u/Fun_Crab_7139

Need a bit of a reality check from people here.

I was an ASC 2 at McKinsey when I left in spring 2024. Did a short stint at a startup afterward making around $300K TC, and I’m now at a new shop making ~$400K/year with room to grow.

The big tradeoff is that my WLB is pretty great. I probably work ~30 hours/week on average, have a lot of autonomy, and generally don’t have much work-related stress.

That said, I still occasionally wonder what the alternate timeline would have looked like financially if I’d stayed at McK or used McK to move into PE / another higher-paying path. Presumably I’d be EM or maybe AP by now if I’d stayed and progressed normally, but I honestly don’t know what comp looks like at those levels anymore.

Part of me has even thought about going back into consulting or trying to pivot into PE, but obviously that would mean trading a pretty cushy setup for significantly more hours/stress.

For those who stayed at McK or left for PE: what does comp actually look like ~2–3 years after ASC 2 these days? And would you trade ~$400K at ~30 hrs/week for the upside of the McK/PE track?

Can someone explain to me in modern NBA comps why he was unstoppable?

31M in a HCOL area. No family connections used for job / career growth family did pay for undergrad and grad school. Didn’t attend finance target school, and no major career shortcuts. Thought it might be interesting to share my compensation progression over the last 10 years.

2017: $50K – Research role, mostly cold-calling industry experts and gathering market intelligence

2018: $65K – Private Credit Analyst

2019: $82K – Private Credit Analyst

2020: $110K – Promoted to Private Credit Associate

2021: $160K – Moved internally to an investing role within the same private credit firm

2022: $260K – Consulting

2023: $280K – Consulting

2024: $300K – Director-level role in industry

2025: $330K – Pay raise in same industry role

2026: $400K+ – Business development/capital markets role at a finance and consulting firm

A few observations looking back:

Biggest pay jumps came from changing roles

The move to consulting nearly doubled my compensation and likely would not have happened without the part-time MBA being completed

Returning to a finance-adjacent role after industry has been the most financially rewarding move so far - better hours and better pay

Early career progression felt slow, but comp growth accelerated significantly once I had ~5 years of experience with MBA

Going from $50K to $400K+ took 9 years, 5 jobs, and a part-time MBA completed while working full-time.