Negotiating a Signing Contract - Consulting - New Grad

[yywwyy]

Thanks a lot, all!

 

[Joffrey]

Since you're wife is a woman she may need to read the links (and comments) included in this thread: http://www.styleforum.net/t/384021/how-not-to-negotiate-a-job/0_30

Keep in mind every poster in that thread is a world class negotiator. Good luck and let us know how things go.

 

[MSchapiro]

Top tier consultancies tend to retain the right to do anything they want to you. They don't because it would be bad for moral, but they do maintain those rights as outlined in #1. It is common that training is centralized and has a global intake before assignment.

The salary is interesting, however, take a look at how quickly they raise the salary. I know Bain does a 6 month review, so that would boost first year averages.

 

[yywwyy]

Thanks, will do. We've decided negotiating by phone would be the most proper approach. If the company was willing to provide relocation reimbursements, do you think that they would have specifically mentioned it in the letter? Also, if the company doesn't mention performance-based bonus at year-end, does that mean they don't do that for this position? (I ask because other, similar firms have this for an equivalent position)

Also, it doesn't make sense to me that one would accept a salary without knowing the location of work, especially since this company has many locations from coast to coast.

 

[MSchapiro]

Your best bet is to ask to speak to a consultant within the firm who can answer all those questions about what is standard practice. Shouldn't be hard to find one on LinkedIn either.

 

[yywwyy]

Good idea, and we have indeed reached out to other consultants via LinkedIn.

 

[Joffrey]

Glad my link helped you two decide to communicate via phone and not by email.

 

[crispeta]

Always prefer to negotiate in person or phone - contract has to be amended based on these negotiations, so you'll have it in written form anyways.

Also, it doesn't make sense to me that one would accept a salary without knowing the location of work, especially since this company has many locations from coast to coast.

Reputable MCs pay the same salary on the same level irrespective of location (within the same country); i.e. if consultants prefers to live/ work from NYC/ SF office instead of let's say Dallas or Atlanta, then she has likely higher living expenses.

Regarding the relocation/ location issue:
- As MSchapiro said, training is usually centralized and being two months (weekly/ biweekly flybacks to home office?) in one place isn't considered moving. If you want to make a home and relocate for a period of just 2 months, consulting might not be the right job

- The formulation "can transfer her services to anywhere in the US" alludes more to a project location; i.e. she won't necessarily be staffed on local cases (Bain tries to do that with their jr folks for the sake of economics)

- What surprises me is that she/ the firm hasn't determined a home office - did this never come up in the interview process?


Salary:
- Glassdoor can give you a vague idea/ indication, but it is often times a mess since ppl don't know how to report salaries or report one just for getting access to the platform or those are old salaries and one cannot filter by date (consultancies often adjust salaries); in general I believe that glassdoor is a mess due to the lack of quality of their database and that will never change

- If there is a huge discrepancy between her offer and glassdoor - is the offer from a firm that is/ has recently been going through a transformation? E.g. Booz-PwC, OW GMC-FS?

 

[yywwyy]

Thanks very much- that's very helpful. Upon discussion during the interview, the interviewer told her that she would choose preferred offices and they would try to match. We asked further on the phone yesterday, and they said that the decision would be made during her 2-month training. It's a little tricky for me to be uncertain about where we may end up.

The firm appears to be undergoing transformation (expansion, it seems...).

 

[MRWOLF]

OP edited. Assumed your wife as I may presume has straightened things out. Best of luck.

 

[yywwyy]

Yup. Between you guys' suggestions and that from friends, I think that she handled the negotiations professionally and pleasantly. Also luckily, she obtained a couple other offers since I posted, which helped her a lot. Again, thanks very much for your inputs!

 

[ginabarnes]

Its good to know that you handled the negotiation very well. Just a piece of advise. if you still have doubts with the company better ask. Asking is not bad. If still there are some questions unanswered most likely the company has not established its policy and procedure which can give you head ache in the long run. wish you all the best.

 

[Mr Rainy]

Does anybody else have insufficient permission problems when trying to open Joffrey's link?