Advice - what's next?

Hi!

Happy to share my point of view. Here are a few things to consider:

1. First of all, I don't think it's too late to pivot into a finance role. 6+ years of work experience is still very early in a typical career life of 35-40 years. And don't let that first 6 years dictate what you want to do in the next 30+ years. In addition to that, your 6 years of experience were in consulting, so I believe that's also good enough to showcase to hiring managers that you're able to adapt to the finance role quickly.
2. It sounds like you're in a good company now, so while you're in your current role, consider actively seeking out finance-related work that you can add to your experience. If not available in your current role, you can always actively ask for a transfer to a finance role that you want to try out - the worst thing they can say is no.
3. If you have a specific role or a target company you'd like to work for in finance, actively network and apply for it. Ultimately, if you end up not enjoying it, you can always go back to consulting or try something else. 

I hope you feel like your next step is going to tie you down for the rest of your career, and also keep in mind that you have the option to go back.

Hope this helps! All the best!

First, it's not too late to pivot into finance. Six years of experience is still early enough to make a move. People switch careers with more experience than you have.

But before jumping, let's think through this clearly.

On feeling "done" with consulting:

This is common after a few years. The project cycle, constant context-switching, and lack of ownership can wear people down. But make sure you're clear on what you're running toward, not just what you're running from.

Ask yourself: what specifically do you want from a finance role that consulting doesn't give you? Ownership? Depth? Stability? Clear progression? Knowing this helps you target the right kind of finance role.

On whether pivoting is worth it:

Your background in accounting, finance, and data analytics is a strong foundation. You're not starting from zero. The question is what type of finance role you want.

A few options to consider:

• FP&A (Financial Planning & Analysis): Your consulting experience translates well here. You'd do budgeting, forecasting, and strategic analysis. High visibility to leadership, which you're already used to.
• Corporate strategy with finance focus: Some companies blend strategy and finance. Your consulting background plus finance interest could fit well.
• Finance transformation or finance advisory: If you're not fully done with consulting but want more finance exposure, this keeps you in the middle.
• Pure finance roles like treasury, controller, or investor relations: These are more specialized. You might need to take a step back to break in, but it's possible.

On staying in consulting:

If you stay, the next step depends on what you want. More leadership? A niche specialty? A path to partner? Or just riding it out while you figure things out?

In-house consulting can be a good holding pattern. You have exposure, good benefits, and time to think. Use it wisely. Network, explore internal finance roles, and test the waters before making a big move.

My advice:

Don't rush. You're in a stable spot. Use this time to have conversations with people in finance roles you're curious about. Learn what the day-to-day looks like. See if it's actually what you want. Then make a move with clarity, not just because you're bored.

You're not stuck. You have options. Just be intentional about which one you choose.

Thanks for raising this — it’s a really interesting question, and it sounds like you already have a very strong foundation. 

First of all, congratulations on moving into a large global organization. An in-house consulting role with good benefits, strong colleagues, interesting projects, and exposure to senior leadership is a great position to be in!

That said, based on your questions I believe it is worth spending some time on self-reflection. I’d encourage you to really dig into why you feel you may not want to stay in this role long term, despite the many positives you’ve mentioned. From the outside, this looks like a strong growth opportunity within consulting, just in an internal context, so understanding what feels misaligned for you will be important before making your next move.

On the finance question, I don’t believe six years of experience is “too late” to pivot at all. What matters more is clarity of direction. Start by thinking carefully about why you want to move into finance and what specifically attracts you to it. That “why” will become a key part of your story and will help guide your decisions.

At this stage, you essentially have a few viable paths. You could continue to build depth in consulting (either in-house or externally), or you could begin positioning yourself more intentionally toward a finance role. These paths aren’t mutually exclusive, but they do require different choices and trade-offs, so having a clearer end goal will help you decide how to prioritize your next steps.

Another option worth considering is an MBA. With your background, it could serve as a reset or a blank canvas, particularly if you want to make a more defined move into finance. It can be a powerful way to reposition yourself into a finance-specific role, provided it aligns with your longer-term goals.

Ultimately, I’d suggest starting with a deep dive into your motivations and what will fulfil you most over the long term. Once you’re clear on that, the right path — consulting, finance, or something adjacent — tends to become much easier to see.

Hi there,

You’re at a very common crossroads and nothing you’re feeling is unusual. Leaving Big 4 consulting for an in house role and realizing you’re done with consulting usually means you’ve outgrown that phase, not that you made a wrong move.

Pivoting into finance at this stage isn’t necessarily too late, especially given your background in accounting finance and data analytics. The key is which finance path you mean. Front office roles like IB are hard pivots now, but corporate finance FP&A corporate development finance strategy or transformation roles are very realistic and align well with your experience and senior exposure.

If you stay where you are, typical next steps are people leadership in internal consulting or using the role as a bridge into a finance or business function you already support. Talking to people in those roles will help you assess fit before making another move.

Happy to help you think this through more concretely if useful.

Best,
Evelina

This is a very common feeling after making the transition to an internal strategy group. You got the benefits and the exposure you wanted, but you now realize you are still doing project work, just with one client. The internal move was strategically sound, but now you need to figure out the exit path from consulting entirely.

Let's address the finance pivot first. Whoever told you it is "too late" is wrong, or is thinking about the traditional analyst track at an investment bank, which is not your play. At 6+ years experience, you are pivoting into an experienced-hire position, usually at the Director or Senior Manager level. Your currency is not deep transactional accounting; it is high-level strategic problem-solving, executive stakeholder management, and modeling large-scale business decisions—all skills you refined in consulting and are using now in-house.

To make the pivot work, you need to target roles that blend finance and strategy, leveraging your F500 experience. Specifically look at Corporate Strategy, high-level Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), or even Chief of Staff roles that report directly into the CFO or COO. These roles value strategic thinking over basic debits/credits, meaning your consulting background is an asset, not a liability. You need to frame your consulting tenure not as "doing projects," but as "driving complex financial and operational transformations."

If you were to stay in the consulting orbit, the natural next step is to leverage your current high-profile internal role to move into an operational leadership position at the F500. This means taking ownership of a P&L or a critical function (e.g., Head of Business Planning, or Strategy Lead for a specific division). This move solidifies your operator experience and creates a much cleaner break from the "consultant" identity, setting you up for executive roles down the line.

Hope this helps outline your runway. All the best.

There are lots of assumptions that I read here that I would take issue with. Like the fact that it's too late to pivot into finance with just 6 years of work experience OR that you need to always have the 'next' thing lined up. 

I think what you need to do instead is to take a step back. Figure out what you actually enjoy. Why? Where you would want to be? What would that look like? 

Then make a plan to move in that direction. Hire some help to validate that you're on the right path and calibrate your next steps. 

Best,
Cristian

Hi there,

I think you kind of have the answer yourself. You know that you're done with consulting, and your next interest is in finance. People have moved into finance after consulting before so I wouldn't say it's impossible. It will take work and you likely have to start from a more junior role.

If you like your company now, with the nice colleagues and good benefits, the natural next step after in-house consulting is usually transition into either one of the business units or into a particular function. 

Does the company have investment team under its finance or corp development function? That might be an area to explore if you want finance related roles. 

Best,

Emily

hey there :)

You are definitely not too late and with your background in accounting, finance and analytics plus consulting exposure, a pivot into finance is very realistic if it is what you truly want. At this stage it is less about what is objectively optimal and more about what you want to build long term, and many people use exactly your current role as a bridge into finance functions like corporate finance, FP&A or strategy finance. If you want, I am happy to think through concrete next steps with you, just reach out anytime.

best,
Alessa :)