How to know whether a specific sector suits you?

Question

I managed to get an offer at a consulting firm specialized in the automotive sector - in fact, they only do projects in this sector. In the past, I have been a generalist and have covered a wide range of sector. While I am genuinely interested in the automotive sector, I only have a few project experience.

At this stage I prefer having an industry focus to deepen my knowledge. However, I am not 100% sure I would be enjoying sticking to this sector for my remaining career. Could you please provide some advice? Are there any blind areas that I should take more time to consider? What are some important factors to consider when deciding to focus on a specific sector? Many thanks.

Answer 1

Hi there,

Great question!

In my personal opinion and experience, such decision boils down to a few simple factors. Interest in the content one, but by far not the only one to consider.

Do I actually enjoy the industry from a content standpoint, at least to some extent?
Do I enjoy working with the people / teams that cover the industry?
Will it provide a good platform to progress my career (e.g. are there enough projects, am I well-positioned within my peer group, is there space above me)?
Is it sustainable and does it enable my preferred degree of travel?

If the answer to all of the above is YES then you're probably in a good spot already - in my experience, that's somewhat rare though.

In reality, choice of industry in consulting is often a compromise, i.e. it will be Yes for some but not all questions - when that's the case, reflect on which factors are most important to YOU and then decide accordingly.

To give you a concrete example, I personally committed to an industry that I did not find particularly riveting. However, the people there were great & fun to work with, partners had my back on career progression / promotions, the hours were mostly quite sustainable & I could travel the world (which I liked) - Given all other dimensions looked great, I was willing to compromise on the interest in the content, hence it became an easy choice to commit. I stuck around for 6 more years, and never had any regrets.

Hope this helps you with the thinking. Feel free to reach out if you'd like to learn more.

Regards, Andi

Answer 2

Hi there,

You try it. Ideally you try it across several projects, at least three, in different setups. Sometimes you can also fall in love with a topic or an industry as you learn more about it. Or you discover a great group of people that you enjoy working with across several projects and then the industry itself matters little. Regardless, just it a shot and see where it takes you. You don't stand to lose much.

Answer 3

Hi there,

Network. Go and speak to people in that sector and, in particular, people at your firm in that sector! Ask hard questions about the day-to-day!
Read. Start reading about the industry (Economist, BCG Insights etc.). Does the reading interest you? Good start :)
Try it. Nothing beats trying it. It's not the end of the world if you do it for 6-12 months and hate it. You can switch! I tried out property/retail consulting for a while and hated it - I left! That's life :)

Good luck!

Answer 4

Hi there,

Good question! A lot of people are fortunate enough to simply “know”, like myself (natural resources & energy all the way!).

If you don't know, just go with automotive for now and know that nobody is ever going to be truly stuck in an industry. That's because you will learn a lot of transferable skills from the different functions within the industry.

Let's take automotive for example: you may work on a lot of supply chain projects and learn a lot about supply chain for auto parts. Now forget about the auto parts and replace them with raw materials for building computer hardware. Same thing!

What really matters is your understanding of supply chains. The same is true for R&D, corporate finance, strategy, operations, etc.

Hope this helps a bit! Best of luck!

Answer 5

Hello!

Congrats on the offer.

For sure nothing would teach you more about it that trying it, although I understand that the opportunity cost is really high, too.

I would try to find other people who have been generalists in the past, and done industry focus (pref. with that company) to hear their perspective.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Answer 6

There must be a mutual FIT i.e. your values, career aspirations, risk profile aligns with what the sector offers. If there is not FIT, you wont be happy.

If you dont have clarity, you may have to take a risk to explore. It may not work out but you will still learn a lot. Otherwise, spend some time networking, researching to understand whether this sector will allow you to give your best, be happy, not worry too much about outcomes and what others are doing.

Check out this article for some more guidance- https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-do-i-know-which-career-is-right-for-me