Here's the general career progression you can expect if you become a consultant and decide to stick it out to the end!
[PYRAMID]
Source: MConsulting Prep
Career progression tends to be faster at strategy-focused firms and slower at bigger, implementation firms.
Also keep in mind that consulting can be an intense career and most people leave the field within a few years.
Junior people probably worry too much about "How long does it take to become partner?" The reality is 90% of people probably leave consulting firms before that for a number of reasons – other interesting opportunities, it's too much work, work-life balance and so on.
– Former consultant @ BCG / McKinsey
Here's a rough estimate of the pay you can expect each step of the way.
[SALARY CHART]
Source: MConsulting Prep
You'll notice there are huge ranges at each level. There are a few reasons for this.
Strategy consultant pays the most! Here's the lowdown for entry-level consultants:
Now let's dive into the details.
On the higher end of the scale are strategy-focused consulting firms like McKinsey, Bain, and BCG, which pay six-figure entry-level salaries, according to data gathered by Management Consulted.
Entry-level pay at strategy-focused consulting firms
| Base pay for undergrad/Master's hires | |
| McKinsey | $112k |
| Bain | $112k |
| BCG | $110k |
The strategy-focused divisions of the Big 4 firms also tend to pay in the six-figure range.
Entry-level pay at the strategy arms of Big 4 firms
| Base pay for undergrad/Master's hires | |
| Deloitte S&A | $100k |
| EY Parthenon | $100k |
| Strategy& (PwC) | $100k |
| KPMG | (no data) |
However, outside of strategy, firms usually pay below six figures.
Entry-level consulting pay at Big 4 firms
| Base pay for undergrad/Master's hires | |
| EY | up to $85k |
| PwC | $85k |
| KPMG | $78k-90k |
| Deloitte Consulting | $88k-95k |
Even at the same firm, pay differs between strategy and non-strategy consulting. For example, here's the pay at different consulting lines at Deloitte from highest to lowest –
Accenture, another consulting firm, also follows a similar pattern, where the strategy arm of the firm pays the highest, followed by general consulting, followed by government consulting.
All the salary information from this section is from the Management Consulted Salary Report 2024. Check it out for more detailed insights into salaries in the field.
As an intern, you'd mostly do work similar to what junior consultants do, but in smaller and more digestible chunks. The main types of work you can expect are:
For more detailed information (including what interns do at Big 4 firms and MBB), check out: What consulting interns do – according to actual interns [LINK]
When you enter a consulting firm full-time, you're a junior consultant.
Your official title will depend a lot on the firm you work for. For example, you might be called an "Associate," "(Business) Analyst" or "Associate Consultant." After a promotion or two, your title might change to something along the lines of "Senior Associate" or "Senior Associate Consultant." It really depends!
Whatever you're called, you'll be part of a team where each member, under the guidance of a lead consultant (partner), plays a role in a project. Think of each project as a puzzle – as a junior member, you get a piece of the puzzle to own and solve.
Your role is to support your team in unraveling the client's challenges and crafting solutions, with a focus on research, analysis, and preparation. You'll find yourself interacting with a variety of people, from team members to industry experts, to gather the necessary information. Your days will be filled with collecting data, understanding trends, and contributing to the team in other ways.
However, presenting these findings directly to clients is typically reserved for more senior roles. Your role is crucial for the behind-the-scenes work that informs the team's strategies and solutions.
As an analyst, it usually takes ~2 years to be promoted to the next level, and it depends when you join cycle-wise. I know people that got early promotion 14 months in.
Analyst pay for a year 1 campus hire in the US is $70-$90k USD. If you came from an Ivy League school and/or got offer at an office in a city with a high cost of living you were getting the highest pay.
As a consultant, you may do a bit of managing analysts, but it is much more of an independent contributor type role, which means you're doing a lot of work on your own.
– Former junior consultant @ Deloitte
See: Big 4 junior consultants share what their work is really like
After a few years at the firm, you'll move up to a senior consultant role. This is also the level at which you'd enter the firm if you're coming from business school.
