What is average salary increase yearly in top consulting firms?

consulting salary
New answer on May 12, 2020
9 Answers
28.2 k Views
Anonymous A asked on May 11, 2020

I am wondering as I am working in a boutique consulting firm and the pay rise for me last time was 5% but I had worked about more than half a year that time. What would be a standard one in the industry ?

Overview of answers

Upvotes
  • Upvotes
  • Date ascending
  • Date descending
Best answer
Sidi
Expert
replied on May 11, 2020
McKinsey Senior EM & BCG Consultant | Interviewer at McK & BCG for 7 years | Coached 350+ candidates secure MBB offers

Hi!

Having worked for several years at both McKinsey and BCG I can comment on these two firms.

It differs a little bit across regions. But as a general observation, at McKinsey, contrary to BCG, there is a historic structure of giving pay raises within a certain seniority level, based on performance rating. At BCG however, the salary is flat throughout a specific seniority level. So as a consequence, McKinsey pay starts a little bit lower, and then rises beyond the level of BCG. It also means that the jumps from one career level to the other are bigger at BCG. On the more senior career levels (AP/Principal and upwards), McKinsey pay structurally rises beyond BCG pay in most markets (especially driven by the part that depends on Firm performance, which was amazingly high over the last 10 years or so).

Cheers, Sidi

Was this answer helpful?
Anonymous replied on May 12, 2020

Hey there,

It really depends on the firm and the region/country.

Like Sidi mentioned, BCG used to have this same pay per level structure, e.g. 1st year consultant and 2nd year consultant are paid the same salary, and only get salary increase when consultant gets promoted to Project Leader. Same for PL to Principal. During my time there, I got the same pay within the 2-year windows. However, recently BCG SEA has changed that to a year-on-year pay increase. Although the year-on-year increase in the role would be much smaller compared to the increase when you get the promotion. I know that Bain SEA has been giving year on year increments as well nowadays.

When you get promoted, in the previous pay scheme, it would be almost 50% from Associate to Senior Associate, 33% from Senior Associate to Consultant, 25% from consultant to PL, 20% from PL to Principal. The % is higher for junior roles because the base is smaller.

Best

Emily

Was this answer helpful?
11
Ian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on May 11, 2020
MBB | 100% personal interview success rate (8/8) and 95% candidate success rate | Personalized interview prep

Hi there,

Rise year-on-year isn't really there (unless they adjust everyone's salary as an explicit decision).

Salary increase is dependent on promotions (which occur every 2-4 years). Promotions generally result in a 30-60k increase (depending on role jump as well as country).

Also, not to be forgotten are yearly bonuses, which are around 15-35% of base salary - note, these are mostly gone this year due to COVID.

Was this answer helpful?
Anonymous replied on May 11, 2020

Hi there,

Consulting firms don't give yearly salary increase - Consultants get a raise whenever they get a promotion. Different companies have very different career ladders and every region has different salary ranges.

In Dubai, the jump from one level to another (below project manager level) is around USD 20-30k per year. Once you hit PM, the pay raise is around 30-50k per year.

I hope this helps.

Best,

Khaled

Was this answer helpful?
6
Cesare
Expert
replied on May 11, 2020
9 years at Oliver Wyman | Ex Interviewer | Will provide you with actionable guidance and tips to perform at your best

Hi!

15% to 25% increase in base, depending on how fast you are progressing, and your seniority (tends to slow down a bit going forward, also because progression become slightly slower in terms of pure notches).

Bonus also depend on your performance, but usually is calibrated so as, given the advancement (say 1 notch), it stays relatively constant as a % of your base. Tends to be a bit higher when you change label (e.g. analyst to associate, to manager etc.) but it really depends on company and geography beyonf these general info I have provided.

Hope it helps!

best

cesare

Was this answer helpful?
Anonymous updated the answer on May 11, 2020

Hello

Based on my experience and assuming that gross salary for a junior consultant (e.g. BCG associate) is 100€ (excluding bonus)

  • Associate : 100€
  • Senior Associate : ~135€
  • Consultant : ~170-175€
  • Project Leader : ~260€
  • Principal : ~295€

So for MBB, the gross salary of a Principal can be ~3x the gross salary of an associate. Gaps for bonuses are bigger depending on performance, tenure, ...

Hope it helps.

David

(edited)

Was this answer helpful?
5
Clara
Expert
Content Creator
updated an answer on May 11, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

Totally disagree with previous answer.

MBB give a yearly salary increase.

For instance, as a BA, the bonus you get in your 1st year is added in the basis salary for your 2nd year, as Senior BA.

Best,

Clara

(edited)

Was this answer helpful?
Sidi on May 11, 2020

Yes, this is mostly true for McKinsey. But interestingly not for BCG. This was a very pleasing surprise for me when I switched from BCG to McKinsey. :)

Vlad
Expert
updated an answer on May 11, 2020
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

There is a slight annual increase for a 2nd and a 3rd year in each role at least at McKinsey. However, that's less important.

What's more important is how fast you get promoted. Usually, you spend 1-3 years in each role and then you get promoted, which gives you a 1.5-2x increase in salary depending on the role.

Best

(edited)

Was this answer helpful?
Thomas
Expert
Content Creator
replied on May 11, 2020
150+ interviews | 6+ years experience | Bain, Kearney & Accenture | Exited startup| London Business School

Your bonus changes a lot (and quickly) throughout the ranks. Where analysts tend to receive a ±10% bonus, as a post-MBA you are more likely to get 20-40%. The salary growth itself is steep as you get promoted.

Was this answer helpful?
0
Sidi gave the best answer

Sidi

McKinsey Senior EM & BCG Consultant | Interviewer at McK & BCG for 7 years | Coached 350+ candidates secure MBB offers
429
Meetings
5,396
Q&A Upvotes
78
Awards
5.0
134 Reviews
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or fellow student?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 = Not likely
10 = Very likely