Fresh Grad Advice: Local Big 4 Strategy vs Hong Kong Transaction Banking
 

Hi there, I currently have 2 offers on hand:

1) Local Big 4 Strategy Consulting Role
2) Hong Kong based Transaction Banking Management Rotational Program

Compensation wise - The banking program definitely pays more but net of my expected rent it is about the same as the big 4 strategy consulting role.

I have done a consulting internship at a top tier firm before and I did not really enjoy it the most (long working hours, grinding excel etc.) but i recognize that exit opportunities are abundant, just not sure if the same exit opportunities applies the same from a Big 4 perspective.

Wanted to get anyone's thoughts about how would they choose between these 2 opportunities?

Thank you!

Big 4 strat consulting is, sorry to be blunt, not even close to top tier. They are overpacked, pay too little, and are also keeling from the covid situation. I would suggest the bank.

transaction banking got future?

Maybe, but I would bet on a management training program more than big 4 strat consulting

Just to be sure, it’s consulting as in EY-Parthenon / Pw -Strategy& right?

NOT their advisory arm, correct?

Because if it’s the latter, you are better off elsewhere.

If its Strategy&, EY-Parthenon etc, yes go for them.

If it's just Big 4, no.

Consultants at Strategy& and Parthenon don’t follow your usual Big 4 pay grades (A1, A2, S1...etc) like their Advisory counterparts btw.

What type of exit opps you’re looking for? If it’s to land a job at MBB then yes, Strategy& and Parthenon is gonna boost your chances compared to transaction banking.

If you’re comparing traditional Big 4 advisory and transactional banking, neither will get you close to MBB unless you decide to do your postgrad at a target MBA program and join their graduate associate schemes.

avoid big 4 at all cost. it's a trap. i was from KPMG corporate finance. it's nothing more than glorified audit. starting pay is barely higher (3.9k in 2016) and you basically do all the audit work. no financial projections, no consulting experience, nothing. pure accounting and reconciliation. stayed there for 2.5 years before I jumped to a local bank.

if you start at big 4, it's damn hard to exit to consulting or IB roles. if that's where your end goal is, then don't join big 4. start directly with the bank.

Transaction Banking.. sounds like Deutsche Bank?

Yup the offer is from Parthenon. Not sure if they are following the same scale as the usual big 4 pay grade as the starting pay is ~3.8k which seems pretty low, perhaps the post integration resulted in lower payscale.
Do you know the pay progression within Parthenon?

I guess I am looking at exit opportunities within corporate strategy/business development etc. Not really MBB as I don't think I can take the consulting life for long.

Can you share what are the target biz schools in SG for MBB?

Can only think of INSEAD...

Try to avoid INSEAD or ESSEC if you don’t have industry experience. The reason why their MBA programmes overstate “prestige” is because their candidates are mostly already employed consultants on a sabbatical. It’s a good place to brush shoulders with MBB guys but getting into a graduate scheme fresh out of the boat will be an uphill task.

Do a quick LinkedIn search and you will find that fresh postgrad (with no consulting experience) in MBB oftentimes hail from the likes of Wharton, Judge, Said, Tuck, and etc.

In SG, the only MBA that comes close would be NUS’ MBA/EMBA though I have yet to encounter a graduate that breaks into MBB fresh however their programme brochure boasts alumni at C-suite level.

Big 4 A1s start at $3,000 (take home salary $2,400) with a guaranteed (sort of) promotion yearly.

Is yours $3,800 after CPF deduction? If it is then $4,750 for a fresh associate is the industry average. Can’t comment on Parthenon’s increment but in my firm (non MBB), baseline pay won’t increase but we get higher performance bonus every year. :)

Sadly, its before CPF deduction. So I feel its really low and might not be worth it in comparison.
Your firm sounds great, thanks for sharing!

I expected 4.5k honestly. You can try to negotiate.

Personally, I'd take the Parthenon job over banking, but that's due to personal preference.

Is the salary difference huge? I'm guessing the banking role would be around 5k SGD a month.

dont mean to hijack this thread but i kinda wanna ask a similar question, CPF MA or marsh grad program?

whats the salary for both

start yr own freaking thread

Yeah i tried, but no room for negotiation
That's true as the banking role is in HKD there are fluctuations in the difference from 1.2k to 1.6k sgd, think its quite substantial.

Starting lower would also make it harder to negotiate for a higher pay in the future.

Nonethless, thanks for sharing your perspective! Cheers!

I tired to but they wouldnt budge. The salary difference works out to be around 1.2k to 1.6k sgd/month due to currency fluctuation as I will be paid in HKD, I think its pretty huge?

Anyone knows starting salary for Strategy&?

