Industry offer before promotion, should I take it?

Question

I am working for a big4 as an associate consultant in the middle east and i just received a job offer from a previous client (state-owned O&G company) for a business analyst position - 5 months before my promotion to senior consultant. The pay is ~30% higher than what I’ll get as SC also other benefits like PTO are way more attractive.

I eventually want to leave consulting but not sure if this is a good time to move to the industry as a junior. Also, not sure if I want to specialize in the energy sector. What are the important long-term factors I need to keep in mind before making a decision like this?

Answer 1

Hi there,

Very interesting questions!

What concerns me most about your context is not the promotion or the financial part but that you're not sure that you want to specialize in energy long-term. That suggests that it makes less sense to make this lateral move.

Realistically speaking, while working in consulting you'll keep getting better and better opportunities until your reach manager level (then they tend to go down because the industry struggles to match the pay that consulting firms offer close or at Partner level). So there will be many opportunities that come along. No need to FOMO.

Aside from this, I'd rather suggest you check how your energy levels are. Do you enjoy your work at big4 now? If not, then it might makes sense to make a change. It might turn out that you enjoy working in energy, and if not, you're still young enough to make many many changes ahead. Good luck!

Answer 2

You have to consider if a significant (but not stellar) increase in salary compensates for the fact that you will have to specialize in O&G, from which it is very unlikely to come out, and that your career progression will likely stagnate in a junior position at a large company.
The decision is on you, but I think the offer is not a dream one.

Answer 3

Hi there,

Congratulations on the offer. I would consider the following:

STEP 1: Understand what you want to do

Network. You can contact people working in companies /positions interesting for you (ideally Alumni) to ask questions. This has 2 advantages:
- You can learn how the job is from insiders
- You can find someone that may be able to refer you for the job
Try projects in target industries. This is pretty obvious and you have it probably already in your agenda. If your company does projects in industries interesting to you, doing a project there should help to understand if it is a good fit
Freelance. This will normally require that you take a leave from your current job and are able to work for others. You may do freelance work in an industry to understand if the job is interesting, either via connections or using a platform focused on that vertical

You can find a few articles on this topic below:

▶ How to Network and Find Referrals

▶ 11 New Consulting Trends You Should Know

STEP 2: Understand which option brings you closer to what you want to do

Look for alumni of your Big4 and the state company on LinkedIn
Check how many moved to your future target goal in your region
Normalize for the size of the two companies in your region

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Answer 4

Hi there,

These decisions are obviously very personal.

In my case, I have a family to provide for and for now I'll give more weight to remuneration.
In someone else's case, learning and training opportunities for early career development may be much more important than compensation.

So the question is, what's important for you?

Sounds like the offer on the table has great benefits but doesn't really excite you beyond that. This may or may not be enough for switching. Again, depends on what you value.

As for staying in your current role to get a promotion, there's always the carrot at the end of the stick in consulting. The next promotion, pay rise, bonus, etc. is always just around the corner… This will never change and shouldn't necessarily affect your decision when the right opportunity is knocking. The question is just whether the opportunity is right…

Hope this helps a bit to think through this decision. Best of luck!

Answer 5

Hi there,

Take away the 30% pay bump and think about what you want.

It sounds like you don't really want that job/role, that the sector doesn't interest you, and you have other aims for your career.

Be careful being persuaded/driven solely by money :) That said, a 30% bump is hard to turn down!

Think about the next 5-10 years and what happens in each scenario (taking the offer vs. not taking). In which scenario are you most fulfilled/happy?

Answer 6

Please have a look at this article for guidance-https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-do-i-know-which-career-is-right-for-me