Leaving company

Leaving consulting early is more common than people think, and it doesn’t derail your career - the key is framing.

1. Shift your narrative from duration to value. Even a short stint gives you strong fundamentals: problem-solving, client communication, structured thinking, and exposure to real business issues.

2. Be intentional about your positioning. Instead of “consulting wasn’t for me,” try: “The experience clarified the type of work where I can add more impact - specifically X, Y and Z.” Clear direction beats long explanations.

3. Aim for roles that will naturally value consulting skills. Some common exit opportunities include in-house strategy or transformation teams, corporate development, PMO/ops roles, product, and high-growth startups.

4. Keep your story tight, positive, and forward-looking. Often, recruiters care more about where you’re going than why you left quickly.

If you need help refining your narrative or mapping the right next roles, feel free to reach out!

If you leave after a short stint, the most important thing is to have a clear, honest narrative around why you left. Not defensive, not negative — just a coherent story that explains what you learned and why the next step makes more sense for you.

In parallel, lean heavily on your peer network. Former classmates, ex-colleagues, people a year or two ahead of you — those conversations are often how you uncover roles that won’t show up in a formal job search and get real insight into what the job is actually like.

Lastly, be selective about what you do next, if you can afford to be. One short stint is usually fine. Two back-to-back short roles in different fields are much harder to explain and can start raising questions. It’s often better to wait a bit and make a more deliberate move than rush into something that creates a new problem to explain later.

Hello!
Great question and I think one that goes through many people's minds.

I think like leaving at any point in time it is about two things:
1. Knowing your career story
2. Transferring your learned skills to your new role

If we dive into the first one: Knowing your career story.
It is important to be strategic about movements in your career, doing them for a reason. When you leave consulting, know what your reasons are and be sure that whatever you're going towards fits that criteria (e.g., more balance, more niche expertise etc.) This will help you not only land the new role that you're moving into but it also helps when you're networking or even telling family and friends about the shift. One will inevitably get questions about why they made a move - knowing your career story supports you in taking control of the narrative and builds confidence.

As for the second: transferring your learned skills to your new role. This again is something that we should do our entire careers. Whenever we gain new skills and then make a move, we should be intentional about what we learned and how we can continue to use those skills in the new path. (e.g., working in teams in consulting, dealing with difficult clients, new technical skills like ppt and excel --> how can you leverage these in your new role).

All in all, leaving consulting is not like our career's are going off a cliff - not at all! We took away some valuable experience no matter how long or short and we will continue to grow as professionals for many years to come.

Hope this helps! Happy to speak further if helpful.

As a career transition coach who supports many consultants transitioning out - including those leaving earlier than planned, I see this situation far more often than people admit. Leaving consulting early is more common than you think, and it doesn’t derail your career. What matters is how you position the move.

One of the biggest mistakes people make after a short consulting stint is obsessing over how long they stayed. That’s not how hiring managers think. They look at what you were exposed to, how fast you learned, and how you now reason about problems. Even a brief period in consulting can meaningfully change how you structure ambiguity, work with senior stakeholders, and make decisions under pressure.

Where many candidates struggle is in how they explain the move. Saying or implying that consulting “wasn’t a fit” invites unnecessary follow-up. A far more effective framing is to show evolution: consulting sharpened your thinking and clarified where you can contribute most going forward. When your story has a clear destination, the exit itself stops being the focus.

The next role also matters more than people realise. Moves work best when they are into environments that already understand the value of consulting training - internal strategy teams, transformation roles, corporate development, operating roles close to the CEO, product or scale-ups that need structured thinking. In those settings, consulting is seen as formative, not incomplete.

Finally, resist the urge to over-explain. Short exits become problematic mainly when candidates sound defensive or uncertain. When your narrative is calm, selective, and future-oriented, most recruiters move on quickly and focus on whether the next step makes sense.

That’s exactly why, in my work as a career transition coach supporting consultants exiting the industry, I use the RISE model:

• Reflect to separate facts from emotion and regain perspective
• Ignite to define a clear direction rather than just “a next job”
• Succeed to execute with focus and credible positioning
• Evolve to anchor the new professional identity long after the move

Happy to expand if helpful.

Hi,

leaving consulting early is more common than people think and it won’t derail your career if you manage it well. In fact, I have seen many people leave <6 months because they realized it is not for them and they went on to do wonderful things. What I think is key:

1. Craft a tight, positive narrative: “Consulting gave me strong fundamentals (structured problem-solving, stakeholder management). "I realized it is not giving me X which is why I move on to do Y"
2. Choose exits that value consulting skills (and that align more with what you want to do the "Y"): this could in-house strategy / transformation, corporate development, PMO/ops, product, or high-growth startups
3. Translate experience into outcomes: list 2–3 concrete achievements (problem solved, impact delivered, senior exposure)
4. Don’t over-explain the exit: be calm, forward-looking, and specific about what you’re moving towards

Also your career service will be very happy to help you navigate this, that is their job and they have an interest in having people move on to do great things (and become buyers of consulting in the future...).

Best,
Lukas

The key is focusing on the positive reasons for moving on. It's important to realize that hiring managers are more focused on how you can help them. They might ask why you moved from company A to B, but a short, simple rationale is typically the best response. 

Honestly, it comes down to clarity about what you want to do next. 

So spend some time thinking about that before moving anywhere else. 

Why is it that you're leaving? What are you looking for? What do you wish you were doing? 

Some introspection will likely give you a sense of where to head out. Theoretically, you can do anything, but I know this sort of freedom can also be paralysing. 

Best,

Cristian

Hi there,

Even if you're in consulting for a short period, as long as you have a story that makes sense to explain why and doesn't raise red flags, then should be OK. Plenty of people left consulting early because they were offered an attractive opportunity that they couldn't pass on.

Hey there,

if you leave consulting early, focus on highlighting the skills that transfer, problem solving, structuring, analytics, and client management. Think about industries or roles where those skills are valued, like corporate strategy, private equity, or operations. Networking and showing curiosity about your next field help a lot, and being clear in interviews about why you’re making the switch keeps things positive.

Best, Alessa :)