Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
Thanks #1081 for some hard figures. This thread was fast becoming as useless & filled with wannabes as the SIM UOL one.
What's the year end bonus for Big 4 like, after removing the front load? I know its measley. Got 2 to 2.5 months?
Also, whats the bonus for MC / internationals here?
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The Generic Big4 front loading formula (for those which still use it) works like this:
Average associate gets 18 to 19.5 months of base pay in a year. Following figures set out base pay / front load inclusive pay.
Yr 1: 4K / 5.5K
Yr 2: 5k / 6.4K
Yr 3: 6k / 7.6k
Yr 4: 7k / 9k
Yr 5: 8k / 10.3k
Yr 6: 9k / 11.3k
Yr 7: 10k / 12.3k
The maths is easy to do. On an assumption of average performance, residual bonus can be calculated by taking (18 * base pay) - (12 * front load inclusive pay). This generally works out to 2-3 months base pay worth of residual bonus. Then comes the
CPF contribution, which eats into your take home sum. At the end of the day, an average associate will take home about 15k over and above the December pay.
MCs pay between 0 and 20% bonuses. If you miss the annual billables by more than 10% there should be no bonus or a small bonus at best. If you meet or just miss it, the bonus is about 10-20%.
I've now got some data on the silver circle international firms. They pay about 20-30k p.a. below MCs in terms of base pay. Still considerably more than the local firms though. It's not just Baker that's available. Many readers here seem to think that only CC and baker are hiring. True that only CC and Baker take in trainees, but once you reach NQL, openings pop up all over, in Watson Farley, Stephenson Harwood, Norton Rose, Ince, BLP, HFW etc. MCs-wise, A&O is also an aggressive hirer. The US white shoe firms take a few as well, and pretty much pay top dollar (prob 10% p.a higher than the MCs), but tend to only hire 4PQEs and above.
There are options abound for senior associates in Big4, but more junior lawyers and NQLs are less lucky. Just gotta tough it out for a few years and clock that PQE!
Btw, I'm hoping more pple could stick to the spirit of this thread. We hope to see more information about bread and butter issues like salary, retention, partnership prospects, practice group mobility, working hours, attrition etc. stuff that matters to the greenhorns. Let's share useful info that the juniors can use!