Most candidates treat consulting versus tech as a prestige ladder: McKinsey versus Google, slides versus code, "smart people" versus "builders." That framing wastes the decision. The real fork is optionality versus ownership — whether you want a portable problem-structuring skill that travels every two to four years, or a stake in one product whose value compounds only if you stay and the equity works.
After you finish this page you should be able to score an offer letter the way I would: year-one cash versus four-year cash, what you will practice every week, and which apprenticeship you actually want.
Tech here means product companies — software engineering, product management, data, and bizops — not IT consulting inside a Big Four. That last path is still consulting. If you are weighing banking instead, start with consulting vs investment banking.
What the market actually pays at the median
Ignore campus folklore for a moment. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the May 2025 median for management analysts (the category that includes many consultants) at $101,860. Software developers sat at $133,080 in the May 2024 release (developers alone; the broader developers-and-QA group was $131,450). Those are national medians across every employer, from a regional advisory boutique to a Bay Area product shop. They are not MBB offers and they are not FAANG packages. They do tell you that, across the whole labor market, writing software pays more at the middle than advising on average.
Elite MBA placement is a different slice. For Harvard Business School's MBA Class of 2024, Clear Admit's summary of the employment report shows consulting at 18% of placements and technology at 16%. Poets&Quants' write-up of the same report puts consulting's median base at $190,000 (signing bonus median $30,000 for most receivers) and technology's median base at $165,000 (signing less common). Consulting often wins on cash base at top schools; tech often wins later on equity, if you stay and the stock cooperates.
| Signal | Consulting-ish | Tech product |
|---|---|---|
| BLS median (broad occupation) | ~$102K (management analysts, May 2025) | ~$133K (software developers, May 2024) |
| HBS Class of 2024 share | 18% | 16% |
| HBS median base (reported) | ~$190K | ~$165K |
| Pay shape | Base + target bonus; cohort-transparent | Base + bonus + equity that vests |
Campus offers at MBB and at large tech can both clear $200K+ in year-one total depending on level and location. The interesting question is not who wins the LinkedIn screenshot. It is what happens in years two through four.
The work: what you practice every Tuesday
McKinsey's own careers pages describe the job plainly: small client teams, ambiguous problems, analysis, recommendations, and — for many roles — helping clients implement. Projects typically last weeks to a few months. Breadth is the product. You will change industries often. That is the point.
Tech SWE ships in a stack. Quality is testable. Politics exist, but the artifact is the system. Tech PM prioritizes, writes specs, and sits between engineering, design, and go-to-market. It looks consulting-like in meetings and is judged on product outcomes, not on a twelve-week deck. Bizops or strategy at a product company is the closest cousin to consulting: fewer client slides, more dashboards, more internal customers, and often equity in the mix.
If new industries every quarter energize you, consulting fits. If making the same problem 5% better every sprint energizes you, tech fits. I stop listening in hiring conversations when someone says they want "interesting problems" without naming which kind.
Four-year cash: a worked example you can rerun
Here is a clean comparison. Invented figures, labeled as such — use your offer letters, not these.
Path A — consulting (post-MBA associate band, Ned's estimate). Year-one cash $230K (base + bonus). Modest 5% annual cash growth. No equity. Four-year cash sum ≈ $230K + $242K + $254K + $266K = $992K.
Path B — large-tech SWE (mid-level, Ned's estimate using public Levels.fyi-style mixes). Base $185K, bonus $25K, equity grant worth $80K/year on paper if the stock holds. Year-one cash-like total $290K if you count annualized equity at face. Four-year sum at face ≈ $1.16M. Now discount equity: if you apply a 40% "stock may not print" haircut, equity becomes $48K/year and the four-year sum falls to ≈ $1.03M. If the stock doubles and refreshers land, Path B pulls away fast. If the stock halves and refreshers stall, Path A wins on cash.
| Path | Year-1 (cash + equity face) | 4-year sum (face) | 4-year sum (equity −40%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consulting (no equity) | $230K | ~$992K | ~$992K |
| Tech SWE (with equity) | $290K | ~$1.16M | ~$1.03M |
The lesson: do not compare year-one consulting cash to year-one tech total including unvested equity at face. Ask for the grant size, vest schedule, current share price basis, and whether refreshers are historical practice or a hope. Consulting bonuses are not "up to" posters either — use target, as in any serious salary comparison.
