Hi,

Sharing my POV based on similar considerations and conversations I've had (for context I left BCG SG recently as a Principal).

1. Does taking significant paycut puts me behind with huge difficulty to catch up down the road

• I think you have to be clear on what “catch up” means - what standard or benchmark are you expecting?
• The reality of payscale in the mid-long term (highest to lowest) is high finance (PE, HF, IB) → Consulting (partner level) → Corporate
  • Of course, some very senior corp positions can earn more than a consulting partner, but the likelihood of getting there is much lower than if you stay in consulting to make partner
• If you want to stay in Corporate/Growth in the long term, then no, your paycut now does not put in at a disadvantage because frankly you will be payed according to what your end-goal late stage growth company can afford (which will not be anywhere close to a consulting Partner salary)

2a.  How does career in corporate strategy compared to MBB? Would experiences from investment banking and blue chip MNC offset [a non MBB experience]? 

• MBB does let you fast track (to a certain extent) entering into a corporate role, vs. say a standard undergraduate who has started in corporate
• People move from MBB → Corp strategy, and rarely (although it happens) the other way
• In SG at least, the top corp strat teams are all ex-MBB
• If you wanted to -stay- in corp strat, then your next company would probably care more about your corp strat experience, so I don' think it matters there
• However if you wanted to move to a slightly different position or maybe suddenly pivot into a very different position - I do feel that many headhunters will see MBB as a more tangible mark of the ‘consulting skillset

2b. Is it realistic to expect getting a pay bump and move to P&L related positions after a few years in strategy? 

• Pay bump really depends on the role - but refer to my previous post above, in the long term you will -not- earn as much as if you had stayed in finance, or consulting
• Move into P&L related positions is possible - I know a few people who have done so. But this is typically after a few years in corp strat and after understanding the business and more importantly proving yourself
• As in many corporate contexts, relationships are very important (same goes for within consulting)
• Consulting or IB (esp M&A) - we are advisors and will not be seen as being a ‘business person’, that's why typically it takes a while before moving to P&L
• FYI - I also interviewed for corp strat for a large MNC previously and shift to P&L was explicitly part of the pitch to get me to join

3. If I decided to join consulting later (perhaps due to pay / promotion reasons) in my career, do I stand any chance joining at a more senior level 

• The short answer is, most of the time its very hard to join as an EM and above, especially if you are not a lateral consulting hire
• There were other recent posts on tenure and seniority - have a quick search for more comprehensive answers

4. CDD staffing / Is CDD entirely different from other engagements?

• Yes, CDD is very different from other engagements. Normally much lower client interaction and engagement but much higher focus on problem solving/analysis and slide output
• It is intense, but having an experienced team + case leadership makes a big difference on sustainability and efficiency
  • This is partly why firms build up dedicated ringfences for CDDs
• On Staffing:
  • As a new joiner in MBB (esp if you are not an expert track), nobody expects you to know an industry in depth. Thus I wouldn't worry about getting staffed and what cases you might potentially get staffed on
  • If you understand how staffing works, then you will also know that even if you wanted to do a CDD, that may not be possible depending on the circumstances
  • Cross the hurdle of getting into MBB first, focus on your interview prep

5. should I give HK office a try?

• Your observation, at least for BCG, is accurate. HK also serves GC clients and almost everything is done in Mandarin
• There are HK clients also - but this is typically a smaller base and concentrated in a few industries
• There are non-native speakers in HK office, but more often than not these are people with -some- level of industry or topic expertise
• Reality is that yes you will be at a disadvantage in staffing, versus if you stay in SEA
  • The exception to this would be if you joined the PE ringfence at MBB
  • HK office will cover GC but your clients are all global shops / large GC funds and the work is done in English (and sometimes simultaneously/translated in Mandarin, depending on client needs)

I could discuss each of them in quite a lot of detail - happy to share more over a short call, just drop me a dm. In the meantime, all the best for your interviews!

(edited)