After fighting long and hard to secure a grad-level offer at a consulting firm, I've been there for a few months now and have realized I hate it. While I think a lot has to do with my current manager, who is something else, I find it extremely stressful every single day, on top of spending 4-5 days in the "field" each week. I enjoyed what I did before but made half as much; even so, I've considered trading back (my living expenses left plenty of room for savings even then, and I'm happy in a cheap apartment, where I still live).
At the same time, I know that a year or two of consulting opens doors to jobs that are more my pace--10-12 hour days, and very little travel, with pay not far off where I am now. I suppose I didn't realize that, despite being an "overachiever", there are limits to what I really care to accomplish, particularly as they take me away from the things I truly cherish (family, friends, sleeping in my own bed and having a bit of time to unwind). The other stuff--money, prestige--don't seem nearly as important.
Any thoughts? Do I stick it out? Start dusting off the resume? Try some tips that will make my life easier while I hold on for dear life for another year? Has anyone else gotten cold feet in the first few months and bailed, or am I just spoiled?
Thanks!
Quitting a high paying consulting job
the following was originally posted as a response by @hugo bentley" and has been formatted for this post
A few years ago I was in a similar position to you: I had a pretty well paid + somewhat respectable job in finance, but for various reasons I became desperate to leave.
Incidentally, I also posted on forums seeking opinion; received over 30k views in all - so I knew I wasn't the only person out there thinking this way.
After sticking it out in finance for a total of 2 years I finally took the leap and fell out of the rat-race. One week later and I had become a barman, while simultaneously pursuing my own business venture of sorts on the side.
That was 2 years ago.
I am now unemployed, my business venture has not panned out as I had hoped, and my net worth is heading to zero. Unsurprisingly I find myself dwelling on the PSPSPS / position I might have been in, if only I had "stuck it out" in my old career beyond the 2 year mark. But in an alternate universe somewhere, is there a version of me who DID "stick it out" and is still grinding away in the rat-race wondering 'what could have been' if he had only taken the leap of faith (as I , in reality, did)?
Lesson #1 : the grass is often greener on the other side. If you leave now, you may well find yourself, at times, regretting that you gave up the prestige/money/security/world-travelling-prospects. My brother often says he would love to quit his job because he hates it - but he takes one look at my situation and that stops him from doing so. My life has become a warning to others... lol.
You mention you have been at this for a few months. I have two thoughts on that:
- To be honest, it wouldn't look great to have only several months of experience in a job on your resume, so unless it is truly unbearable (and as you read this you will probably be nodding yourself saying, 'oh but it is unbearable' --- BUT IS IT REALLY?), that is something to consider. You fought hard to get in, don't give up lightly!
- As hard/impossible as it is to imagine at this moment, the constant daily stress level WILL subside over time, you will start to feel more at ease in the position. Eventually you may be picking up an ever-increasing pay cheque and wondering why your employer is paying you so much. I strongly sense that your manager is one of the big issues, even though he/she received only a brief mention in your opening post. I also felt uncomfortable/stressed out by my manager, back in the day. You never know what hand fate will deal - he/she could quit out of the blue, get fired for sexual harassment, either of you get moved.
So bear in mind two classic movie scenes (I seem to be including a lot of lists and numbers in this post):
- Tom Hanks in Castaway. He wanted to kill himself after being on that island for too long, but instead he makes the decision to keep breathing, to stay alive, because you never know what the tide will bring in.
- Edward Norton in Fightclub. After engaging in his hardcore underground fighting, all the other stresses in his life become insignificant. So much so that when his boss is moaning at him, Norton hardly registers it. Make the decision to not allow your manager to piss you off so much. As you said yourself, you don't even want the freaking job right now anyway!
- Not sure what country you are in, but regardless, the economy is pretty crap right now. So despite what I said about not having any clear cut answers, I am going to make a clear cut call for you anyway: Stick with it. Just power on, you are already at the bottom of the trough, do not sell out now at the worst price... it's recovery-to-boom from here on out!
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Tough call - I have my thoughts to share, and they are relevant, but perhaps no clear cut answer at the end of it either.
A few years ago I was in a similar position to you: I had a pretty well paid + somewhat respectable job in finance, but for various reasons I became desperate to leave.
Incidentally, I also posted on forums seeking opinion; received over 30k views in all - so I knew I wasn't the only person out there thinking this way.
After sticking it out in finance for a total of 2 years I finally took the leap and fell out of the rat-race. One week later and I had become a barman, while simultaneously pursuing my own business venture of sorts on the side.
That was 2 years ago.
