Title says it all. I haven't gotten my EY FSO BAP offer yet, but I'm confident I will and I think it will be close to the KPMG Deal Advisory salary (maybe slightly more). I'm more concerned about exit opportunities and which is better preperation for a Top 10 MBA program (I'm seriously considering this as an option after 2-3 years if I decide I don't want to get on partner/principal track, though they make a very nice bundle of cash) and subsequent career in F500 leadership program or MBB. I think both finance and management consulting are very interesting and I have about equal relations/compatibility with both firms. Location is the same. Another factor I want to consider is job security. I know consultants are subject to layoffs. However, Deal Advisory has bankruptcy and restructuring. So I could do a rotation in those areas and then transfer to that if the transactions started drying up. I'm not sure what the FSO BAP bailout would be.
Also how forgiving are the firms if you come back a year later and say that you made a mistake and want to pursue the opportunity they originally offered?
Please give constructive criticism. I don't want to hear about how you can't be a consultant right out of college. I've alread recieved two advisory offers (declined one and then there's the KPMG one), so the firms seem to think differently. When I asked about this during my office visits, the general attitude was that they like some individuals to grow up on the advisory side instead of having absolutely everyone start in audit and then transfer. Also, given that the big four strategy is to be able to do a little bit of everything (as opposed to just specializing in tech or strategy or whatever), I doubt the client issues will be so complex that I won't be able to grasp what's going on or help structure the solution and implementation strategy (even if it's a support role).
Thanks!