At what stage do exit opportunities really kick in?

Yes, when you have a manager role exit opportunities will be more attractive for two reasons:

1. You have proven you can successfully deliver a project on your own, so offers will be for roles with a much higher degree of responsibility
2. You are direct C-Level exposure (which means more direct invitations from clients)

If you exit when you have 1-2 years experience, you will most likely take an analyst role. When you have 3-5 years experience, there-s a good chance you'll take a managerial role. On the higher end, even some chance of P&L responsibility.

Regarding ammount of opportunities, they start with 1 year of experience, and 2-4 years are the most sought after consultants. It declines after that - Managers and Principals have less opportunities, but if they are openly available, headhunters are eager to help place them.

Hello,

Depending on the company you work at, you may be offered attractive exit opportunities very early on (in fact, in my days at McKinsey I remember colleagues getting emails from recruiters on their first day on the job). However, as fellow experts have pointed out, the nature of the opportunities changes over time.

I would say that <2 years you are looking at other analyst opportunities. If you are very high-performing, you might be able to find some managerial positions at 2-3 years, but generally you would get those around the time you reach manager/project leader level, about 3-4 years.

Beyond that, you can still get more senior exit opportunities. A lot of people leave shortly after they have gotten a promotion (e.g. to associate partner).

Hi there,

I would say opportunities are shaped like an S curve.

If you leave within a year, the opportunities are few. Stay 1.5-3 years (especially including with a promotion), you're flooded with opportunities.

Increasing returns occur after 3+ years but at a diminishing rate of increase.

Hi there,

It depends on the exit you are targeting:

• For traditional corporate roles: manager level is the sweat spot. You can show you can manage teams and you are not too senior (ie expensive) for the company hiring you
• For PE roles: most people I know left as Associates or with 2 years as analyst + MBA
• For startup roles: seniority is not particularly important and you may have exits for early-stage startups even with 1 year of experience

Best,

Francesco

In the early part of your career 2-3 yrs is a good time to exit as you are still easy to employ across a range of roles that look for consulting type skills.

Beyond this point and the more senior you go, opportunities become like a funnel but once it clicks, pay offs are big. So if you plan & network well, exits opps are good at various points of your career, but require a little more work and planning.

…

Hey there,

• Usually, the first headhunter emails land in your inbox after 1 year at MBB.
• The ‘’good'' offers start at the 2-year mark and improve until EM level
• Above EM level, offers are usually not getting much better for APs
• Some partners manage good entries directly into C-level of large corporations

Cheers,

Florian

Yes, the exit opportunities after year 4 will be more attractive v/s year 2 because YOUR PROFILE will also be more attractive after year 4. As simple as that.

I think a better question you can ask is if opportunities of a specific nature/role/industry become are attractive or not. And that depends a lot on the role you want to target and the journey you are going to take.

I am going to take example of Amazon below - just for namesake. Disclaimer - the example does not conform to any known actual cases but is used for purely illustrative purposes.

For example, if you intend to get into e-Commerce logistics, but have no experience of it - the best point to start would be at a junior position (after 1 or 2 years in consulting) in logistics team of Amazon eCommerce (say). That way you can climb your way to the top in the logistics department. Maybe that will close the option of joining Amazon Web Services if you are 4 years into the logistics team. You would have “specialised” in logistics.

On the other hand, if you spend 4 years in consulting, become a manager level person - but have no specific expertise in either logistics or internet services - you will not be a choice candidate for an equivalent Senior Manager level position in either Amazon eCommerce or Web Services. They might take you at the Manager level, but not Senior Manager (say). Whereas, if you went through the first route described above, you might have been eligible for it since you would have developed the expertise. So in this case, waiting for the second promotion in consulting did not give you as much of a leg-up as you would have liked.

You can also find roles where getting that promotion can give you a much better leg-up as well. And that's where you need to think where you want to go in life.