Ned's rule. Choose the job whose weekly artifact you want to get good at for the next three years: a recommendation that travels, or a product that stays. Prestige decays; practiced skill does not.
Hours: visible pain versus invisible pain
BLS notes that management analysts often travel to client sites and that some work more than forty hours a week. That understates elite consulting weeks. In the rooms I know, first-round teams routinely land in a 60–80 hour band on live studies, with hotel weeks when the client is out of town. Tech on-call engineering and pre-launch PM can match those hours without the airport. Tech also has teams that protect 40–45 hours. Variance inside tech is wider than LinkedIn admits; variance inside consulting is the study itself.
Consulting's brutal week is visible: the team is in a room. Tech's brutal week can be invisible: Slack at midnight. Ask the specific team, not "Google versus McKinsey."
How careers compound (and how they fake)
Consulting compounds network, communication, and problem structuring. Those travel. The brand decays if you stay too long without a specialty or a clean exit. Moving consulting → tech PM or ops is a well-worn path from strong firms; moving generic advisory → product is harder because you lack shipped proof.
Tech compounds domain depth and equity. A PM who owned a surface for four years is hard to fake. A consultant who "did digital" on two studies is easy to fake. Going tech → MBB as an experienced hire is possible and runs a different interview process — level and proof, not campus calendar.
If you want to be a partner, consulting is the apprenticeship. If you want to be a VP of product or a staff engineer, tech is the apprenticeship. Using one as a waiting room for the other works only if you collect proof: staffed studies you can narrate, or product you can point to.
Recruiting clocks and interview sports
Campus consulting is seasonal and front-loaded. Tech internships often open earlier and more rolling. You cannot paste a consulting calendar onto a PM search and expect the same outcomes.
Interview styles are different sports:
| Track | What you practice | What "good" looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Consulting case | Structure, math, synthesis under a partner's clock | MECE drive to a recommendation |
| SWE | Algorithms, system design, code quality | Correct, clear, scalable thinking |
| Product | Product sense, execution judgment, metrics | Prioritization with tradeoffs named |
Do not prep them as the same sport. A strong case structure will not save a coding screen; a clean leetcode pass will not save a case interview.
A decision rule that survives Instagram
Choose consulting if you want structured ambiguity, client performance, and a two-to-four-year brand option with portable skills. Choose tech if you want to build the same thing long enough to get good, and you are willing to underwrite equity risk.
Hold both internships if you can. A summer in each beats a personality quiz. Return-offer logic differs, but performance still decides both.
CoachNed is not affiliated with McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Google, Meta, or any firm named here.
Try the fork on one case this week
If you are still leaning consulting, run one live case and see whether the room energizes or drains you. Start with the five-minute typed rep at /start (no account), or the ~18-minute voice case at /interview. Everything is open for seven days, no card; then $120 for a recruiting season or $49 a month.
Frequently asked questions
Is consulting or tech better paid after an MBA?
At top schools, consulting often wins on median base cash; tech can win on total compensation once equity is counted, if you stay and the stock performs. Compare four-year cash on your letters, not year-one screenshots.
Does product management count as consulting?
No. PM uses similar communication skills and is judged on product outcomes, not on a client recommendation cycle. Bizops at a tech firm is the closer cousin.
Can I switch from consulting to tech later?
Yes, especially from strong firms into PM, ops, or strategy roles, if you can show concrete work. The reverse path into elite consulting as an experienced hire is possible but uses a different bar than campus recruiting.
How should I compare equity to consulting bonuses?
Treat unvested equity as probabilistic. Ask for grant size, vest schedule, and refresh history. Haircut paper value when you model four years; consulting target bonus is clearer cash.
Are hours always worse in consulting?
Elite consulting travel weeks are often brutal and visible. Tech can match those hours on launch or on-call teams, or stay near forty on healthy ones. Compare teams, not brand names.
Sources
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Management Analysts — May 2025 median pay and work environment for management analysts. Checked 2026-09-24.
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Software Developers — May 2024 median pay for software developers. Checked 2026-09-24.
- Clear Admit: HBS Employment Report, MBA Class of 2024 — industry placement shares (consulting 18%, technology 16%) and overall median base. Checked 2026-09-24.
- McKinsey Careers: Consulting Roles — firm description of consulting work and progression. Checked 2026-09-24.
- Levels.fyi: Google Software Engineer (United States) — public crowd-sourced level medians used only as context for equity-heavy tech packages. Checked 2026-09-24.