I do not claim I will ever be successful in consulting, nor is this a guide to become successful in consulting. Quite the opposite in fact! From the naive intern and college graduate to an aspiring business school prospective, I have come a long way to understanding that the career pitches made by companies at career fairs are not just laced with sugar, but dunked in syrup. In my short stint in consulting, I have come to realize the insiders point-of-view of what constitutes the life in consulting.
Identification of consulting talent begins at an extremely early stage - junior year atleast and in some cases sophomore and freshman year. A company with whose workers I am acquainted with is targeting sophomore students to recruit. While this sounds exciting, what it also means is that sophomore college students must act wiser, much beyond their age in order to impress these companies. Even a small mistake is remembered and noted for a significant enough time. A guy with excessive ear hair was rejected and 'not client ready' was written on his profile; it still is written on his profile.
They tell you consulting is exciting work - the projects, the travel, the pay. What they should also mention is the politics, disrespect for work-life balance, and the lack of forgiveness to employees. There is tremendous amounts of 'playing the game'. For instance, even if it is at 12 am at night, a manager calling and asking for help, you must oblige. Not doing so is what the consultants describe as a 'potentially limiting career-move'. Not only does the manager hold a grudge against you for the foreseeable future, but also word about this usually spreads around about the uncooperative nature of the analyst. One particular consulting firm often claims that analysts can work from home; Yet everyday the analyst does not show up, it is noted, even if the work is completed.
Another consulting firm is divided by region and each office has its own head partner. Therefore, making sure the regional-head and office-head partner know you and that you're on good terms with them is of prime importance. A close friend I know got assigned to a project which was headed by a partner of a different region. As a consequence of the travel and work requirements of the project, his own regional and local partners knew little of him, which cost him dearly when it came to 'realignment'. The partner preferred the analyst he knew and had worked with before even than our aforementioned unsung hero. (Incidentally, our unsung hero had a higher performance evaluation than the analyst who kept his job).
The travel for project no doubt takes a toll on family life, but one must also account the travel for networking purposes. There will be events which analysts must attend because that is where the 'big guns' will be hiring for the next project.
Furthermore the projects must be found and picked by the analyst, there is no one assigning you the projects. So in a recession, such as the current one faced by the world, an inexperienced analyst must build up his/ her network even quicker merely to be on the same landscape as the more experienced colleagues. Upset at the loss of the project, excessive happiness on success, showing any sort of excessive emotion is frowned upon.
A dear friend of mine once said it best when he stated 'Utilization is king' and 'Someone is always watching'.
Now I am not discouraging anyone with the above information. In fact, many people are suited for consulting, they enjoy the networking, they like playing the game, they like the handsome rewards that go with it and are willing to make all the tradeoffs. But this is to guide people about the unheard side of consulting and merely help them an informed decision...
Identification of consulting talent begins at an extremely early stage - junior year atleast and in some cases sophomore and freshman year. A company with whose workers I am acquainted with is targeting sophomore students to recruit. While this sounds exciting, what it also means is that sophomore college students must act wiser, much beyond their age in order to impress these companies. Even a small mistake is remembered and noted for a significant enough time. A guy with excessive ear hair was rejected and 'not client ready' was written on his profile; it still is written on his profile.
They tell you consulting is exciting work - the projects, the travel, the pay. What they should also mention is the politics, disrespect for work-life balance, and the lack of forgiveness to employees. There is tremendous amounts of 'playing the game'. For instance, even if it is at 12 am at night, a manager calling and asking for help, you must oblige. Not doing so is what the consultants describe as a 'potentially limiting career-move'. Not only does the manager hold a grudge against you for the foreseeable future, but also word about this usually spreads around about the uncooperative nature of the analyst. One particular consulting firm often claims that analysts can work from home; Yet everyday the analyst does not show up, it is noted, even if the work is completed.
Another consulting firm is divided by region and each office has its own head partner. Therefore, making sure the regional-head and office-head partner know you and that you're on good terms with them is of prime importance. A close friend I know got assigned to a project which was headed by a partner of a different region. As a consequence of the travel and work requirements of the project, his own regional and local partners knew little of him, which cost him dearly when it came to 'realignment'. The partner preferred the analyst he knew and had worked with before even than our aforementioned unsung hero. (Incidentally, our unsung hero had a higher performance evaluation than the analyst who kept his job).
The travel for project no doubt takes a toll on family life, but one must also account the travel for networking purposes. There will be events which analysts must attend because that is where the 'big guns' will be hiring for the next project.
Furthermore the projects must be found and picked by the analyst, there is no one assigning you the projects. So in a recession, such as the current one faced by the world, an inexperienced analyst must build up his/ her network even quicker merely to be on the same landscape as the more experienced colleagues. Upset at the loss of the project, excessive happiness on success, showing any sort of excessive emotion is frowned upon.
A dear friend of mine once said it best when he stated 'Utilization is king' and 'Someone is always watching'.
Now I am not discouraging anyone with the above information. In fact, many people are suited for consulting, they enjoy the networking, they like playing the game, they like the handsome rewards that go with it and are willing to make all the tradeoffs. But this is to guide people about the unheard side of consulting and merely help them an informed decision...
1 comment:
Interesting. Lets see!
Post a Comment