u/Upset-Alfalfa6328

Just got a T2 consulting offer as an associate. Currently work at a CPG company on a transformation team (scope is a mix of ops, finance, and building digital tools). Details below.

Current Role

• Level: Sr. Manager/Associate Director
• Compensation: ~180k - 190k TC in a VHCOL
• WLB: Currently remote, but this can change at any moment. In that case, I would be looking at a 2-hour round-trip commute for 3 days/week. Probably work about 30 hours per week.
• Pros: WLB is really good. I like my manager, and if I wanted to change teams/scope, there are usually plenty of opportunities.
• Cons: Slow career growth. The next promotion comes with a significant pay bump, but it's a black box. It can come in 2, 5, or even 10 years. The company isn't doing great either. The pay raises are also below inflation, but I guess that's an industry thing. I'm also risking being pigeonholed into one industry that's not having its best moment.

Offer

• T2 Consulting, Associate
• Compensation: All-in, probably 230k-250k. Still in VHCOL.
• WLB: Based on my discussions, pretty bad. 65-70hr work weeks with potentially weekly travel, depending on the project.
• Pros: Consulting stamp even though it's not MBB, opportunity to work with different industries/project types. Pretty clear promotion path, if you survive. Next level would bring my TC to ~300k. No interest in being a partner.
• Cons: Hours, travel, Up-or-out risk; I would be coming in as an older associate, so I'm taking a tenure hit. Burnout risk.

How would you compare these 2 at this life stage/tenure? My idea was to stay 3-5 years and hopefully move to a higher-growth industry (e.g., tech) or a higher-growth role within my industry/adjacent industries, but looking at where people have exited this company and practice, I'm not really seeing what I hope to see. This may have been a no-brainer for me 5 years ago, but now, given the exits and the current state of the industry, it seems like a riskier move than I thought.

Any thoughts?