Consultant career length question
So I've seen posts and threads saying that the average consultant career length is about 1-3 years. What I would like to understand is the average length for those who actually want to stay in.
I imagine the 1-3 year figure probably includes:
1. The BA population: mostly short timers until they go to get their MBA or go somewhere else.
2. The gain skills population: go in specifically to work for 1-2 years, get a certain skill set, then leave
3. Poor lifestyle/personality fits: quickly find out within the first year that they hate the work/lifestlye
4. Exit opportunity folks: People coming in specifically to pad the resume for an exit opp after 1-3 years
Does anyone have any idea about the average career length for post MBA at MBB who doesn't mind the lifestyle and actually wants to consult for an extended period of time? This average would then only take into account the spectrum of performance among those who intended to consult for a while and would capture the careers of those actually "counseled out" as well as the high performers. I'm sure there isn't any real great solid data on this, but maybe someone in the industry who takes a second to think of when/where their peers left and why may have an idea.
Why not enter consulting and stay in it as long as you want to when you get there?
That's what I was trying to ascertain. So I did in fact accept the offer to one of the companies and am headed straight down that path. I know I'll get great skills and have great exit opps. Just wondering what are the real tenures of those who plan to make consulting a career. Something I am considering focusing on as opposed to working on exit opps right away.
Like I've said, I've done some research, talked with some in consulting, but maybe hoping for a less polished and more real answer.
Fair enough, can't fault you for that- logically speaking, wouldn't the answer in your case be the duration of your career?
MBB here. Informally know that around half of Associates/Consultants are promoted to the EM/PL/Manager level (vs. counseled out). That said, don't know how many of those half that got counseled out didn't plan to stay with the firm anyways (and thus their performance suffered) or how many of the half that got promoted continued (my guess is most).
My takeaway is that if you truly love consulting, or at least have a genuine desire to continue in the long term, the opportunity is always there; you just have to have an excellent attitude and work hard to make sure it materializes. As with anything, if you like it, you will put in the hours, do good work, and get promoted. Good luck!
20% turn over every year. Average tenure is ~2 years. If you want to stay, at most levels there is opportunity to do so. Most people who leave, the decision is mutual (they want to do something else/ aren't loving it). Seems like you rarely see people forced out who want to progress.
If 20% turn over every year, the average isn't ~2 years. It would be about 4 years if you mean 20% of the people left over (it would obviously be 3 years if you meant 20% of the original total left every year).
1 / 20% = 5 years average turnover
p.s. pretty sure he means 20% of the company leaves each year
Length of Time in Consulting before Leaving (Originally Posted: 11/19/2015)
Hi WSO,
To my fellow and past consultants, how long did you stay in consulting before moving to industry. I'm at the point where doing meaningless "discussion decks" for a partner the day before a meeting feels like a waste of a life. Just want to see how long I should stick it out for my resume.
bump
I think there is no right time for leaving. It depends of your goals. I still believe that consulting is a career accelerator. Therefore, if you stay longer, you will "win more years compared to an industry track".
-You could leave after 2years and go to PE. But if you go directly to the industry you will still be an analyst probably.
-If you leave after 3-5 years, you will arrive in the industry as a manager probably.
-After 4-6 years, you could be a senior manager.
-After 6-8, you could be a director.
-Then director or VP.
This classification is not MECE at all ! It depends of so many factors. The size of the company you are joining, the department, your previous experience, if you did a business school....
Since you are in consulting you probably already know that, I think you should talk with your peers, your mentor and some headhunters. They will be able to give you personalized advice.
If you are really in a " I hate my job mode", you can still take 2 or 3 month of leaves of absence in order to figure out what you want to do next or just chill and do a fresh restart in consulting.
I assume these are years after undergrad? I'm at MBB, and these seem a bit slow.
After 2-3 years you should be at the post MBA level, and then being a manager in industry should be easy, director a stretch.
After 4-5 years you should be leading a team at MBB, which should translate to director easily, with VP a stretch in industry.
etc.
I second what NoHelp2015 said. Not sure anyone will answer this for you, as it is a pretty personal decision.
As someone who's ~3 years in, and staying around for at least another year (switching to an Australian office for a year), I can tell you how I thought about it (and decided to stay).
In general, I fit the impatient, millennial overachiever archetype fairly well. Given that, I realize I'm inherently going to be somewhat unsatisfied with early, entry-level type jobs. So, though consulting is frustrating at times (e.g., long engagements, more deck writing vs. problem solving, etc.), I don't know of many other jobs that wouldn't be equivalently boring at this level. Doing endless valuation analyses doesn't sound intrinsically more interesting to me (though may more lucrative). Coding at an entry level role doesn't sound more interesting. So on and so forth.
So, in my case, I viewed my frustration as a level / scope of responsibility issue, NOT a career path / type of work issue. I want to be able to manage a team, get more client responsibility, and focus on multiple bigger picture client problems vs. one "module". But I could see myself really like the next level (or several levels up). So, in this scenario, I shifted focus to what will get me to a job I like better quickest. In my case, at least ~1 additional year in consulting made the most sense before exploring options.
In your scenario, you may realize that level isn't your main complaint. In general, you might not like consulting, the types of problems you solve, the way of working, etc. In this case, it could clearly make sense to leave and try something different that you think you'd find more interesting. Simply put, you need to disaggregate frustration with "consulting" vs. frustration with being in an early career stage.
I'd caution you to view it more as defining what you want out of your career and when, vs. checking the box on length of time to stay for your resume (though that's a practical consideration). The four-year hoop-jumping exercises are over :)
Best of luck.
@Nohelp2015, I agree with you. Hence, I 'm staying for a while at least. I just think the options reset once you get to the project leader / engagement manager role. So, I'm staying through to that (no b-school) and then deciding. Agree that the early exit options aren't that attractive.
You can go from undergrad to manager in 3 years at McKinsey. I have friends who did that.
4-5 years from undergrad to Engagement manager/PL/Case team lead is totally reasonable.
As a manager, shooting for a director position is the norm. If you take senior manager that is generally a step down. This is from the perspective of someone who IS a manager at MBB, and HAS received multiple job offers (not just recruiting messages) at the director level.
BTW, F500 does include mid sized companies, in my opinion. $5B is about the cutoff.
Best case in 5 years from undergrad you could be the level below partner. Then a director is definitely too low, and you're pushing VP.
How many years in consulting until b-school if I'm coming straight out of undergrad?
Anywhere from two to four. Three is typical from what I've seen, less than that and you lack experience a bit, more than that and you're probably looking at a direct promotion.
Average Consulting Career Length? (Originally Posted: 08/01/2012)
All,
I am sure that there is no clear answer to this question, but I am curious what the typical career length is for an entry level consultant? I understand that many people use consulting as a way to gain business experience, and make great industry contacts before moving onto something else. Of those people who do not spend their entire careers in consulting, How many years on average do they stay in consulting before moving on to other careers?
Thanks
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