If they're flying you out, putting you in a hotel, giving you a meal allowance, handling your powerpoint presentations, and organizing the business operations, it does cut down the amount of money that they're keeping.
18:1 does seem like a pretty high markup, but if you're working at McKinsey/Boston/Bain, you're also being paid in prestige - just like if you're working at Goldman Sachs or Skadden Arps. Because you have had a prestigious job in the past, it's much easier to be in 'the club' for other prestigious jobs in the future. It's also a big part of the carrot of eventually being a Partner/MD where you make $1m + for the last 30 years of your career.
It's hard to fathom, but as a recruiter, there's a massive inequality in the employment experience. Some people are battling to get into entry level roles, whereas others are recruited straight from college into highly paid opportunities that lead onto more of the same.
18:1 does seem like a pretty high markup, but if you're working at McKinsey/Boston/Bain, you're also being paid in prestige - just like if you're working at Goldman Sachs or Skadden Arps. Because you have had a prestigious job in the past, it's much easier to be in 'the club' for other prestigious jobs in the future. It's also a big part of the carrot of eventually being a Partner/MD where you make $1m + for the last 30 years of your career.
It's hard to fathom, but as a recruiter, there's a massive inequality in the employment experience. Some people are battling to get into entry level roles, whereas others are recruited straight from college into highly paid opportunities that lead onto more of the same.