To leave or not to leave, that is the question
Been in consulting for 7 years (tier 2). After over 4 years at level, I didn’t make manager in the most recent performance cycle despite client endorsement. It lit a fire under my ass to apply other places.
Well, now I have an offer on the table for a role in a business transformation office in industry. I’d consider it more of a lateral move than a true promotion, but the pay is definitely higher (by about $20k base).
And while yes, 20k is a nice chunk of change, I’m really struggling to decide whether this particular role is the right career move. I care less about prestige and titles than I do about career resiliency and the ability to find a (preferably good) job. I just want to make sure I’m not abandoning the “brand equity” of a recognizable firm (for whatever it’s worth) on a whim. The considerations:
- Lateral move; the general job responsibilities sound very similar to what I do now; there would definitely be more of an industry specialization and a chance to see outcomes through rather than just providing recommendations, but I still think it would land me in the “business generalist” space
- Company is not as widely recognizable as my current firm, but would be very recognizable in the industry it’s in imo
- the industry job has been frank that promos within the BTO aren’t always easy to come by, but a lot of people use it as a front door to other functions within the business.
- the leaders within the function are what I would consider a fairly prestigious bunch: a mix of MBB and tier 2 consulting alumni with Ivy League and M7 MBA education thrown in. From my LinkedIn snooping, the people in the role I would fill aren’t quite to that level of accomplishment (I mean neither am I lol not judging)
-general benefits of each job (e.g, PTO, bonus structure, 401k match) are similar enough that neither really has a tie breaker
-the thought of not having to sell work or find a project in the future thrills me, but the thought of committing to a specific industry scares me lol
-comp is obviously higher for the new job; I might be able to negotiate up another 5 or 10k in base
So…any advice? I’m leaning towards taking it cause I feel really slighted and underpaid by my firm. That said, there’s always the chance I could make manager in the next 6-12 months here. Although really, the only reason I truly care about the title is to make myself as attractive as possible if I ever need to find a new job. I think companies like to see progression. It’s not like I dream of being a managing director.