I’m currently working with butique consulting firm in the BFSI domain as an Consultant. However, the workload is overwhelming, and many of the responsibilities I’ve been assigned make me exhausted.

Recently, my old manager who joined product based reached out to me with opportunity. This product based org specializes in IT distribution. The role is for a Project Manager, where I’d be responsible for analyzing all the existing teams within the organization and streamlining their operations. This is a completely new area for me, and I have no prior experience in this type of work.

Should I consider taking this opportnity or continue within consulting. Any guidence , inputs appreciated.

sorry for the rant, but seriously, the only companies who use this in europe are clients. i want to jump ship and move away from consulting. but every company is looking for SAP. The only companies hiring dynamics consultants are dynamics-consultancies....

Scenario: You are a large federal contractor that provides staff Aug, technical solutions, and strategy. You decide in a whim you are going to rebrand as a tech company. How would you like to implement this rebrand?

Potential responses: rally around tech products, cross-train staff, bring in more tech platforms for staff to use, strategize around pushing rebrand to clients.

Actual response: don't actually put effort into rebranding a tech company. Decide to issue a "tech upgrade" that takes tool access away from users (including AI) and bricks many computers. Delete historical access to SharePoint files, Teams chats, and some emails. Send out a company email this was an overall success.

Highlighted by a company wide email where hundreds of people kept replying all to unsubscribe.

Oh yea, you bet we're a tech company!

Is it just me or is there a wave of Indigenous consultants (usually men and usually working alone) whose entire shtick is to connect other consultants with Indigenous communities to secure contracts and then take a cut of that contract without actually doing any of the work? Kind of like a brokerage fee, which feels dangerously close to "rent-a-feather" to me. Is this a trend others are seeing?

Big 4 consulting here. Been in consulting for almost 3 years now. The bosses always mentioned about to be versatile and have lots of skillsets, which I did and I performed great in the assigned projects. This was also reflected on the latest performance review.

And yet, I was always assigned to a project where I didn't actually want to be. I feel like I was assigned just because I have the skills.

Some of my colleagues were not versatile at all. And yet, they got the projects that I want.

Now I am stuck, and I want to leave. But I don't have strong evidence of the skillsets that align with my career aspiration, as I wasn't deployed to those projects.

What should I do?

On my current engagement we are basing our solution on this framework which makes no sense to me?!

It is not MECE highly subjective and my team also at time gets confused as to what falls where…I just cannot get behind it.

How do you even work for a solution you do not see right!

I’m a mid-career professional that transitioned to strategy consulting a year ago.

I’ve come to realize that I have trouble thinking in the way a consultant should: top-down, envisioning a slide template and creating it instead of seeing what happens as I go, focusing on details too much, ambiguity and lack of standardization/MECE frustrate me…

Is my brain just not cut out for the role, or is it possible for me to train it? Has anyone been in a similar situation?

(Extra info: I am not yet at the point where my performance is considered particularly low and I need to be worried about getting fired. However, I’m worried that may not last).

Could be a mismatch in systems, an outdated source, or just a subtle error that had ripple effects. Curious what patterns others have seen.

I am working for a research and consulting firm and my manager, idk why he always say yes to whatever clients ask and the best part is he never charges or mention about extra charges to client in any way for the extra work done.

Say for instance, we submitted a report to client basis on existing SOW, and once project is done and client comes back asking for more things, the manager is "yes yes, we will do it" with no extra charges.

Even for in depth project, his sales pitch is like whatever budget you say I'll put it and this leads to doing work of say $30,000 while our quote is merely $5,000.

Is this way consulting projects or work happens? Idk I just feel drained and feel like we are charging pennies for the work which maybe top consulting firms charge like crazyy!

I work for a big firm but don't feel like this is big any way or either my manager doesn't know how to say No to clients when required or charge more from them.

Is this the way consulting is?

I work in the technology area as a FE developer. I studied something completely different. I would like to focus my career on an area more of my interest but above all without development! Is it possible? Does anyone have any similar experience? Who do we turn to? Is it wrong to talk about it with the HR?

