Is there room for negotiation?

Hi Anonymous,

as mentioned by others, the main thing you can negotiate is your entry level in the firm (eg Senior Associate with 12 months to Consultant vs 6 months to Consultant). It would be very difficult to negotiate a different standard salary for a fixed seniority level, as this would create inequality in the firm. On the other hand, if you can negotiate a higher initial entry level, this should bring a higher salary or faster promotion track without creating imbalance in the company, thus would be feasible.

You can definitely try to negotiate your entry level in the firm. The degree of negotiation depends obviously on how valuable you can be for the company (usually the more senior, the more valuable). In any case, you should be aware that with a higher level, expectations on your performance will also be higher.

Best,

Francesco

Definitely negotiate.

- top ranked firm typically will pay less (because they can). Use a counter-offer to bring their base to the highest possible.

- If base seems inflexible, definitely get a large signing bonus + guaranteed yearly bonus locked in at a higher %age of base.

- Relocation bonus is usually not negotiable.

Hi,

the offers you receive from Tier 1 (and usually Tier 2) management consulting firms are usually standardized and depend on the country of the office you applied to. Note that when I say offer I mean both the base salary, the entry bonus and the benefits (car, insurance, etc.).

The space you have to negotiate is usually quite narrow and I wouldn't expect major changes in the offer they put forward. You should definetly negotiate if the company's offer is lower than the ones their competitors make to people at your same level and with the same background (i.e. Associate joining after an MBA, Manager with 6 years of experience in operations, etc.).

Another potential reason might be that you are considering two offers: Company A offered you X to work in Amsterdam and Company B offered you X to work in Dubai, you prefer to live in Amsterdam but you would consider option B for an 1,5X salary, in this case you could negotiate but always make sure your requests are aligned to the standard in that country.

Most of the others reasons you might have to negotiate a salary (MBA loans to repay, relocation needs, necessity to have a car, etc.) are usually already taken into consideration when the company makes you the offer, if some reason they are not it is definetly a good idea to bring them forward and discuss them.

Hope this helped,

marco

Hi there, 

Typically, there is a upper & lower limit. it depends on your particular case, but sometimes you may negotiate and sometimes not. The upside: 5-8%. But! I would encourage you to think multiple times before doing so. You may start from the wrong leg and then create a certain reputation within the firm. 

Cheers, 

In USA Bain, BCG and McKinsey base salaries for all levels excluding partner are fixed and non-negotiable. They are also fixed across cities without any cost of living adjustments.

What can be negotiated is:

-tenure recognized when joining (e.g. I've seen several people being offered a Consultant position with zero months of tenure negotiating successfully to have 1 year of tenure being recognized to them)

-relocation

-sign-on bonus

Hope it helps,

Andrea

Dear A,

I would recommend you to think twice before you start you negotiation about salary. As other experts said, you may start with a wrong leg. 

Best,

André