50L CTC at Consulting, but I have completely lost myself.
Became a consultant post B school, was actually my dream for a long time. Felt like i won the rat race. Tier-1 MBA, prestige, making great money while getting to travel and stay at great hotels.
For the last 12 months, I’ve been working 14-hour days almost every single day (+ travel). I'm literally fixing font sizes and aligning boxes on PPTs at 2 AM for partners who forget my last name.
I have very little identity left outside of my work. I haven't spoken to my parents properly in months. It's always a rushed 2-minute call from a cab or something. My real friends have stopped inviting me to things because they know I'll cancel last minute. The only friends I have now are colleagues I trauma bond at work with.
I thought the fat salary would make this all worth it. But now I feel stuck. I desperately want out, but the golden handcuffs are real. Every exit opportunity I look at means a massive pay cut. Startups are offering Chief of Staff roles but they expect me to take a 30% hit on my CTC.
I'm just so exhausted. To everyone grinding for that MBB shortlist: be careful what you wish for. You're just selling your youth for a shiny brand name and a job which is honestly a lot of grunt work.
High salaried employees have no right to crib.
This is equivalent to those NRIs who "feel the pain" of living away from families, unable to celebrate the festival, living a struggling life and how they wish they could go back to India. Somehow a magical force is stopping them.
That's like saying rich people shouldn't cry about getting cancer because they're rich and can afford to treat themselves.
Everyone is human at the end of the day regardless of money and status. Everyone has fears, limitations, things they're trying to figure out etc. It is not a magical force, it is simply called being human.
7hthat's the market rate for this role, yes. it's the price of the cage. 50l is what they pay to make sure you'll think twice before leaving to find yourself again. the job isn't just making ppts; the job is giving up everything else for the salary that makes giving it up feel like a rational choice. you haven't lost yourself. you've just misplaced your priorities for a paycheck.
