Is Joining McKinsey, BCG & Bain Still Worth It?
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
You probably know that guy. He's a business major and all he ever talks about is becoming a strategy consultant. He mentions 80/20 all the time, and he's mumbling about someone "boiling the ocean." Is this a hopeless weirdo? Or is he on to something?
We spent 6+ years each at McKinsey before moving into senior corporate roles. We've lived the upside — the learning curve, the salary, the network, the exit opportunities. And we've lived the downside — the hours, the travel, the up-or-out pressure. In this post, we'll give you the full picture so you can decide for yourself.
The Non-Financial Benefits: Why Consulting Is Still One of the Best Career Starts
Let's start with the non-financial aspects, because frankly, these matter more than the salary in the long run.
The development opportunities are unmatched. Consulting is intense, but that's exactly what makes it great. They say a year in consulting is worth 2 or 3 years in a regular corporate job, and from our experience that's about right. You won't have to wait for your old boss to retire before you can move up. You move up the hierarchy fast — every 2 years or so you reach the next step, and you can become a partner in about 10 years. At the top firms, sometimes even faster.
This development is enabled by constant feedback. You'll always know where you stand and what you need to work on. And to help you improve, there's world-class training at your fingertips.
The client exposure is extraordinary. McKinsey has worked with 90% of the companies on the global Forbes list and more than 80 governments worldwide. BCG and Bain have a similar set of clients. What this means for a fresh consultant is that you can see a variety of industries and project types from the very beginning — actually even more so than a project manager or partner, since they'll already be focused on one industry.
To give you a sense of what that looks like in practice, here's an actual year from one of our colleagues: she started the year helping develop the strategy for a UK bank. Then she did a due diligence on a German automotive asset for a private equity client. After some time on the beach, she helped a US-based retailer on a digital strategy topic. Following her vacation, she joined a Dutch energy client to streamline operations, followed by a one-week training. Then she moved to a French consumer goods project on brand strategy. And in December, she did another short due diligence on an Italian insurance company before heading into another training and the holidays.
Six countries, six industries, one year. That kind of variety simply doesn't exist in a corporate role.
The vacations are real. You may have noticed the extended leave in that example year. The project-based nature of consulting allows for longer breaks between engagements — time to decompress and actually do something fun. It's not unlimited, but it's more flexible than most corporate environments.
The people are exceptional. Hardly anywhere will you find such an assembly of diverse, driven, and dedicated colleagues. A doctor, a soldier, and an Olympian walk into a conference room. In other companies, that's the beginning of a joke. In consulting, it might just be your project team.
And don't be mistaken — it's not all slick douchebags trying to get ahead. The colleagues you meet are generally super nice, personable, and humble. It's a team sport, and you can't have an ego-centric bully on the team. That's why personal fit is so important in consulting recruiting. Interviewers apply the so-called "asshole test" — it sounds like a college ritual, but it's simply interviewers asking themselves whether they could put this person on a team or in front of a client.
Helping a colleague actually improves your standing at the firm, not the other way around. Which is one of the great things about the culture at the top firms.
The Financial Benefits: What an MBB Offer Is Actually Worth
As cool as all that is, we know — for many of you it's also about the money.
In the US, a business analyst at an MBB firm will make around $110,000. The equivalent in Germany is about €90,000 including an average bonus. Almost regardless of which country you start your consulting career in, an MBB entry-level salary will already put you in that country's top 10% income bracket. And if you're comparing yourself only to other 25-year-olds, it's more like the top 5% or top 2%.
Yes, you can start your own business and the upside is unlimited. But there's no guarantee. Consulting is one of the most risk-free ways to make a great salary right out of university.
And that's just the starting salary. Once you're in for 2 years or have an MBA, you'll see at least a 50% pay bump. An MBA, by the way, is often financially supported by the firm — especially the top firms can be quite generous, which is another great perk. Post-MBA or with a few years of experience, you'll be closing in on $200,000 per year in the US. In Germany you'll exceed €140,000.
What these high starting salaries and subsequent raises do to your net worth over time is substantial. If you model a consulting career against a classic corporate career — same lifestyle, same investment approach — a 30-year-old consultant will be roughly half a million ahead of their corporate peer. By 40, the gap is in the millions, even if the consultant never makes partner.
