A Day In The Life Of A Consultant At A Top Management Consulting Company
A consultant's day varies greatly, with travel days involving early flights to client sites for meetings and collaboration with the team, "one of the fun things about working in Consulting is the teaming environment," allowing exposure to diverse individuals and organizations. Evenings might include client dinners before returning home, highlighting the client-focused and collaborative nature of the role.
Teamwork, Problem-Solving, Client Interaction, Travel, Project Management
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
NyAsia Jordan
Consultant
Top Managemet Consulting Company
Lehman College
Baruch College - MS, UCLA Anderson School of Management - MBA
Finance
Consulting & Related Professional Services
Business Strategy
Honors Student, Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Took Out Loans, Immigrant, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Transfer Student
Video Highlights
1. Collaboration with colleagues and clients is a significant aspect of the job, fostering a team environment where problem-solving is a collaborative effort.
2. Consultants frequently travel to client sites, sometimes requiring early morning flights or overnight stays, to maximize client time and project efficiency.
3. Exposure to senior members of organizations and diverse work environments provides opportunities for networking, mentorship and professional growth, especially valuable for those starting their careers.
Transcript
What does a day in the life of a consultant look like?
A consultant's day can vary. It will look different without a travel day. I'll walk you through a travel day; these don't happen as often as they used to pre-pandemic, but they are still a possibility.
For example, if you have a travel day and are required to go to the client site, and the client is local to your city, you would commute to the client site instead of your regular office or working from home. On the off chance you have to travel to another state, you would commute to the airport.
I tend to like to take either very early morning flights or flights the evening beforehand. The reason is that I'm very respectful of the fact that my clients have paid for my time. So, I try to make sure the client feels they're getting their money's worth when we fly out on site.
Usually, depending on where we're going, you get to the airport in the morning. If you have to take a 6 AM flight to get somewhere by 8:30 AM, that usually means you have to get to the airport by about 4 AM. You jump on a flight, take your flight, and land. Then you head to the client site.
Based on where you are in the project, this could involve client walkthroughs or different interactions with the client. Usually, you get to do this with your team. One of the fun things about working in consulting is the teaming environment; you get to work with some really smart people and collaborate on different ways to solve problems where everybody has a voice.
I think it's especially useful for individuals just starting their careers, like staff coming straight out of undergrad or some seniors coming in at the postgraduate level. You get to interact with relatively senior members of organizations that you might not be exposed to if you were to join that organization as an actual employee.
One of the great things about travel days is that in addition to interacting with a myriad of people, you also get the camaraderie of sitting together in the conference room and getting to know your client. Sometimes, you may do a client lunch, or you'll have a client dinner after your on-site work.
Once you've had your meetings and done your on-site work, you go to your client dinner. Usually, you go either back to your hotel if you're going to be in town for a couple of days, or on days where it's a day trip, you would head back to the airport. You take a flight and go home.
So, it just really depends, but that is a day in the life.