What Is It Like Changing From Management Industry To Management Consultancy?

A career in consulting is rewarding and career-enhancing for multiple reasons, including working on a variety of projects, establishing a broad and deep network and working in a faster-paced environment, often on business-critical projects where you have exposure to board level and decision-makers within a company.

Although there are no hard and fast rules about making the move across from industry to consultancy, there are inevitably some hurdles or requirements to consider. in particular from Manager upwards:

Responsibilities and titles 

Yes, you may be called a manager in your current Industry role, even senior manager, but the responsibilities and experience can differ greatly from those in consulting. For example, as a manager or senior manager in a consulting role, you would be responsible for a variety of different tasks, such as managing multiple projects, often simultaneously, as well as managing budgets, deliverables and people! This can continue on to your own consulting staff, resources internally, associates, and of course the important stakeholders involved in the project. Often in industry, your job role might not offer the opportunity to gain this broad experience: you may have some but not all.

Soft skills 

 A common reason why an industry candidate may be turned down in a consulting process is referred to as 'soft skills'. This covers a large scope of desirable and necessary skills, often associated with the personal attributes someone may possess. These 'soft skills' are just as important as 'hard skills' and industry knowledge, as 'soft skills' allow them to communicate effectively with a diverse range of people at various levels including the ability to persuade, influence and negotiate with people, as well as managing conflict. Relationship building skills are crucial, as is being able to gain trust, respect and demonstrating the value you are adding is pivotal to success and future prospects. Presentation skills are also of high priority!

Institutionalisation

You may have been working for the same company for 6 plus years and although you have developed great experience, it’s likely your approach to business problems will be executed the way the company would like things to be done, with little or no room for your own innovative or ‘out of the box’ ideas. In consulting, you need to be adaptable and innovative and capable of working in ambiguous situations with the ability to think quickly on your feet and suggest original, bespoke ideas. This isn’t the case for everyone of course but can be seen as an issue as you get more senior and are less able to show adaptability or use of diverse frameworks.  

You may have joined an industry graduate scheme that offers rotation across various business functions working in a project based environment – this is great for consulting and valued highly. However, after the graduate scheme people tend to move in to a certain business area with little scope to gain experience out of that area unless you keep moving around your business, which can be challenging in itself, especially if you are seen as an expert and highly valued in what you are currently doing. For this reason lack of variety or versatility can be a hurdle – can the consulting business use you in other areas, or a wide range of projects; are you profitable? Can you hit the ground running at the desired level?

Variety 

You may have joined an industry graduate scheme that offers rotation across various business functions working in a project based environment – this is great for consulting and valued highly. However, after the graduate scheme people tend to move in to a certain business area with little scope to gain experience out of that area unless you keep moving around your business, which can be challenging in itself, especially if you are seen as an expert and highly valued in what you are currently doing. For this reason lack of variety or versatility can be a hurdle – can the consulting business use you in other areas, or a wide range of projects; are you profitable? Can you hit the ground running at the desired level? 

Money 

This becomes more of an issue as you become more senior, if  you are well paid in your current role, often with a strong bonus and lots of benefits. Remuneration at the level of Consulting Manager grade and above is also strong, but is there room to move up to the next paygrade in your future employers' eyes?  Many organisations will bring industry candidates in at a grade below to help them develop some of those ‘soft skills’ required to be successful, to help with the sometimes steep learning curve and to not set you up for failure. This is a key element to really consider when exploring consulting.  If you are truly committed to entering the industry, you may have to take a short term hit for a long term gain.

Sales and Business development

At the manager and senior manager level in consulting, it is most likely that you will have been involved in some way or other with business development, sales and pitches, or selling on your services to win new business. This is instrumental to the growth of the organisation and you will be expected to have the skills, experience and hunger to do this. If you haven’t had the opportunity in the industry to be involved in this aspect, you will need to be able to demonstrate the aptitude to do so. 

Network 

Consulting is a networking game, from everything regarding internally to externally, with vendors, clients, associates, recruiters, everything. You will need to be someone who enjoys networking and is able to distinguish opportunities and the right people to speak within your field. This isn’t a short term game – it’s a long term practice that will inevitably help you progress professionally, learn from industry experts and peers, keep up to date with market trends and form relationships and new business opportunities. In industry, there may not be any real need to network outside of your current business function or team; however, if looking to make the move, you should start to do this not only in your own business but with those outside too. Start with those you already know, or closest, ideally your peers already in consulting or influential people in your field.

In summary, there is no real cut off, but from my experience, manager and senior manager level is when it can be most challenging. Therefore, if you are seriously thinking about moving from industry to consultancy, you need to start to think about how to demonstrate your value and can count the concerns in an interview process, while also being aware of your value to a consultancy.

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