And if you do make partner? A partner at a consulting firm will easily make more than $500,000 per year. Seven figures are possible. We know people in their early 30s in such positions, and that's not too shabby.
For the full salary breakdown from analyst to senior partner, see our detailed consulting salary post.
The Downsides: The Two Things You Should Know
Of course, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Let's address the two most common critiques head-on.
The Working Hours
Yes, it's true — this is not your average 9-to-5 job. You'll often work late, sometimes very late. 12-hour days are completely normal. When a CEO's career hangs on a new strategy, the pressure is on, and that intensity translates directly into the team. But all of that is the flipside of the salary and the steep learning curve.
Over time, you'll become pretty good at spotting projects that have a terrible lifestyle — and you can try to avoid them. Some classic red flags: a junior partner who's trying to make partner this year, a due diligence for a PE fund on a tight timeline, a 001 project (your firm's first engagement with a new client where you have to overdeliver). And plenty of others.
But even if you catch a tough project, you'll get over it. For the full breakdown of what consulting hours actually look like — including sample weeks of 54, 67, and 100 hours — see our work-life balance post.
The Up-or-Out Policy
Top firms are known for letting people go who don't reach the next career step within a certain time window. And yes, this actually exists — but it sounds harsher than it is.
If you like the job and feel good on projects, you'll grow as a consultant, and promotions come almost automatically — at least as long as the firm and the economy are doing alright. If there's a gap in your performance, the firms will try to help you close it through training, coaching, or mentoring. But if you feel permanently overwhelmed, you won't have fun and it'll show. Then it's in everybody's best interest to part ways.
The firms sometimes even help with outplacement — making sure you find a good landing spot. And leaving the firm is perfectly normal. 99% of people do it sooner or later. Only about 1% stay for life and become senior partners.
For more on how up-or-out actually works, see our dedicated up-or-out post.
The Exit Opportunities: What Happens After Consulting
Most consultants won't stay for life, so exit opportunities are a key part of the value proposition.
Overall, exits are still great. Not like the 90s, when strategy consulting firms were much smaller and there were far fewer ex-consultants — back then, you'd practically have to try to avoid becoming a C-level executive somewhere. But today, the alumni networks of the top firms are much larger, and the culture is still strong. There's a bond that transcends immediate working relationships. And it's a brand you can't shake off — there are countless people still known as "that McKinsey guy" 10 years after joining a corporate, just because they worked at McKinsey for 2 years out of university.
After consulting, the main paths are:
Corporate roles. Many consultants switch to a client or similar company. They typically leapfrog a few rungs on the corporate ladder compared to peers starting from the bottom, bringing strong skills, work ethic, and an understanding of corporate dynamics from years of client engagements. McKinsey alone has produced 70 Fortune 500 CEOs, and many more C-level executives.
Finance. More and more ex-consultants are joining private equity and venture capital. PE firms in particular value people who've learned the ropes at a consulting firm, especially when it comes to turning around or growing portfolio companies.
Startups. Starting or joining a company is a popular path. Having a few years of consulting experience helps with hiring, fundraising, and credibility. A venture capitalist is more likely to invest in someone with the MBB seal of approval than an unproven college student. McKinsey alumni alone have founded or co-founded 30 unicorns.
Public sector. You'll find ex-consultants in influential positions across government and public institutions. A few notable examples: former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Pete Buttigieg.
For the full picture on exit opportunities, see our exit opportunities post. And for an honest look at the challenges of the transition, read our harsh reality after exiting post.
The Bottom Line
Consulting offers fantastic opportunities — financially, non-financially, and even after you leave. No job is perfect, and the hours and the up-or-out pressure are real trade-offs. But consulting is still one of the best places to start a career.
If you've decided it's worth it, the next step is getting the offer. Our CV Masterclass on Udemy walks you through building a CV that gets past MBB screening — from a blank page to a finished document. And our Case Interview Mastery course covers 7 full McKinsey-style cases with detailed solutions, taught by us, two former McKinsey interviewers.
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Related video: Watch our YouTube video: Is MBB Consulting Still Worth It?: