Jobs in Consulting With Less Travel
Are there any good consulting firms where you DONT have to travel 4 days per week?
Consulting Jobs Not Requiring Travel
Consulting is a very attractive job for those coming out of undergrad or business school but the biggest downside is often known to be the travel involved in the job. Our users shared some firms that have a better reputation regarding travel; however, several users noted that a lot of this depends on your location and sector focus.
Travel requirements generally have more to do with the specific office you're working for rather than the firm. In example, of those I know at Bain/McKinsey in offices like Chicago and Dallas tend to travel quite a bit (mostly to places like bumblefuck, idaho), whereas people in the NY & Boston offices almost never travel.
User @ibanknupe" echoed this explaining:
A lot of it has to do with industry focus and location. If you're financial services and in the NY office or healthcare/pharma in NJ, it limits your travel. Same thing for other major cities where industries have a high concentration.If your focus doesn't have a strong presence in your city, get your ff card out and hit the road.
User @maximafan" caveated this sentiment:
I've been in consulting for 2.5 years now based in New York and I have not spent more than 10 working days in New York. I have been with two companies and nothing has changed. Ironically, my focus is financial services, and I've been working in Boston, Washington DC, Bangalore India, and Luxembourg. It's all based on luck and what is available. The travel sucks - they make it sounds way more glamorous than it really is.
Firms Requiring Less Travel
@RoyalOak" shared:
Mercer Oliver Wyman is really good for keeping consultants away from the planes, as far as possible of course.
Several users shared that Bain Consulting and Booz Allen are two of the best in terms of travel.
Vault - 2018 Best Firms to Work For Based on Travel Requirements
These rankings are determined by firms that require the least amount of travel.
- ClearView Healthcare Partners
- Putnam Associates
- Insight Sourcing Group
- Health Advances, LLC
- Ignyte Group
- Jabian Consulting
- Eagle Hill Consulting
- The Cambridge Group
- Trinity Partners, LLC
- Daugherty Business Solutions
For reference, Bain, McKinsey, and BCG came in at 19, 21, and 22 on the rankings respectively.
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no
Mercer Oliver Wyman is really good for keeping consultants away from the planes, as far as possible of course.
Bain is the best in terms of travel
I have 2 roommates that work at Bain LA. They've traveled like 2 times outside of LA county.
I agree, Bain does have a good travel lifestyle. I didn't travel at all during my first two years and after that, basically, to places I wanted (e.g. London)
Travel requirements generally have more to do with the specific office you're working for rather than the firm. In example, of those I know at B/McK in offices like Chicago and Dallas tend to travel quite a bit (mostly to places like bumblefuck, idaho), whereas people in the NY & Boston offices almost never travel
Are you all talking about post MBA consulting - so i think that would be management consulting? or what other types of consulting are there besides IT and management? Finance consulting?
What does Bain and Booz Allen primarily hire for?
According to vault.com the top consulting firms according to lifestyle are:
"Are you all talking about post MBA consulting - so i think that would be management consulting? or what other types of consulting are there besides IT and management? Finance consulting?"
Management & Strategy Consulting
Tech (IT) Consulting
Operations Consulting
Human Resources (HR) Consulting
Change Management Consulting
Financial Consulting
Health Care Consulting
Marketing Consulting
Business Development/Strategic Planning
Other
If you are on the government side of Booz Allen, the engagements are generally in terms of years, and there can be little to no travel involved.
A lot of it has to do with industry focus and location. If you're financial services and in the NY office or healthcare/pharma in NJ, it limits your travel. Same thing for other major cities where industries have a high concentration.
If your focus doesn't have a strong presence in your city, get your ff card out and hit the road.
I've been in consulting for 2.5 years now based in New York and I have not spent more than 10 working days in New York. I have been with two companies and nothing has changed. Ironically, my focus is financial services, and I've been working in Boston, Washington DC, Bangalore India, and Luxembourg. It's all based on luck and what is available. The travel sucks - they make it sounds way more glamorous than it really is.
did you go into consulting after undergrad or mba? just curious.
Shit, consulting sounds like a lottery.
Shit, consulting sounds like a lottery.
Know a couple of people who work there as a Business Analyst and Consultant -- they hardly travel.
BCG somehow gets itself ranked highly everywhere, but their consultants travel way more on average than Bain.
Really, the vast majority of consulting firms are going to be all about the travel. Exceptions are usually only for people at the Engagement Manager level or above, being able to consistently choose clients who are local or require little on-site engagement.
I didn't travel my first 4 months because I had a client in NYC. Now it's all-midwest, all the time - probably every week henceforth.
bain.
have a friend who interned this term at Mercer,Oliver,Wyman -- has been travelling non-stop as an intern. HK,Singapore,India,Paris,London,Amsterdam,Frankfurt are just a few of the places hes been, a lot of times leaving on saturdays
There seems to be a theme that MOW is okay for not travelling and Bain is good.