You'll officially be called something like "Consultant," "Senior Consultant" or even "Associate" – at some firms, "Associate" is the term for mid-level roles instead of entry-level ones.
As a senior consultant, you'll do similar work as when you were a junior, but your responsibilities grow. Now, you're handling more substantial parts of projects, carrying out your work with minimal oversight, and guiding junior team members. You'll also get to manage client relationships more directly.
To advance beyond this stage, you can't just be good at executing tasks. You'll also need to showcase strong leadership skills, proving that you're able to shape solutions, lead teams, and forge paths for both projects and people.
Senior consultants and managers are like the main “doers” and often will have to manage people as well.
– Former junior consultant @ Deloitte
After a few years as a senior consultant, you might be promoted to a managerial role. You'll most likely be titled something like "Manager," "Engagement Manager," "Project Leader" or "Case Team Leader." Some firms also have "Senior Managers" which are one level above Managers and one level underneath Partners.
As you might guess from the titles, your main responsibility will be to manage projects. You'll act as the "captain" of a team, making sure everyone knows their role and the work is on track. Instead of diving into every tiny detail yourself, you'll focus on guiding the team, solving any problems that pop up, and keeping the client in the loop about how things are going.
As you progress, you'll handle more and bigger projects, often working with the company's most important clients. This means they have to juggle more responsibilities and ensure everything runs smoothly.
Besides managing projects, you'll also work on building strong relationships with clients, both old and new. This is key not only for bringing in more business but also for moving up within the firm. In fact, the opinion of these major clients can sometimes directly influence whether a manager gets promoted to a higher position, like becoming a partner.
Senior manager is the highest level before Partner. So it's non-vested, meaning they don't own a part of the firm the way partners do.
Senior managers pretty much lead engagements on behalf of the partner.
– Former junior consultant @ Deloitte
At the manager level and below — we work on one project at a time. So we're full-time on a project (45 hours a week).There may be some occasional overlap where one project is wrapping up and they have us ramping up for the next project, usually like a week period.
Senior managers will have to split their time managing multiple projects (like 2-3) since they provide oversight and don’t do as much of the execution work. So that means 20 hours here, 25 there, or even down to 8-12 hours a week per project so they’re split in so many different directions.
– Consulting manager @ EY
If you prove your salt as a manager and someone who can bring in business for the firm, you'll join the ranks of your firm's partners.
As a partner, you won't be involved with as much of the nitty gritty aspects of consulting and you'll often be split between different projects.
Partners manage multiple projects. They don’t get involved in the day-to-day as much. They just want to know what’s going on, what needs their attention, high level stuff.
A partner might spend 1-2 hours/week for easygoing projects or 8 hours/week on a project that’s gonna need a lot of their attention (like if it’s a complicated solution or difficult client that needs a lot more handholding)
– Consulting manager @ EY
You start off as a junior partner with titles like "Associate Partner," "Principle," or "Director." After a promotion, you may become a senior partner with titles like "Executive Director" or just "Principal" or "Partner."
Senior partners are like a firm's top strategists and decision-makers. They focus on the overall growth and direction of the firm, which includes bringing in new business, hiring top talent, and expanding the firm's knowledge and expertise. Partners have a big say in how the firm's resources are used to achieve its goals and are known for their strong leadership and creative problem-solving skills.
Most consulting firms operate as partnerships, meaning partners not only lead the firm but also have a financial stake in it, sharing in the profits. Becoming a partner comes with significant financial rewards but also brings a lot of responsibility and stress. Often, a partner's earnings are tied to their success in generating business, which motivates them to excel while also protecting the firm from financial losses due to underperformance.
Not everyone at the senior level wants to take on these sorts of challenges. Some choose to stay at the junior partner level instead, specializing in a particular area without the added pressures and financial incentives associated with being a partner.
I recently left McKinsey because the higher up you go, the more you're expected to become a salesperson – sell more work to clients, bring in business for the firm, and things like that.
– Former junior partner @ McKinsey
We hope this gives you a better idea of what a career in consulting looks like. If you're still on the hunt for a promising opportunity, check out all the internships we have in the field of consulting!