I am now unemployed, my business venture has not panned out as I had hoped, and my net worth is heading to zero. Unsurprisingly I find myself dwelling on the £££ / position I might have been in, if only I had "stuck it out" in my old career beyond the 2 year mark. But in an alternate universe somewhere, is there a version of me who DID "stick it out" and is still grinding away in the rat-race wondering 'what could have been' if he had only taken the leap of faith (as I , in reality, did)?
Lesson #1 : the grass is often greener on the other side. If you leave now, you may well find yourself, at times, regretting that you gave up the prestige/money/security/world-travelling-prospects. My brother often says he would love to quit his job because he hates it - but he takes one look at my situation and that stops him from doing so. My life has become a warning to others... lol.
You mention you have been at this for a few months. I have two thoughts on that: 1. To be honest, it wouldn't look great to have only several months of experience in a job on your resume, so unless it is truly unbearable (and as you read this you will probably be nodding yourself saying, 'oh but it is unbearable' --- BUT IS IT REALLY?), that is something to consider. You fought hard to get in, don't give up lightly!
So bear in mind two classic movie scenes (I seem to be including a lot of lists and numbers in this post):
Tom Hanks in Castaway. He wanted to kill himself after being on that island for too long, but instead he makes the decision to keep breathing, to stay alive, because you never know what the tide will bring in.
Edward Norton in Fightclub. After engaging in his hardcore underground fighting, all the other stresses in his life become insignificant. So much so that when his boss is moaning at him, Norton hardly registers it. Make the decision to not allow your manager to piss you off so much. As you said yourself, you don't even want the freaking job right now anyway!
Have you ever tried poverty?
I found consulting to be an absolutely miserable experience and left after 13 months. Paradoxically, I think that this was too soon, I wish I had stuck it out longer. For one, after about a year you get used to the rhythm and the idiotic people, indifferent clients, irrelevant work, pointless travel, etc. In my case, when I left, I was just getting the hang of blowing smoke up people's asses and carving out free time during the day. The longer you stay, the more you get left alone, the easier the work gets, and the more you can slack off and just let if flow.
The grass is always greener on the other side - I left for a non profit, about the same base pay but zero bonus. The people were equally idiotic and I was really hurting at the end of the year. Not having to travel around or stay in the office until one in the morning was nice, but after a while you need to come up with hobbies to fill up all the free time, or it just ends up getting wasted watching TV, etc. I don't have the desire to pursue hobbies apparently.. I'd rather more time be filled up with work, it makes the time off sweeter.
Also, I compare my experience to people who stuck it out for 2 (almost 3 years) and were eventually asked to leave because they were not going to be promoted. Their "go away and don't bitch about us" bonus was almost as large as a normal bonus. I mean people who were shitty performers, who didn't give a shit, and who definitely didn't like it but at the same time didn't stress about it were getting paid $100k to resign (with a couple of months to look for a new job while finishing up their projects). So if I had just farted around for another 2 years, I'd have an additional bonus check in the bank plus $100k for quitting, and I'd be able to honestly say that I quit because I was looking for another challenge (vs. being fired, vs. quitting to work on my personal projects, or travel the world, or go back to school, or whatever bullshit excuses people come up with for taking a break because they are bitter and burned out).
I'd stay put. It's a bitch to break into consulting, and the first year is a bitch, but I think it smooths out later on. Rewards come to those with a high tolerance for bullshit and idiocy. Stick it out.
Which firm pays 100k to fuck off? I have never heard of this happening.
Hope you won't take this personally because I will be harsh. The easiest way to be unhappy about your job is to be unhappy. I've been in Industry, Consulting, IB, HFs, and met people from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, skill level, work ethics/schedule/stamina, and whatnot. All those things are orthogonal (or at least have what I believe to be a statistically indistinguishable correlation) to happiness. One can be miserable making 1M/yr in a Fiji resort, and also happy as an MTA janitor sweeping dead rats for 25k. Now, you mentioned you liked your other job, but did you really? Isn't this just proximity bias (grass is greener blah blah et caetera)? Why did you leave for consulting? I sense you could be inverting the whole thing, and you are not miserable because you have this job, but it's the other way around. My opinion? Work for a bit longer and wait for a couple new projects to test your convictions or even just as a hedge against regret. But most importantly, stop wearing the "overachiever" vest that forces you to go for the front page jobs at the expense of your life. Spend a good deal of time thinking about what really turns you on both work and leisure-wise, and go for it. Good luck.
I've (foolishly) been consulting for over 10 years. It's thankless, overly stressful work. I am actively looking to leave to go to industry. It doesn't matter whether it's one of the Big consulting firm or small boutique consulting firms...it's all the SAME soul crushing grind. I thought coming to a smaller firm would be different, more work/life balance...that was a fantasy. I wake up sick to my stomach every day thinking about the 13 hours of work I have daily. I HATE it.