Career insights by GGI is a new series by GGI sharing hacks and tips around management consulting, MBA, product management and public policy.
In this GGI career insight, we will be sharing insights into: the hacks of earning a salary worth a crore.
What were the 3 hacks that helped me land a salary of a crore in my 20s?
One thing to be kept in mind here is that- eventually it depends on your ability to execute these hacks. Nobody shared these secrets with me and I had to learn them by taking some risky decisions. So, use these hacks with your own judgements.
1. Don't spend more than 2 years in a job in your 20s.
I say so because the promotion or raise you will get yearly in the same company will barely cover the inflation. Thus, you will have slow linear growth.
Back when I was working at Groupon India, I felt that my growth had stopped because I was becoming the most intelligent person in the room. And I say this with complete humility.
So, I moved on to working for the Government of India. There I got the opportunity to create actual impact and learn a lot. I eventually became the project manager which paid me more than my strategy role at Groupon India.
The interesting part here is that I had left a job offer from KPMG which had a higher pay to work for the government of India. My rationale was that I was looking forward to the opportunity to work closely with the chairman of McKinsey.
If you choose to marry yourself to the learning, rather than the organisation, it will eventually pay off so well that your income will simply become a byproduct and not your sole focus.
2. Which sector to work in?
There are 2 sectors in which your salary doesn't grow linearly, but exponentially- management consulting and private equity/venture capitalist.
Here, there is a huge annual bonus given to you based on your and the firm's performance. It could be as big as your base salary, especially as you climb up the ladder and become a partner at the firm. Once you become a partner, you will hold shares and equity in the company.
When I joined BCG, my salary grew three times largely because of the consulting role. I was getting paid the salary of a consultant, irrespective of my previous salary.
3. Change your work geography
Change your geography to a place where you can earn in dollars.
Here, I got the best of both worlds as I was earning in Dubai where I could save on taxes rather than in a place like New York.
At Global Governance Initiative, we teach the practical problem-solving skills required to become a management consultant. Our masterclasses are hosted by leading professionals in the industry of consulting. This helps our students learn from real time experts.
Author: Shatakshi Sharma, Co-CEO Global Governance Initiative, Ex-BCG Management Consultant, Former Policy Advisor, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
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