I was hoping that those of you with more experience within the big 6 (ACN, PwC, IBM, Atos, PA etc) could answer the following questions for me?1) Which of the above have the practice of offering sign on bonuses at the principal consultant level? If so how much?2) Once offered what is the maximum time you can 'sit' on the offer, i.e. wait for outcomes from other interviews before making a decision?3) Are there any precedents set for deferring acceptance of a role, e.g six months, 12 months?All of these questions are hypothetical at the moment but its difficult to find answers and I think knowledge of the above would put me in a much better position when it comes to bargaining/accepting an offer when the time comes.I thank you in advance for your help!!Jim

Hi Jim. Most of the big firms have the discretion to offer sign on bonuses, but they are the exception rather than the rule. I can't speak for the other firms, but I work for one of the ones you listed there, and our offers are open for 10 days before being withdrawn. If people don't accept within that timeframe it becomes highly unlikely that they will accept at all. It is possible to defer, but the reason the big firms are recruiting heavily at the moment, is that we all need additional people asap, so the hiring firms may not be too pleased about requests to defer.

Thanks recruitgal - what is the 'average' sign on bonus for this level (when offered)? 5%, 10%?ThanksJim

Very much depends on how much we want you! Probably wouldn't be a standard percentage - maybe 5-10k for senior staff...

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