Exit option: corporate strategy

Question

Dear forum, would like to seek your suggestion on consultants' exit option - corporate strategy.

A head hunter told me that, it is always better to join the industry after being promoted to manager / project lead at consulting firms. He told me that, switching to a corporate strategy role at a consultant (associate at Mckinsey) level, will very likely result in a pay cut, as corporates tend to value a Manger at consulting firm much more than Consultant.

I'm skeptical about this - several of my friends who worked as consultant post MBA for 1-2 years was still able to get higher pay jobs (or at least on par) for corporate strategy roles. Would you suggest to wait till Manager level to switch?

Thanks for your suggestion.

Answer 1

Hi there,

Q: For corporate strategy roles: would you suggest to wait till Manager level to switch?

For corporate strategy indeed the manager level is usually the sweet spot in terms of exit potential. You have validation in terms of leading teams and are not too expensive as a principal would be.

On the other end, there are multiple reasons why a different moment could also make sense. Some consultants leave for situations unrelated to the best exit (eg family), others might be close to promotion and find a golden opportunity.

If you are already considering exits, there is nothing wrong with looking for options now. If you don't find attractive opportunities and are fine staying in consulting a bit longer, you can then wait for the promotion.

Good luck!

Francesco

Answer 2

Hi there,

It really depends on the corporate entity you want to join, the roles they have available, your set of skills / value proposition, your negotiation skills and how desperate they are to hire at that time.

In short, it depends on a lot of things, which means that you should probably just ignore the hearsay :)

If I were you, I'd honestly just reflect on whether I want to stay in consulting until Manager or whether you're doing it just because you hope it will lead to a higher pay when you exit. If it's the latter, I'd exit already - if you are a top performer and enjoy the environment you might progress even faster than if you had stayed until manager and transferred later.

Best,
Cristian

Answer 3

Hi there,

Always be careful with absolute statements (see what I did there :P)

If someone is saying always or never they are likely oversimplifying and likely “wrong”. Try to avoid people who give that sort of advice.

I personally left before manager as did many of my peers. We are doing just fine. I know many who left at manager/project lead who are also doing just fine.

When you leave is dependent on so many factors. Evaluate your individual situation at each stage to figure out what makes sense.

Additionally, hire a coach to help you with this decision. You're making a life-altering career decision…why not use some of your current salary to make sure you're making the right one.

Answer 4

Dear candidate,

a) First of all, please consider your entire situation and consider it well, so what would you like to do ultimately, how motivated are you to continue on, for example better to switch while you are still motivated, or are you generally motivated and can easily wait on and switch later? In that case feel free to stay on as long as you can in consulting, the more senior the more senior the role you can get in industry and much easier a true leadership role. If you switch however when you are very senior in consulting, the pay relatively can be sometimes smaller in industry if you are paid well in consulting, but if you look for specific high paid roles only; then a bridging is possible. Also it depends on the consulting firm you work for.

b) Great is to assume you are looking at mid level management; for this gladly stay on as manager, also get that experience, and then move on to industry. However industry is very different from consulting and it is very important to know the differences, for example you would not want to be continuously in one role in industry, when you enjoyed in consulting that you can work on different projects. Or the promotion opportunities take longer and are more limited in industry compared to consulting, etc. Therefore rather than that I would advise you to check what type of industry you would enjoy aiming or, and how you would progress from that.

Best regards

Answer 5

Of course, as a MBB manager, you will be more valued and get more recognition. It will probably pay off to have this on your resume.

But he's not 100% correct. A few notes on this:

The career curve is steeper at consulting. So if you join Manager level, you should be able to leave for a higher level role in Corporate vs. if you don't.
Leaving as a consultant it will be more difficult to be promoted and it will take longer… if you join to a level where you are not managing people. If you leave to a level where you manage people, there probably isn't a big difference. This is what is really critical about the two seniority levels. If you move out as a manager you will almost certainly move to a manager role because you already proved yourself. If you leave as a consultant, you may not move to a manager role… but that should be your objective, to get “promoted” to your new role.
You are likely to get a pay cut after you leave consulting. You get a pay cut if you leave as a consultant. You get a pay cut if you leave as a manager. This doesn't change. To be honest, pay cut may be higher vs. the manager salary (because it is higher) that vs. the consultant salary.