Hi Sunny,

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• In consulting, employees who support the work of external consultants are considered to be in internal positions. These roles can include support functions, such as administrative or HR, as well as knowledge-based roles, such as research analysts in specific practice areas. Research analysts in these positions are responsible for conducting research that will be used in engagements with clients. While these roles are primarily internal, they may occasionally involve working with clients and be considered a hybrid of internal and external positions, depending on the specific company.
• A manufacturing consultant in the operations practice is typically considered an external role. This role would involve working with manufacturing companies to identify areas for improvement in their operations, such as increasing efficiency and reducing costs. The consultant would then work with the company to develop and implement strategies to achieve these goals.
• Switching from an internal role to an external role in strategy consulting can be difficult. Internal roles often involve a deep understanding of a specific topic, which can be difficult to replicate in an external role. Additionally, external roles may require more specialized skills, such as the ability to quickly understand a client's business and recommend solutions. However, it is not impossible, and people do make the switch successfully, especially if they have the right skills, attitude and a clear understanding of what the new role involves.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi there,

Let me break this down:

What's the difference between an internal role and an external role? In the consulting world, which is essentially a client-serving business, external roles are client facing whereas internal roles tend to support those client facing teams and/or develop firm-wide knowledge, solutions, products, etc.

Manufacturing consultant in operation practice is an internal or external role? Sounds very external. I was part of McKinsey Operations practice, which was heavily client facing i.e., on the ground with the front line all the time (not just c-suite). Requires quite strong people skills because you'll be dealing with engineers, technical experts, etc., all of which may have a different opinion from you and may not necessarily even want to work with you. However, most of the time it's good fun and I loved connecting with the people since I was one of them for a long time i.e., technical expert (Geology & Geophysics) in the Petroleum Industry.

How difficult it is to switch from an internal role to an external role? Impossible to say and depends on so many things e.g., scope of the internal role, technical and soft skills, your personality, etc. Generally speaking, however, I have seen some people going from internal to external in the consulting world but it's never easy and it's definitely the exception.

Hope this helps a bit. Best of luck!

Either you face clients or you don't. It's not impossible to switch, but people focusing on internal roles tend to be more specialized and have a narrower skillset (and a better work life balance).

Hi Sunny,

An internal role is advising a company on their own strategy while you work for them and are employed by them. 

An external role is advising multiple companies while they contract you out for specific projects.

Internal roles are generally “easier” and deal more with internal stakeholders, smallers teams, etc.

External roles involve longer hours, more travel, more project types, etc.

I suggest you network further to truly learn more about what this looks like!

Internal to external is harder than external to internal. But it is still do-able.