Unstaffed as a mid-career joiner

Hi there!

Sorry to hear!

I've been in this situation myself. 

The most important thing to know is that it's not your fault. At the start of your career in consulting, staffing is almost completely out of your hands. Since you don't yet have a network or a clear value proposition, nobody can expect you to really ‘get yourself staffed’. 

A few things you can do:

• Keep in touch regularly with the staffers to be aware of any opportunities
• Sign up to all the staffing newsletters
• Be willing to do ‘anything’ in terms of projects
• Think what is your background strongest in and then pitch yourself to Partners doing work in that area
• Do your absolute best on support work. You might get 'poached' from there for actual project work
• Hold on. It's just a matter of time before something pops up

Sharing with you two guides you'll find useful for your start in consulting:

• Free Guide: How to Become A Distinctive Consultant
• Free Guide: How to Manage for Lifestyle in Consulting

Best,
Cristian

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Hello,

This is a common struggle for new hires who haven't yet established their reputation especially in a bear market.

There are some things that are out of your control, namely the pipeline which is a function of the economy and how well the partners are doing their jobs.

What is more within your control is your attitude and initiative

• Find a genuine interest in other practices, and also reach out to them
• In addition to partners, also get in touch with managers/principals, depending on firm they are often the ones to decide and drive the staffing process
• Use the spare time to ramp up on useful knowledge leveraging the learning resources your firm has
• Speak to your career development advisor and take suggestions and guidance from him/her

It is a tough market now, but the only thing you can do is exhaust all your options and keep a positive attitude and be ready to shine once you are staffed. 

All the best!

Hi, 
I'm sorry for the situation, I understand it can be frustrating. However it doesn't depend on you, but on the office performance/hiring moment. I recommend being proactive in every opportunity you have to work with seniors (principals, parters) eg. during proposal preparation. The feedback during this moment will be crucial for the confirmation of your trial period.

Best,
Antonello

There isn't much you can do about it. It means your office is overstaffed…

What you can do is keep helping and make sure to be visible in the office. The rest is not in your hands.

Hi there,

Take a step back and rest assured that there is nothing wrong with you - it is a tough market right now and pipelines are quite low.

Keep volunteering for things and networking. Attend the events, join the affinity groups, raise your hand for BD work, and let staffing know of interest in x and y project.

Keep your head up and keep pushing!

Hello,

I know this is a frustrating situation, but this has very little to do with you as a hire and is mostly to do with staffing needs / stages that projects are at. Keep reaching out to people, help on proposals and internal work if you can, schedule coffee chats, do trainings if your company offers them, and make it clear you are eager to work on anything. You will get staffed in due time.