What career paths and work-life balance exist in strategy, product management, operations, and consulting roles after an Indian MBA?

An IIMB 2022 alumnus with hands-on experience across product, strategy, and operations offers a grounded view of how these roles actually play out — and the picture that emerges is nuanced enough to be genuinely useful for anyone weighing their post-MBA path.

On work-life balance, the distinction between strategy and consulting is meaningful. Strategy roles in established MNCs tend to offer a more sustainable pace than consulting, though high-growth startups can demand consulting-like hours regardless of the title. One structural advantage strategy holds over consulting: the travel burden is significantly lower, which matters more than people often account for when evaluating offers.

On compensation, the numbers are specific and worth taking seriously. Consulting roles land at 30–40 LPA post-MBA. Investment banking and PE exceed that. General management averages around 20 LPA. Sales and marketing ranges from 20–25 LPA. Product management sits at 25–30 LPA. These aren't aspirational figures — they reflect what we've tracked as reasonably representative outcomes for IIM-calibre graduates entering these functions.

The trajectory this alumnus describes is instructive for anyone trying to understand what an MBA can actually do to an earnings curve. Starting at 4.5 LPA as a mechanical engineer, reaching 7 LPA after three years of work experience, then jumping to 22 LPA immediately post-MBA, and reaching 42 LPA within three years of graduating — that's the compounding effect that makes the MBA calculus work for many Indian professionals. The switch isn't just financial; it's a domain reset.

On the question of consulting's future, we've seen this concern raised consistently from experienced professionals in the field: AI disruption is real, and the consulting business model will likely evolve toward implementation-contingent fee structures rather than pure advisory arrangements. The view here isn't that consulting disappears, but that transformation is coming and the professionals who will remain most valuable are those who combine deep AI fluency with cross-functional ownership and strong soft skills. Role boundaries more broadly are blurring — that's not a distant trend, it's already visible in how mandates are being scoped today.

For those targeting consulting specifically, the recruitment reality is worth stating plainly. Summer internship placements are unforgiving: 9/9/9 academics, 99+ CAT percentile, and a well-constructed resume are effectively table stakes for top consulting offers at that stage. Final placements allow more room — profiles can be built deliberately, and domain switches from non-traditional backgrounds are feasible with the right positioning.

In our experience, the broader consensus holds: while your initial role selection does matter, switching domains post-MBA is achievable for those who are intentional about it. What the data consistently points to is that the two-to-three year window immediately after graduation is the most leveraged period for trajectory establishment — and that window doesn't wait.