I've heard that MOW tries to return their consultants to their hom office each friday, does Bain have any policy that makes them so great?
Consulting with minimum travel? (Originally Posted: 11/16/2011)
So consulting seems like the job that best fits my interests/future plans atm, but seeing as I have a son, I don't think I would like traveling all week every week. I've read on here that some consulting firms don't make you travel too much (depending on location), but how rare is it to actually find those types of jobs?
Also, I've read that the location of where you work doesn't matter much... but what about McKinsey in Detroit?... it seems like being in Detroit alone would work against you if business school adcoms/other employers are as obsessed with prestige and pedigree as ibers seem to be.
What experience do you have? Would you be starting as an analyst or associate?
I don't think LEK travels much, if at all.
I don't have any experience, I'm just thinking in terms of the future seeing as breaking into top consulting firms takes a lot of time and work...
oh, and working longer hours doesn't really bother me, I'd just like to be able to come home at night.
This is like banking with minimal all nighters. Weak.
Well, I still think that what I would learn in consulting would be a lot more applicable to what I'd like to do in the future than banking... not to mention the exit ops are much better when it comes to non-finance. It seems like a pretty good place to be if you know you want to be in business, but you're not too sure on what industry you want to go into.
I would think NYC would have less travel. Likely stay in town and serve FS clients.
LEK is definitely a strong bet if you're looking for little travel. I also believe Point B has a strong culture culminated around experienced professionals with families. Definitely encourage you to look into both of them more.
Thanks for the input...
so I'm guessing MBB is out of the question unless it's in New York?
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think McK would travel more, even out of NY, compared to Bain and BCG.
I think Bain and BCG use local staffing models, McK does not.
Slalom Consulting requires very little travel. You could check them out.
McK's Detroit office is very good, great culture. But there isn't much business going on in Detroit, so you'll definitely be traveling.
@Proboscis, Bain used to travel less, but not really anymore. BCG and Bain do staff out of their local offices, but this doesn't mean you travel less. Instead, it means that the junior consultants get staffed on projects sold by partners in their local office. Contrast this with McK, where the staffing pool is more regional/national, so you'll be more likely to get staffed on projects sold by partners outside your local office.
Some boutiques don't travel too much. One that I interned at, and another that I interviewed at travel only "as necessary", meaning, when the client demands it, or when necessary for the project. The consultants at these firms rarely travel 4-5 days a week, and 1-2 trips per month is the norm.
The (potential) downside is that working at a boutique means you might have to specialize in a specific function (i.e. sales, or supply chain), or a specific industry (i.e. pharma, or retail), since many boutiques fill a certain niche. That said, I had a very positive experience at a boutique that specializes in aerospace & defense.
DC would have less travel...if you don't mind government projects. Also places like Houston with oil projects always going on or San Fran with tech projects always going on could be good. I'm thinking Detroit would not be a good homebase...I would guess not a lot going on there project wise
DC would be federal work...Deloitte in NYC mainly stays in the city and Accenture is cutting back on travel with new structure...also boutiques usually have more local clients so less travel
http://consultingmagazine.org/article/ART852236?C=Q85C0DLJnh1NaG0d
the front page of this article shows the top firms for work life balance check it out.
Look into consulting in DC offices that focus on either government or healthcare. Government consulting, especially if you can get a TS, is both lucrative and ensures job security for the rest of your career. Being in DC, they rarely travel (in my experience) and if they do, its generally shorter trips (2 days seems to be the going rate). Of course, going into a specific field within consulting would be predicated on you having an interest in said field but thats my .02.
Would a criminal record prevent me from taking part in government consulting? I'm really more interested in tech anyways, but who knows.
Again, thanks for the input everybody
the CEO at my company spent 20 years at McK based out of Toronto and he says that his "combat zone" stretched from Toronto to Chicago to Detroit to New York and Montreal... not sure if that helps but there you go
Even worth going for consulting if you really don't want to travel? (Originally Posted: 12/06/2012)
Strategy consulting seems like a really interesting job, but I haven't been looking into consulting too much because I really don't want to travel too much. I'd be fine if it was every now and then, but I don't want to spend every week flying somewhere while I have my son staying wherever I'm based.
I know that there are some consulting firms/locations that don't travel much, but are they so rare that it really wouldn't even be worth it for me to study/prepare for consulting interviews? I know the percentage of getting a consulting job is already low, would looking for a non-traveling role make the odds so small that I might as well focus my search somewhere else (I'm interested in a lot of different careers right now - very confused atm)?
Government consulting does 0-10% travel and while many places source locally (i.e. Bain) there is still travel. I am currently on a local project and love it but travel is part of the job. Luckily for me my only travel has been to London and Mexico City but still most other people are M-Th every week...just fyi
corp strat could be an option, no/little travel and still strategic.
^was definitely interested when I read the interview with Nefarious
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