Reasons to go into commercial consulting vs federal
In the past I have interned with JP Morgan for two years and then Accenture federal services. I am about to graduate and would like to switch to the commercial side of Accenture. Is that a hard transition? What are good validated reasons to want to try out the commercial side. To me federal work of course is a bit more slow pace but what are some other good reasons?
I think the fact that you don't want to work in federal is a good enough reason. However, that doesn't mean that Accenture will accommodate you (I can't speak to whether they will or not). If you truly want to work in Commercial I would tell them while interviewing elsewhere for jobs more aligned to your interests.
Federal is lower pay, but easier hours. Federal projects are usually much longer than commercial too. One isn't intrinsically better than the other...but if you're highly career motivated I'd pick commercial, if you have interests outside of work I'd choose federal.
Biggest differences:
Commercial - higher pay, 80%+ travel, points points points, aka free vacations :), alternate travel perks, etc. Federal - lower pay, better work-life (generally 40 hour work weeks)
That said, commercial can be tough. I've seen a handful move to Federal after they've burned out and want to focus more on family.
I started at Deloitte Consulting Federal Practice and after about three years switched to do commercial projects. If I had to choose, I really liked the Federal projects, as it always seemed a bit more exciting, especially if your in the Defense/Intel/Treasury area. Pay was a bit lower but not a vast difference. Plus, I loved living in DC.
Commercial projects are def more fast paced and ad hoc in a sense, with timelines that are not as long in duration (some were three weeks long) I also was working on multiple projects at once, which I felt made the work harder to engage with.
Just my pennies to add :)
I've worked in both Federal and Commercial consulting at a Big 4. Above posters are spot on. What I can say in addition is that the transition from Federal to Commercial is possible, but difficult to do. I had to work hard to get my promotion, get top ratings, and then network my ass off to get a transfer request approved. I transferred immediately after I was promoted to Senior. You can also try to interview at competitor firms. If you stay in Federal too long, you could get pigeon-holed and will not be able to leave DC. Exit opps in Federal are typically government agencies (Fannie, Freddie, DoD, HUD, etc.). Commercial is faster-paced, more interesting, gives you more transferable/valuable skills, better for B-school, and has good exit opps to industry.
Move from Public Sector to Private in Consulting (Originally Posted: 06/19/2012)
I'm trying to help out a friend who is trying to move from the public sector to the private; however, I have no idea about the move - do any of you? I only have a faint idea of this move, and it would be great to hear some feedback. All I've read are articles from the guardian and consulting café about the move - if you guys have heard of this move or how successful it has been to your friends, I would love to know so I could tell my friend.
Regards
The links to the two articles below.
the Guardian article
SPAM LINK
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your friend just needs to network in his current firm and get staffed onto a project on the commercial end and can make the switch. in my firm, it happens quite often (despite what people on this firm will tell you).
Federal v. Commercial Consulting Exit Ops (Originally Posted: 11/21/2013)
Hey guys, I'm currently deciding between offers. Current fourth year student, not planning to get my MBA. My top two choices are:
Small firm, recently founded but experienced growth over the past few years. They're based out of a few different cities but only focused in four industries. I'm concerned about the exit ops because it's a small firm (less than 200 people) and because they only do work in those four industries.
Large firm, Vault top 20, federal practice. I've read a couple of threads that mention exit ops for federal consulting, but almost all of my previous internship experience has been with the federal government. I feel that given my background, going into federal consulting now would lock me into the public sector forever and I would never be able to switch to commercial work if I take this.
The total compensation (base, bonus, benefits, etc) is only 10k different so that's not a big deal. Which would be better in terms of exit opportunities?
I'm interested in this as well, especially for larger (big 4, ACN, BAH) firms coming from non-IT consulting positions.
What are exit ops that don't include bschool?
So far from everyone I've talked to it looks like b-school is the only real exit opportunity. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? My deadline to decide is coming up really soon.
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