Is Consulting The Right Career For You? | Career Crush

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1:16The term consulting is so broad, like it could really mean anything. So what do consultants actually do?

1:33That is a very, very good question. Like at the highest level, a consultant is really just someone who is an expert in something and helps other people. That's Christina Kong. She's a change management consultant, which basically means that she helps companies and their employees navigate big transitions. I'm a change management consultant, so the way I describe it is companies are always going to be going through different types of changes. For example, they might be going through a merger or acquisition, or they might be installing or implementing a new type of system or technology. I'm very focused on the people side of change and getting people on board and understanding why their company that they work for is going in a certain direction.

2:22Change management is just one of many types of consulting. You can basically be a consultant in anything from marketing to strategy to operations to human resources. The thing I love most is that the work I do helps improve people's lives at their work. The work I do helps people feel engaged in their work and helps them feel like, yeah, I understand my company's vision and their goals. And I understand my role in that. And it just brings so much more meaning to that work life. I've always heard consulting is big money. Big money. So how much are we making as a first-time consultant? Starting out, I want to say it's like$60 ,000 as like an entry-level position.

3:14Wow, that's like a lot lower than I thought it was. Oh, really? Yeah, that's like the base from what I know for like you're just fresh out of college. I am shocked by that number. She said it obviously depends on where you live, but I thought it was easily going to be in the 100K range. You should know, in the world of consulting, there are a few names that get thrown around a lot. And if you've been flirting with the idea of becoming a consultant, you've probably heard of some of them. McKinsey, Bain, and Boston Consulting Group. So those are also large consulting firms that are more focused.

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4:37Listeners of this show will get a$75 sponsored job credit at Indeed.com slash podcast. That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. On management consulting specifically and strategy consulting. The big four consulting or accounting firms really are Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPNG, and PwC. When I heard about consulting in college, those were like the key firms that people were trying to get into. So say I was interested in getting into consulting. I'm putting together my resume. What are the like top five skills or like top three skills that I need to have on that resume if I'm going to get kind of attention from the hiring manager?

5:24If you have client facing experience, that is very useful because consulting, you are all about serving the client's needs and helping the client. So if there's any type of experience that you have around that, I would definitely call that out. I think the ability to absorb things quickly and analyze things and come to conclusions in a fast pace is also a useful skill for consulting. Now, I'm curious what the challenges are in the day-to-day life of a consultant. What do those look like? One of them being time. So if we just don't have a lot of time for a project, then that's definitely really challenging because there's a lot that goes into working with these clients.

6:12So if we're at a time crunch, it just adds a lot more pressure and stress onto my team. Another challenge I would say is, I just don't want to talk bad about clients. Being able to manage that many different voices and eyes that are on a certain deliverable or project is another challenge. Even if, you know, everyone, you know, just works really well together, just even logistics, like getting the time on the calendar for everyone to be on the same page. Just managing all of that and making sure we're progressing versus kind of taking a step back in the process. So what are some of the misconceptions about consulting?

6:57Well, I think one of them is that consultants only create PowerPoints. I definitely have friends who, you know, work in consulting and are really good at making PowerPoints, but that's not all that consultants do. So for me, you know, I work on workshops and films and lots of different engaging media for clients. I think another misconception is that clients just throw money at consulting firms. It's not like they just pay us, we do our thing and we like send them something. It really is a process where we work together and you know building those strong client relationships is one of the most important things as a consultant.

7:37I've also heard that you're pretty much always working or always traveling. I like to have a good work-life balance but is that impossible when you're a consultant? I think it varies so. Hey it's Christy from Lululemon. I'm here at the office and we just dropped some really fun new summer colors in the Flow Y styles. If you're like me you've loved the Flow Y tank and bra for years and as of this year it also comes in a dress and a crop tank. These are made in our buttery soft Nulu fabric and my favorite part is the built-in bra. It makes it super easy to wear for yoga or honestly as an everyday basic.

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8:58I've had friends where, you know, we were supposed to meet for dinner, but they, you know, couldn't end up coming because something came up from work. There's also the travel aspect, obviously, when travel was more frequent, where you will be somewhere from Monday to Thursday. And then, you know, you only have the weekend where you're living. And so, you know, you maybe don't have time for actually like doing personal things or self-care. So there's that side of it. For me, I feel like I have a pretty good work-life balance. I try to set boundaries. In terms of getting into the industry, Christina said there's a few options.

9:38The most common one is to come straight out of undergrad. So you're majoring in business, you try to get an internship in the industry, and hope that that internship turns into a full-time job. For Christina, she was more of an experienced hire, which means that she didn't come straight out of undergrad. Obviously, it'll help you if you're able to make a connection with someone who works there and get your foot in the door that way. There's also people who, you know, will get a lot of work experience in one industry or something like that and then go get an MBA and then, you know, you could get recruited into a consulting firm.

10:15What is the interview process like? Like, is it behavioral questions? Is it like trying to figure out how many golf balls fit in a limousine? Like what should I expect in this world? Yeah, so I had an in-person interview that was like an all-day thing. So I was there, you know, from the morning until the afternoon. And I guess I would kind of describe it as like a gauntlet where like different people would come in and I had different, you know, activities or tests almost that I completed. So one of them was like a writing sample and like a writing test. One of them was just talking to a peer consultant.

10:53And that one was more just casual. I could ask them some questions about the work they're doing. And then I had another one where I had a case presentation. So I was given a case study in advance of my interview and I had to prepare a presentation. And so that was another part of my interview day. After talking to Christina, I find consulting even more fascinating. No matter what you're interested in, there's a type of consulting out there for you. Yes, working with clients can be challenging. Work-life balance can be hard to come by. and the interview process does sound a little bit intense, but at the end of the day, consulting is all about helping others and I can totally get behind that.

11:37Thanks for watching. Do you have a career crush? Tell us about them in the comments and we'll see if we can talk to them for you. Subscribe to our channel to see more interviews with people actually living the dream. Bye.

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