我退出咨询时学到的最重要的东西
I left consulting a little over 6 months ago and was recently doing some reflecting on my time in consulting, finally exiting after 7 years and where I want to be in the future. As I look back, I wanted to share the 5 most important things I learned through exiting
我的简短背景：花了7年的4年策略（想想S＆，EY-P，Deloitte S&O), left at the manager / EM / Director level to take a leadership role at a portfolio company of aMM/ UMMPEfirm
1. Prestige is overrated (to an extent), your experience is going to drive your exit
在我所有的时间面试,次大陆t thing I realized was that at the end of the day, the majority of employers see the consulting shops as relatively equal and really your experience matters. Early in my career, I was much more of a "yes man" and took on whatever project the partners who I worked with wanted me to. My advice to early consultants is find a balance - if you want to do strategy at Spotify, make sure you're继续工作TMTstrategy engagements. In my experience, the consultants that pushed back may have seemed high-maintenance, but I don't think it ever actually hurt them during reviews or compensation. One caveat - You likely will not get looks at the most prestigious consulting exit ops (e.g.,PEdeal teams,KKR顶峰, blue-chip strategy, etc.) if you aren'tMBB
2.Patience is a virtue - wait for the right exit
Over my 7 years in consulting, I saw a number of people take exits because "they needed to get out of consulting." IMO that's a fucking loser attitude, be patient and make sure you find the right opportunity and are compensated well (no pay cuts here). My framework for evaluating a lot of opportunities really came down to one question "could I have gotten this job if I didn't slave away in consulting for 7 years?" If the answer was no, I didn't pursue it. This job requires a lot of sacrifice, make sure it was worth it in the end in terms of the role and compensation
3. Where do you want to be in 1, 3, 5 and 10 years from now - how does this exit get you there?
当我评估很多机会时，一个真正有用的建议是考虑一下每个机会如何使我走上正确的道路。对我个人而言，我真的很想学习如何成为运营商并经营公司或组织，而我目前的角色使我能够做到这一点
4.对您将与谁合作进行广泛的尽职调查
Consulting isn't like other careers - you don't typically have a "boss" and if you don't like working with somebody, you can probably avoid them in the future. "Industry" will be different, and your relationship with your superior(s) will be one of the largest factors on if you enjoy your role. Additionally, if you're going to work at a smaller company, start-up orPEport co, I would really think about if the executive team are people you trust and think can deliver - a positive outcome (i.e., a good sale / exit) rises all
5. If you were a high performer in consulting, you'll be a high performer wherever you exit. Make sure that exit gives you a piece of the upside
这将很大程度上取决于你退出,但是I can confidently say that extensive consulting experience will transfer really well to just about any role. If you were a high performer in consulting, you should feel confident that you will be able to exceed in your next role. When people say 1 year of consulting experience is 1.5-2 in industry, they aren't wrong. Also, find a role that gives you a piece in the upside - one of the things I hated about consulting is I was always grinding to fund some partner's pension
Would love to hear other thoughts as well
Comments (14)
You sound like one of those template-employee boomers who will openly despise someone and secretly regret his life if you see someone else get that 'dream job' you went for, without those 7 years of grinding.
在您拥有15年之前的一代人。
Haha nah man, life is not a zero sum game. Your career will be a lot more rewarding if you help others succeed
我完全同意这一点，但是如果为了离开，我就不会把别人贴上他妈的失败者的标签。这并不是唯一有意义的工作，还有许多其他方法可以实现相同的目标（有时可能会更快）。咨询的失败者可以成为其他方面的冠军。
Very helpful, thanks for sharing! A few questions:
1) How did you manage your time as you were interviewing / applying while still working in a demanding job?
2) In your search, any patterns you notice in the types of places / roles that tend to be "consultant friendly"?
3）您有多少招聘是从您的主动宣传与招聘人员发起的？
4) What specific experiences / project types positioned you well for your currentPErole?
1.我在夜晚 /周末做了很多准备，一旦您积极面试，每次面试的增量准备就会减少。做诸如CASE PREP之类的事情使它变得更加困难。对我来说，我只开始接受面试过程，如果这是一项我要做的工作（薪酬待定）
2. It's going to vary by the role, but I think most places are really consultant friendly given the experience you'll gain through an extended (5+ years) consulting career. ThePE公司给我带来通常雇用顾问的公司担任我在港口公司的角色
3.我经历了一个过程，我列出了我感兴趣的角色 /公司清单，并开始与可以将我联系到该小组或提供推荐的个人，这确实很有帮助，因为市场是如此有竞争力，并且有有1000名希望退出的顾问。我最终最终扮演的角色是通过招聘人员在LinkedIn上与我接触的角色 - 我建议您保持您的个人资料的最新状态
4. My current role is M&A and strategy focused - while in consulting I focused on those two areas so the experience translated well - goes back to my point about making sure you're working on projects that are aligned with what you want to do after consulting
Glad you found the post helpful
I get where ur coming from on the prestige point, but saying that all shops are viewed in a similar manner is a bit much. Very much agree you can still get fantastic exits from T2/Boutique if you leverage your experience correctly, but you said it yourself, a lot of firms/companies only take fromMBB. Tbh even a lot of companies that aren't super "prestigious" would probably take a McK generalist over a boutique specialist, as odd as that may sound, simply because for better or worse theMBBBrand是Helluva药物。
This is same in banking. If you don't work atBB或顶部EB, your chance at黑石或KKRis close to none. Experiencing that right now although I'm ranked a top analyst in my group & company.
这是一个公平的观点，肯定会同意MBBbrand is the professional's heroine. Another point is your experience atMBBis going to be a lot more valuable than at a T2 or Big 4 Strategy IMO.
I was there for 7 years, but probably could've learned everything over 4-5 years if I was on the right projects. A lot of work at these firms can be mediocre and you can go extended periods of time without really learning or being challenged. I never worked atMBB，但是想象这一点并不常见
IsMBBreally that much better though, or is it perceived to be better. Especially in specific areas. Is McK healthcare better than ZS? Is Bains CDDs really better than LEKs/EYPs? I don't think so. Plus 95% of exits are the same. It is just the outliers do better fromMBB. I would also say the #1 performer at LEK would be a top performer at Bain as well. It's all a fallacy, and I work at aMBBfwiw
How do you view Ow, Roland Berger, Kearney in the UK? VsMBBprestige, reputation, exit
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