Biggest Challenges Faced By A Consultant At Media Consulting Company
Aisha's biggest challenge as a consultant was the constant need to "feel [their] way through a dark room" to find the best approach, lacking the mentorship common in other fields. This "exploring" phase, coupled with the demanding "exploiting" of learned knowledge to create deliverables, often led to long workdays and a poor work-life balance, particularly exacerbated by the pandemic's impact on support systems.
Overcoming Challenges, Problem-Solving, Resilience, Work-Life Balance, Resourcefulness
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Aisha Han
Consultant
Media Consulting Company
Carnegie Mellon University
MBA
Economics, International Relations & Affairs
Arts, Entertainment & Media, Consulting & Related Professional Services
Consulting
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Immigrant
Video Highlights
1. The biggest challenge is the steep learning curve and uncertainty involved in consulting, requiring individuals to be resourceful and learn independently.
2. The lack of a strong support system, especially since the pandemic, contributes to the demanding workload and poor work-life balance.
3. Consultants often face long workdays due to a combination of exploring and exploiting knowledge, client deliverables, and meetings
Transcript
What was the biggest challenge in your role?
The flip side of having to learn is not knowing, just not knowing what you don't know. It's like feeling your way through a dark room to find the best next step for a productive day or to create a valuable deliverable.
It's hard, though it's easier with good managers or mentors to guide you. In consulting, you're often thrown into the deep end and left to fend for yourselves.
There are workshops and courses you can attend, but you learn to be very resourceful. You become receptive to what others are doing, observing how they work, and hoping your approach is also correct.
I would say it can be quite an isolating experience. This is part of the reason consulting has a reputation for terrible work-life balance.
A lot of the time, you have to grapple with exploring, which is like learning about the industry and the project. Then you exploit what you learned to come up with something valuable for the client. With meetings and everything, you end up having long workdays.
The exploring aspect isn't as supported, especially since the pandemic. This really ruins work-life balance.