A Day In The Life Of A Consultant At A Big 4 Consulting Firm
A consultant's day-to-day is highly variable and "dictated by...clients," requiring adaptability to their communication styles, whether deeply analytical or more focused on soft skills. Depending on the project phase, work can range from heavy data analytics and technical troubleshooting to writing and implementation, often following a "design build and configure test and train" methodology, with a hypercare period to ensure client satisfaction.
Client Interaction, Data Analysis, Technical Skills, Project Implementation, Communication
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Jack Hirsch
Consultant
Big 4 Consulting Firm
Santa Clara University
Accounting
Consulting & Related Professional Services, Technology
Consulting
Honors Student
Video Highlights
1. A consultant's day is heavily influenced by the client's needs and preferences, requiring adaptability in communication and approach (e.g., being analytical for detail-oriented clients or focusing on soft skills for others).
2. The work can vary significantly, ranging from heavy data analytics and technical problem-solving to writing tasks and technical accounting, depending on the type of consulting and project phase.
3. A typical project involves a structured approach: design, build, configure, test, train, and hypercare to ensure client satisfaction and proper implementation, with consultants staying on-site for a few weeks post-implementation to support the client.
Transcript
What does a day in the life of a consultant look like?
A day in the life of a consultant can look like anything. Your life is pretty much dictated by your clients, and specifically, your client's mood. Every interaction, you want to try and tailor towards your client.
If they're more analytical, you'll be more in the details. If they're more on the soft skills side, you'll make sure to ask how their day's going. Sometimes you could be heavily involved in data analytics.
Sometimes you could be asked technical questions about the service you're rendering. Other times, there are miscellaneous asks, which are more writing-involved. You could be doing technical accounting. It really depends on the type of consulting you're doing.
On my specific day-to-day, a lot of the time it involves physically implementing a tool and going through settings. We have a design, build, configure, test, and train phase. Then, finally, a hypercare period to make sure everyone is happy with the results. We stick around for about three weeks to a month to ensure everyone's satisfied.
Depending on the phase of the project we're in, the type of work is pretty different.