I came across this forum from a recent keen graduate i referred into consulting and was AMAZED to see the amount of people desperate to get into consulting with what i beleive are false truths of what you will be doing. Please can i just give you a reality check. I have worked in consulting for 4 years now -supposedly under the strat component of a large firm. Dont be fooled - Major multi-national companies dont need young graduates to strategise on their already successful businesses, they need do-ers and project managers who can push people into getting things done. If you really want to be a Project management expert - join consulting, and sit back and watch the real industry experts shape REAL strategy and then blame you for not delivering it. If you want real STRAT work join industry. After 4 years I can truly say I am bored to death of visio mapping, project planning,excel modelling and most of all creating pointless deck after deck of powerpoint presentations that ALL LIE, my brain is not challenged by what i do, and I am uninspired by the people i work with (who just sell sell sell without any real thought for client or employee needs) and have started to feel like the guy out of fight club. my collegaues are all from top notch universities and back stab each other for promotion. this is a gruesome world, and i question why any of you would want to join - if its for the money then good luck to you coz 40k certainly aint enough to copmensate me - in four years i have become an angry, cynnical and disillusioned person, so Im off leaving the city to remmeber what it is to be a human being and remind myself that at no stage in my life did i ever ever want to be a management consultant when i grew up

Wow! you really seem to be disgusted with the consulting industry. Well best of luck, hope you will find something more satisfying in the near future.

it might not be all that, but its better than alot of whats out there for graduates anyway - where else can someone with no experience, straight out of university earn 40K and gain valueable experience. maybe one day i will adopt your mentality, but till that day...it is all that. i love this industry.

Thank you for this insight, sick in the city. It's useful to have a counter view to the 'glamour' of consulting from someone who's been there and done it. I think the reply you've had (presumably from a fresh faced grad) is highly naive. For a start, which graduate employer pays £40k? Accenture offers £28k, and many others are in the same ball park (say up to £35k) for what are hours and hours of slave labour. Where are you thinking of heading after consulting? I'd be interested to know because I'm also planning my next move.

I am in the same boat, but wondered where consulting can lead after say 4 years at a major player?

At last, a post worth reading. I can only say &#39;hear hear&#39;.<br> Consuling is a mainly a load of &#39;sierra hotel india tango&#39;.The best parts are the varied projects and it builds your soft skills e.g. people and comms. skills<br>Because you are always working on projects that you (quite frankly) know nothing about - you soon become confident in new and challenging situations. <br>I don&#39;t even get nervous when I have to present all this bull to a client board level executive.<br>Also I can get anyone to do anything for me as I have learnt to read people and understand them (perhaps beter than I would in a pure industry role).As for 40k (it is not that much but there are worse jobs).<br><br>I wonder if sick in the city will name his/her(I suspect it&#39;s a her) employer? Oh go on - give us a clue! If your emplyoyer was a character on sex in the city would they have a funny <b>accent<b>, be a <b>price<b>y lady, be hon<b>est & young<b>, <b>loite<b>r and <b>touch<b>..... <br>I could go on all day but I won&#39;t.

Fascinating thread- I&#39;m currently in Tokyo, having been sent to New York with 10 day&#39;s notice, for what turned out to be 6 months. I am now travelling Asia (6 countries)- in 4 weeks. while delivering work in Switzerland and the US in airport lounges. Part of me loves this job, how else would I have gold cards on 4 airlines simultaneously, apartments in 2 cities, board level contacts at 29 and an endless stock of amusing anecdotes- but the other half?! I have had jet lag for 5 weeks straight, I have a stress related ear infection treated by a Japanese doctor who doesn&#39;t speak english, my body isn&#39;t what is used to be (stress and hotel food isn&#39;t great for your abs- no matter how much time you spend in the gym), my personal life is a train wreck and my client has a borderline personality disorder. Thank God someone is admitting that this job can be a nightmare!

At last, a post worth reading. I can only say &#39;hear hear&#39;.Consuling is a mainly a load of &#39;sierra hotel india tango&#39;. The best parts are the varied projects and it builds your soft skills e.g. people and comms. skills Because you are always working on projects that you (quite frankly) know nothing about - you soon become confident in new and challenging situations. I don&#39;t even get nervous when I have to present all this bull to a client board level executive. Also I can get anyone to do anything for me as I have learnt to read people and understand them (perhaps beter than I would in a pure industry role). As for 40k (it is not that much but there are worse jobs). I wonder if sick in the city will name his/her(I suspect it&#39;s a her) employer? Oh go on - give us a clue! If your emplyoyer was a character on sex in the city would they have a funny accent, be a pricey lady, be honest & young, loiter and touch..... I could go on all day but I won&#39;t.

this has been a real stab in the back. i have been at my husband to go back to school to study management and he told me exactly what you just said. well now i still think about it but not really sure if it is for me. thanks this will help me think more b4 making a decision.

Thank you so much for this post. I completely agree. I have done nearly 8 years in consulting and I have to drag myself into work every morning. It&#39;s a soul destroying industry and only gets worse the more senior you get. I am looking to make a move into industry. Any advice from anyone who has done that?

I&#39;m not sure what to believe now. Are you consultants saying such things to discourage new graduates from joining the consultancy world for selfish reasons? I wonder why I have not heard such views and comments ever before! In every industry there are jobs where we find the politically suave employees know who to back-bite and who to sweet-talk to move up the ladder, and likewise, there are the more honest and sincere ones that do the &quot;right thing&quot; for years and years without getting very far.Guess its about working smart rather than working hard, and it happens everywhere, not just here in the consultancy sector. Thoughts?

Ok everyones had a good moan. I guess all of you folk are in big consulting companies where you are always &quot;low man/women on the totem pole&quot; and spend endless hours preparing powerpoints and modelling &quot;the new world against reality&quot;. This is called LEARNING THE TRADE. If you have been at it for 6 or 8 years like several posts here I am not suprised you are dispirited and disgusted by the whole thing. Question - why are you still doing it? If you want to stay in &quot;challenging&quot; consulting then get off your collective backsides and look to join a small or niche company where you can do consulting (as opposed to support stuff) or get into industry and find out what real-life and boredom actually means. Rant over. Seriously though, get out and change while you still have some enthusiasm and before you get really desperate.