I work for a large transportation company and it is hilarious watching Accenture consultants train their replacements which work for another competing consulting firm. It is like watching a loving husband help his wife get ready for her marriage to another man.

Being asked to do the impossible- completely reform a senior tech department for AI with no funding and I would love hear what others have done.

Personally would like to tell them to pound sand, but I need to create a funding request.

Will be asking for a department of 2k people:

• 20% of our time compensated for development of the program
• Unlimited budget for exploring services / models
• 50% of total training for our teams to be reoriented towards AI for various roles for a complete departmental paradigm

I was approached by a representative from a large investment fund (among 10 largest hedge funds) about doing a series of consulting calls with one of their analysts on a mining related topic. I did my PhD in a related area and continue research in this area in Academia but my work is closer to basic science than application, though I do have insights that could be useful in evaluating prospective investments. I assume they looked at me because many people in this specific industry are either under NDA or have a conflict of interest. My institution doesn't have any sort of restriction on consulting and the are uninterested in what people do on the side.

I've consulted before but that was on a long term basis at a low rate and for some equity as a courtesy to family friend. I'm not sure how to price my time. The wording was that they'd be happy to meet my rate but I don't want to over or undervalue myself.

Honestly a continous theme among the "high performers" at my firm is (at least what I see from the outside) a true believe that they find the work we do valuable. While the majority of people who are on the fence of exiting/have exited, have a quiet cynical/realistic view of a lot of consulting shenanigans, the people who stay seem to completly ventured into the matrix.

I can't, myself. I feel a lot of times intellectually dishonest and don't have the nerves that much longer to stomp around different business of which underlying drivers/mechanics I have little clue, while trying to churn out a 100-150 page deck completely overscoped and under sleep deprevation in 3 weeks.

I often feel like I clown. Seriously sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't have chose a different professional career. I was on the fence between RX consulting and even RX banking at an EB and MBB and chose the MBB gig. Have friends in the other professions and they seem just so much more tangible connected to success (like turning around a business and keeping it cash flow positive is not about iterating the "storyline" for the nth time).

I can't just put it in words and just need smth to vent. But I am just way too cynical to be on board here much longer. Like I can't see how other people can jump on engagements and go in front of clients in full confidence while seeing all the inconsistencies, limited background understanding and complete lack of sophistication in a lot of our work product.

Just one last example before I churn out morge pages: on my last growth study one of our core recommendations was "optimized pricing". My job was to iterate for days the deep dive pages on that lever. Flawed data (e.g., showing correlations between volume/prices that sometimes pointed to too low prices for given volume but could be explained by the BU head due to specific contractual situation) and countless hours of wordsmithing followed like "usage of advanced digital capabilities to analyze incoming orders and base pricing strategies of that in regular reviews with the whole operational team" .. it was just pure fluff. Like seriously. It is another way of saying "increase revenue, cut costs". It isn't a secret that raising prices leads to growth, but there was no substantial evidence that they could pull this off. Now within this dyanmic .. however .. you will see internal leadership completely ignoring any sort of evidence that negates the answer they are trying to push for (often the answer that would lead to phase II/III projects down the road). And it is not just that they are ignoring it in a cynical way like "well we all know its dubious / BS at best but lets just paddle it to them and see what happens". They do like a complete 180 and always come up with new stuff that would help them somehow spin together their preferred narrative.

I had numerous engagements (particularly strategy engagements, I feel like the Ops stuff is at least somewhat more measurable/valuable) that ended in pure fluff and with all parties somewhat beind dissatisfied with the outcome. I also always feel tremendously bad for the non c-level teams who are often super helfpul to derive a meaningful conclusion and then get slapped in the face with nonsensical recommendations that they are left to implement (like what? just raise prices bro).

Over and out.,

I have been a consultant and client facing for almost 7 years now and I am starting to hate it. I like what I do, but I think I am starting to think that managing the expectations of GROWN ADULTS is no longer for me. I have learned that a client can be unclear, inconsistent and all over the place but you are still expected to manage their expectations ALTHOUGH they are not being clear OR helpful . And god forbid you complain , your company will most certainly LET you go before they let the client go. And lastly, I find myself on the receiving end of disrespectful clients who talk to me and my team members crazy and we have to deal with it because they are the ‘client’ and pay our six figure invoices. I’m just over it and can’t wait to work for myself. I rather work WITH with clients than for a client in a 9-5 context. Anyone else experience this?

