Reasons For Moving To Management Consulting From Industry

If you’ve been working in consulting for over three years you’ve probably had the occasional thought of working within industry at some point (most likely while working at midnight for the 2nd time that week). Having previously recruited within industry ranging from FTSE 100 companies to SME’s for 5 years  and focusing in consultancy, I’ve heard all the ups and downs and can reveal how it actually compares to consulting!

Culture

Every corporation I’ve recruited for states they have a great culture on their website, but in reality that’s not true as I don’t think I would have a job otherwise! What I’ve noticed is there’s a direct correlation between culture and profitability. When a company is operating on low margins they try to squeeze everything they can out of staff and in return the culture suffers. This is why consulting is desirable due to the culture vs work balance & compensation.

Brand

When working in industry the brand significantly impacts your interest in the work, due to the vanilla nature of the work, which isn’t the case with consulting. Boutique consultancies can still provide long-term interesting work while within industry things can get boring pretty quickly! 

Progression

When it comes to progression nothing beats consulting, it really is a meritocratic environment. When interviewing within industry be sure to see how large the teams are, check on LinkedIn employee career progression vs what you’ve been told, and how long people stayed before moving to a competitor. This will ensure that you are confident in your decision and won't regret it down the line.

Colleague

One thing you might not have noticed is that consultants all seem to get along well with their colleagues. Typically they're all career driven, incredibly motivated, have strong communication skills and are able to adapt to a variety of scenarios which reduces workplace friction (but I imagine not entirely). This isn’t always the case in the industry and sometimes you may find ‘Barry’, who has been doing the same job for 20 years and won’t change unless you can prove he’s wrong. However, don't let this deter you from wanting a job in the industry, as you will also meet a lot of great, interesting people.

So before you think industry is the answer to all your woes, feel free to get in touch and tell us what you're looking for to see if Ascent Professional Services have a consultancy which works for you! You can also view our latest management consultancy roles or submit your CV.