Hi all. I was hoping people could provide their experiences/thoughts on moving into industry roles. I’ve got some options to move into an internal consulting team or directly into a business unit.I’ve been in consulting long enough (almost a decade). The industry pay is acceptable. I'm finding it’s not a huge amount higher than what I’m making, but I am senior enough where it’s hard for industry roles to outpace what I’m making. Lifestyle will of course be more balanced, but the work may not be as interesting.Nonetheless, has any one regretted not staying on consulting and not trying to climb to the top? Did you ever feel that work was less fulfilling in an industry role? Would love to hear your thoughts.

A very interesting question, one I've pondered for a long time myself actually!

What stops you from making the move?

For god's sake give it a try. You will easily be able to move back into consulting after a couple of years if you decide you prefer it. Sounds like you are looking for excuses not to give it a go and stick to what you know ... If nothing else working on client side for a while will help you be a better consultant if you go back into it.

[quote]Hi all. I was hoping people could provide their experiences/thoughts on moving into industry roles. I’ve got some options to move into an internal consulting team or directly into a business unit.I’ve been in consulting long enough (almost a decade). The industry pay is acceptable. I'm finding it’s not a huge amount higher than what I’m making, but I am senior enough where it’s hard for industry roles to outpace what I’m making. Lifestyle will of course be more balanced, but the work may not be as interesting.Nonetheless, has any one regretted not staying on consulting and not trying to climb to the top? Did you ever feel that work was less fulfilling in an industry role? Would love to hear your thoughts.[/quote]You're a victim of Stockholm Syndrome. Get out while you have the chance!Ok, a tad more seriously....you don't have anything to lose. Either you'll enjoy being outside consulting and stay outside, never looking back (and I would recommend the BU role rather than internal consulting personally...if you're going to make the move, make it properly)...or you'll decide you prefer consulting and the industry role will give you a viewpoint that you are almost certainly missing as a career consultant.

[quote] I would recommend the BU role rather than internal consulting personally...if you're going to make the move, make it properly)...[/quote]Easier said than done though after 10 years as a consultant ... I think it would be easier to move into an operating role once you've done a year or so in internal consulting and built a network etc internally.

Good option.

Some great points made here. I'd agree that all the while the consulting industry remains buoyant, you're unlikely to have much trouble returning should you decide you've made the wrong move a year or two from now.In terms of internal consulting vs business unit role, if both are options then I'd personally go with the latter. Internal consulting you still have many of the same issues (the "client" has to justify the budget for your project, pressure to deliver and internal politics within the consulting team are not that different to external consulting, yours may be one of the first budgets to be cut if there's a downturn...) so I would see a BU role as a cleaner break and more representative of whether the move to industry has been right for you or not.Hope that helps and good luckTony

Can anyone recommend good recruiters if you are looking to make a shift to industry from consulting? Specifically corporate development/strategy...

Holker Watkin are the firm to try for that sort of move. Good luckTony

I agree with Tony that internal consultants still face many of the same issues.However, bear in mind that it may be a route to a more senior role in the business or allow you to broaden your experience in to a different area. In my experience, internal consultants can build much stronger, more senior networks than they would have done in any business role. As a result colleagues who have made the move are now in BU positions that are more senior than they would otherwise be in, with more room for growth and mostly in very different areas to their original consulting specialism.So depending on your goals it could be the better option long term.Also worth noting, I can't think of anyone I know who has left consulting and then gone back to it!