I have worked about 4 years as a management consultant in different industries, functions, and countries. Now I feel that I’ve had about enough of regular communication with too many people. Every week I have to speak to at least a few people I have never met before. I believe I have learned to be pretty good at what I do, but I am an introvert, so this kind of job gives me too much headache and stress. I’ve been thinking of finding a job where I can spend more time analysing information and producing meaningful outputs as opposed to gathering information from and presenting findings to people I’m not familiar with. I am happy to give presentations or conduct interviews, but only occasionally and preferably with people working for the same company.I don’t really know where to take my career at this point. I know a little about everything. As a generalist, I have been exposed to strategy, finance, marketing, and operations, but I am not an expert in any function or industry. I would highly appreciate if you could point me in the right direction in terms of what kind of opportunities I should consider and which companies/recruiters I should contact.

any suggestions?

You're in a tough spot. Industry jobs typically require specialists in both function (e.g., Logistics Manager, Director of Procurement, Marketing Manager, etc.) and industry (e.g., Automotive, Consumer Packaged Goods, etc.). You need to plan your "exit" a few years advance by specializing in a function or industry you're most interested in. Talk to your mentor or staffing manager about getting engagements in specific fields.I know this don't really answer your question, but this is my observation based on colleagues who've left consulting for industry positions.

Beng, thanks a lot for your message. I agree I might need to spend some more time as a consultant to be able to find a decent industry job. Another option would be finding an entry-level role somewhere, maybe even in IB.

You sound like a classic candidate for taking on the role of the CEO's right hand man (/analyst) to me...I have a number of colleagues who have done this role, which basically entails being the person who supports a CEO (or bus unit head in a larger organisation) in doing all their strat and reporting analysis. Typically, people do this role for a couple of years then use this to springboard into a line management role themselves. As the skills they are looking for are analytical rigour, strong communication skills and strategic nouse, your experience sounds as though it fits quite well. They seem to look for consultants with 4-5 years experience (so your salary expectations should be met) and specific industry experience doesn't seem to be a pre-requisite. If you look on TopConsultant.com job website, then give the headhunters a call direct, I'm sure some of them will be aware of these roles. I've seen them in Retail, FMCG, Media and Banking sectors in the past. Good luck!

Not sure if I can help much, but I'd suggest moving away from client-facing roles and focus on internal roles so at least you can deal with the same people longer term rather than having to deal with new people all the time. Secondly, I'd suggest moving away from being a generalist and choosing a specialism so you can become an expert and hopefully be able to do more research or analysis based work where you can work more independently on results-focused (instead of people-focused) tasks.You might also enlist the help of a career counsellor or take various tests that might shed some light on the best roles to suit your working preferences.Good luck!