So you want great work life balance post MBA

Izvos, could you please give credit and direct people to this site.

Izvos -

On your blog you are not giving credit to the original writer of this post (Riverripper). This is plagiarism, and I’m sure that the original poster doesn’t appreciate it. This makes me wonder if any of your articles are legitimately yours.

Riverripper has written many helpful posts for future MBAs. Please give credit when credit is due.

Thank you.

I'm curious about the compensation spread of Corp Finance/Gen Mgmt vs Consulting...I agree that it probably tends to be overstated. I always figured similar post-MBA salaries with Consulting getting much larger bonuses.

Yes, riverripper is definitely correct that the amount that consultants get paid (at least in the first few years) isn't as much as people think although the signing bonuses and potential tuition reimbursements make it pretty attractive.

From a base salary and bonus standpoint for 1st year MBA grads, here's where I think people land.

Corporate Finance $95k base + $15-25k bonus = $110-120k
Brand Management $100k base + $30k bonus = $130k
Consulting $100k base + $30-50k bonus = $130-150k
IB/PE $100k base + ??? bonus = $100 - 500k.
Disney (General Management) = $70-80k
Google = $120-130k base + ?? bonus

Haven't posted in a while but knowing people who have gone to and from B-School from Disney, it really depends on what department you work for and on your experience when you entered school. I think Disney (Gen Mgmt) would be more like $80k - $120k (base + bonus).

I know this is also true for the company I work for, and I'd imagine wide salary ranges are fairly consistent for the majority of positions in "industry".

Also, can't agree more with the waxing and waning of work/life balance in corporate! I'm in strategy, and when there're big projects I'm traveling and working 70hrs/week. When there aren't... 45hrs!

Thanks for the clarification on Disney. Among my group of friends (most are post MBAs), our impression is that Disney is amazing and we'd love to work for them but because of the value of working in that industry, they tend to pay lower than most companies (also the case with professional sporting teams). For $120k, I'd definitely love to work for Disney!

I added back link. Sorry for that

He can copy and paste in his blog and we have no control. Even if you ban someone for stealing material they can still see the site, so that wont even help. You just have to hope people do the right thing and have integrity.

So I see this a lot on all the discussion of future career goals and discussions about why people want to do what the want to do.

Work Life Balance: seems like a lot of folks who decide they don't want to be consultants or bankers site this as one of the major factors in that decision. People who don't seem all that passionate about GM, marketing, corporate finance, etc...decide they will go for one of these careers because they will have a better life. I was one of those people who thought that it would be better, and it very well could be for some people. However, based on discussions with friends and my personal experience it may be better but it is certainly not good.

First of all, don't begin to believe you will work 40 hours a week and/or wont have to travel. A lot of companies give the bait and switch, you might get there will be some travel but less than 20% of the time or yes there is some long hours when important projects are due.

Personally I have traveled more than 50% of the time, this is definitely not as much as the 75-90% that my friends consulting are doing. It sucks sometimes to work 70-80 hours a week but then again I talk with friends in banking who work 100+ a week and get a weekend once every 3 or 4 months. When I look objectively at my hours and travel it has been an amazing opportunity; I fly on the company jet more often than not and have been working as the right hand guy for one of the top guys at my company. That's exactly why most people go to get an MBA, we want to be the guy/gal on a first name basis with the CEO, COO, CFO and all the VPs. Sure if you are at a $50 billion a year company that may not happen but those people will be appraised of your contributions much more so than anyone else at your level. They may not be able to pick you out of a crowd but the certainly know how you are performing. If you are at a $2-10 billion company it is a very real possibility that you will interact with and be known personally by all/most of those people.