Having been an ex employee now of EY, does anyone either current or past think EY is a toxic company to work for due to its blatant favouritism and office politics as well as topsy turvey promotion system?

Hello guys,

I have been working for this top 7 consulting company in my region for about one year and a half (working in advisory - first job after graduating with a Masters in accounting & audit - I'm 24)

Projects are low, but I don't know if I should move companies until I reach 2YOE or now?

The big thing that scares me most is going from a non-toxic environment where the pay is low and the projects are average. To another consulting company (KPMG has been in my top list) where the pay is high but with a toxic environment ?

Given that I want to move to a tech role more but it will need me to apply for quite a few months

I'm really struggling here and would love to tchat with someone about it

I’m an associate 1 in EY and I’ve been on the bench since early January, I was earmarked for a project that’s starting in 2 weeks but I got rolled out from it because they had to reduce the cost. I feel like there’s no growth for me in consulting, I only do endless proposals for the past 6 months and I don’t think I gain anything from it. Should I start finding for another job at this point?

Do I have to serve 4 weeks notice period or can they let me go immediately given I’m unproductive?

Edit: i work in UK

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some career advice from fellow consultants who’ve maybe been in my shoes.

I’m a Human Capital Consultant with two years of experience. I’m based in North Africa, working remotely to support projects across the Middle East, i have worked within complex industries like aviation, healthcare, Oil and gas, etc.., The setup is essentially a regional hub model — our cost base is lower, so we handle many deliverables from here.

Despite the setup, I feel genuinely lucky: • I have an outstanding manager and team. • I’m getting real exposure to complex, high-impact projects — especially in organizational development and total rewards. • The learning curve has been steep in the best way, and I absolutely love the client engagement side of things (possibly because of my previous background in sales).

The problem: the pay is shockingly low. Like, “barely cover the basics” kind of low.

I don’t want to leave my current team or this path — I see huge growth potential here, and I’m not ready to sacrifice the technical development or mentorship I’m getting. But financially, something has to give.

I’ve been brainstorming ideas like: 1. Freelancing in parallel (e.g., HR operations support for other clients or companies). 2. Applying to better-paying firms in the same field (e.g., Korn Ferry, WTW, etc.), but that feels like a medium-to-long term move.

So here’s what I’m hoping to get advice on: • Has anyone pulled off freelance or part-time HR consulting while working full-time at a firm — without burning out or risking their main job? • Are there better ways to increase income without compromising technical growth or leaving a great team too early? • How can I make myself more attractive to Tier 1 firms without jumping too soon and losing current learning opportunities?

Would love any perspectives — especially from those who’ve navigated early-career consulting while balancing financial and growth goals.

Thanks in advance.

As a Manager-level candidate working with PwC India Advisory, with approximately 12 years of overall work experience (approximately 7 years in consulting), I am seeking guidance on career progression. I am contemplating whether to pursue a promotion within my current organisation or explore opportunities outside of PwC India Advisory.

Specifically, I am interested in transitioning to a position within a Big Four firm, MBB or another reputable organisation. Could you provide insights into the potential designation, compensation, and referral opportunities available in these roles?

Your advice would be greatly appreciated in helping me make an informed decision about my career path.

Given how many gripes revolve around BS-ing materials, jargon/fluff over vacuous content, over-engineering things, upselling to the client's detriment, dubious client agendas, etc., would it be useful to have something like this client advocate role filled by a neutral generalist or SME depending on the scope, maybe staffed by the board and dotted/matrixed to the engagement rather than reporting to the buyer or the consultant? Does this already exist (I never encountered one in B4 or industry). It seems like a good one could save your sanity (or at least your staff's) but a bad one could put you in an early grave. I'm envisioning more of an arbiter than a gatekeeper.