MBA associates start at 72K per annum (6,000 SGD/month)

Unfortunately, Strategy& does not hire undergrad associates for its Singapore office unless you’re from Wharton.

They do tons of experienced hires though.

Answer is totally inaccurate.

Fresh grad salary (they do hire a few fresh grads - you can check them on linkedin) at 6k+, on par with ATK and below OW. Fresh grads start off as Associates, MBA hires as Senior Associates. Post-MBA salary is >10k, with INSEAD as main target school.

Source: Ex-intern at Strategy& Singapore office

Hmm where are you working at now? Did they offer conversion for you?

Strategy& is a tier 3 how dare they target the prestigious INSEAD

Pretty big difference. Depends on what you want to do in your career.

If you hate baking, that 1.4k would be miserable for you since you'll always be thinking of what if, and you might leave for a lower salary.

Consulting gives you more options for the road.

There's also rent to worry about to. Tho living overseas is a huge plus.

It's all on you personally.

Should be tier 2. Friend in PwC management consulting arm told me they are given (significantly) different packages and have different career track. To the point many find unfair.

why is it unfair? audit and tax are brainless, menial tasks. consulting actually requires intelligence. it's like foreign workers vs foreign talents

I apologise, should have mentioned it more explicitly. He was talking about the significant difference in packages between S& and PwC Consulting, nothing to do with tax and audit.

I think it is unfair if you are doing similar work and someone sitting beside you is getting significantly more. Do you happen to know the difference in salary between s& and pwc consulting?

Startegy& is at least tier 2 and is much harder to get into.

PwC Consulting is tier 3 at best.

In layman terms:

Strategy&, Parthenon-EY that kind is strategy consulting mah. Wholesale business and organizational transformation. Work with C-Suite. Like MBB but less prestigious.

PwC consulting is to transform or streamline processes or specific tasks. Work with middle management or regional management. Indian/Bangla grad with rando accounting degree also can do.

This is not entirely accurate.

Accenture / Big 4 Consulting do work with high-level management for certain projects.

As a matter of fact, PwC Consulting & Strategy& + EY Advisory & EY-Parthenon tend to work hand-in-hand to deliver large-scale projects too

Alas, strategy work is of less importance in the consulting sector in today's day and age. Clients want the entire package -- just look at how McK & BCG are investing in their operational practices.

If you want to look at it strictly, even McK's and BCG's expert / operational / implementation track is less prestigious than their traditional strategy generalist track. Yes, the consulting industry is rapidly transforming. But ask any consultant in MBB and they will tell you the generalist consultants have better prestige and get more perks (e.g. ease of getting MBA scholarship, generally better brand equity and perception to future employers / MBA schools)

That being said, generalist consultants are increasingly doing implementation work. But what we are talking about here is the perception and personal branding. You may be in Strategy& doing implementation work but who cares? To your next employer, you're still better served with the S& brand.

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to take prestige away from Tier 2s & MBBs.

But let's face it: strategy work is literally not as glamorous in the past. The world of consulting is basically centred around digital transformation in today's world.

You can storyboard / build all the models in the world, but clients are more concerned about the change/implementation aspect of the project.

Thus, even if you are working at Accenture, Big 4 Consulting or even Tier 3s, there is still a good chance that you will get to interact and meet with influential people in the industry.

Similar to what have been said in the first page of this thread. Strategy& and Parthenon follow a different pay scale compared to their advisory or consulting counterparts in PWC and EY.

A fresh undergrad associate at S& or Parthenon easily earns twice as much as their A1 counterparts in advisory/consulting.

Unfair? A1s are guaranteed yearly promotion so you could say eventually the pay will converge when they hit S2/M1 Level.

There are definitely overlaps in the tasking and the pay discrepancy is largely due to the clientele.

EY/PWC

Associate (A1) $3,000
Associate (A2) $3,500 *after 1 year
Senior Associate (S1) $3,800 *after 2 years
Senior Associate (S2) $4,200 *after 3 years
Manager (M1) $5,000 – $6,000 *after 4 years
Manger (M2) $6,000 – $7,000 *performance based

Parthenon/Strategy&

Associate $4,000 - $6,000
Senior Associate $6,000 - $7,000 *performance based

PwC Deals pays around 4.5kish for fresh grads.. dont think 3k is accurate

May be right for parthenon, very wrong for strategy&.

My brother from INSEAD has batch mates in strategy&. Start as SA1 level, pay is ~12k. Their associates start from 6.3ish.

Normal pwc consulting / deals managers only earn ~high 6k. Its a world of difference not only in prestige but also salary package. My bro ultimately went to ATK and its similar salaries.. not much difference.

I strongly believe the bro above thinks the pay scale for parthenon is similar to s&, but it is not - i assure u. At least not in Singapore.

Parthenon pay not same tier as S&.