? I've heard in some rare case, people get lower rankings (associate at BCG / BA at Mckinsey) just because they graduated from a non target school. (Note: top school according to major rankings but just not MBB's traditional target school in the region)

4) Regarding experienced hire, is the salary negotiable? Just heard from a head hunter that the salary range of Mckinsey for the experienced role is "100k - 170k" in my region (seems like an "associate role" given the JD). Quite surprised given that the salary is "negotiable" at such a wide range, especially compared with the standard salary if hired through the MBA recruitment channel.

Appreciate your comments.

Answer 1

Hi there,

Yes
Yes but possibly they will grant just 1 year of seniority (and not guaranteed)
I never heard of this – seems quite strange. If they consider the school non “suitable” for MBB, they should not invite you at all to interviews rather than propose a lower ranking
Base salary is normally non-negotiable. You may be able to negotiate the signing bonus and seniority though

Best,

Francesco

Answer 2

Hi there,

1. Yes, I can't see a world where you'd be anything else. You are in the "sweet spot" for this role.

2. Yes. I would try for this. That said, it's not particularly common.

3. No

4. You can try, but generally the base salary is non-negotiable (everyone is at the same level...annual bonuses are what set people apart). If you're negotiating anything, sign-on/relocation bonus is your best bet.