Consulting firms are very good at selling themselves to potential recruits. But, like any sales pitch, there’s a degree of exaggeration behind the polished smiles. In this post, I explore the other side of the value propositions presented by consulting firms during the recruiting process:
“You will be exposed to a wide range of problems and industries”
This is generally true, although it will vary depending on the size of the office you join. In smaller offices or regions, there’s seldom enough work in any given industry for consultants to specialise, so most consultants work as generalists until the point in their careers where building client relationships becomes important. In larger offices that have consistent streams of work in many industries, new consultants may be pigeon-holed to particular industries (e.g. insurance) or types of work (e.g. transformations) as your limited experience means you add most value in areas you’ve worked on before.
“You’ll get great learning and development opportunities”
It’s hard to match the learning and development opportunities in consulting. The fast pace, high standards, wide variety of work, and high-calibre colleagues make it an incredibly rich learning environment. This is supported by comprehensive formal and informal feedback cycles, from regular reviews for career development and promotion, to on-the-job learning direct from your teams. Few other professions can offer similar exposure to industry leaders so early in your career.
“A few years with us will accelerate your career”
Consulting does advance your career, and the exit opportunities into industry are pretty good. Though time in consulting can help you ‘skip’ five to ten years of industry experience, when you exit makes a difference: leaving before your first promotion can be a red flag and may hurt you in entry negotiations. Consultants who leave before promotion from an analyst position to a managerial position (e.g. Engagement Manager, Project Leader, Case Team Leader) advance more slowly. (It’s less common to land buy-side or private equity jobs from consulting, though far from impossible.)
When you leave, most firms will help you transition and offer career planning advice. Partners may make calls to clients to help you land a job in your industry of choice – most clients are happy to take an ex-consultant, as salaries are much cheaper than billing rates.
“You can choose the cases you work on”
Many people enter consulting hoping to work on problems they’re interested in, in industries they care about. In truth, you have limited control over which pieces of work you are assigned. When a new piece of work is sold, firms often do not have a large pool of un-staffed consultants to choose from. As it’s in a firm’s interest to keep you billed as frequently as possible, the firm’s short-term business needs almost always take precedence over your preferences.
The best ways to achieve some level of control over your staffing: good relationships with partners, strong performance, and – if it comes down to it – threatening to leave. This only works once.
“You’ll get to travel”
Though it’s highly likely you’ll travel domestically during your consulting career, it’s less likely you’ll have much control over where you travel (see above) or that you’ll travel internationally. International travel often relies on how busy your office or region is, on your performance, and your career stage. It’s seldom guaranteed.
It’s also worth noting that consulting travel isn’t really travel: on your usual Monday to Thursday run, you’ll see a lot of airports, taxis and hotels, a routine nowhere near as glamourous as people think. Though you accrue oceans of hotel, airline and credit card loyalty points, these are consolation prizes for what can be a tough lifestyle if you are travelling week-in, week-out for months on end. However: most firms allow you to travel wherever you want on weekends, using the budget that you would have spent flying back to your home office. Used wisely, this is a major perk.
“We have systems in place to protect work-life balance”
Most consulting firms are up-front about the fact that the consulting lifestyle can be tough, and few recruits go in expecting a nine-to-five job. While it’s true that most firms have systems in place to monitor hours and qualitative well-being, their efficacy isn’t particularly notable, and they always come second to client needs. Your work-life balance is largely determined by the senior members of your team, some of whom will care more than others about how much sleep you get. It’s not uncommon for consultants to burnout, take stress leave, or have periods of work so intense that the firm mandates rest days to recover between cases. This is a primary reason why turnover at consulting firms is high.
Sam Smith worked in a top-tier management consulting firm for two years before taking time out for study. They write under a pseudonym to bring you honest reflections and insider information.
Image: Pexels
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