Challenges as a new joiner in consulting

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consulting New Joiner

New answer on Mar 12, 2023

4 Answers

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Anonymous A asked on Mar 11, 2023

Dear All,

First of all, I would like to extend my gratitude to this community for all the help and advice given which made me able to secure an offer in consulting.

I am now trying to keep up as I am an industry hire and it is a completely new topic for me. However, I face some difficulties/self-doubt as follows,

1. Confidence - I encountered moments where analysts and interns seems to be more qualified (soft and hard skills) than me which made me feel that I don't deserve to get a consultant position

2. Industry knowledge gap - I happen to be working on a healthcare topic and I am struggling to understand this complex industry even when I have tried to do my own DD. This makes me hard to participate in the discussion (especially law and regulation)

3. Insecurities - If I rank myself among my colleagues, I might be at the bottom feed due to no prior knowledge which could make me unstaffed, demoted to an analyst position or even counseled out (worst case)

Any advice and resources based on your extensive experience will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much

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Answer 1

Best answer

Hagen

Expert

Content Creator

replied on Mar 11, 2023

#1 Bain coach | >95% success rate | interviewer for 8+ years | mentor and coach for 7+ years

Hi there,

First of all, I am sorry to hear about your feelings!

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

First of all, I think you are severely suffering from imposter syndrome, which unfortunately is very common in strategy consulting.
While I could provide you with some "quick fixes" for the aspects you mentioned, I would highly advise you to talk to a mentor, advisor, counselor, or manager at your employer. You will see that most employees suffer from imposter syndrome, and while some might cover it by pretending to be more confident and knowledgeable than others, they still actually are not.
However, if this does not help you with fighting imposter syndrome, I would advise you to seek professional help as this is nothing to underestimate.

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

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Answer 2

Paul

Expert

replied on Mar 12, 2023

PL-level BCG experience (6 years)|Interviewer at BCG| 6/6 personal + 95%+ candidates offer success rate

Hi there,

I completely back Hagen’s answer. It is very common and, having been a industry hire at bcg myself, I can relate.
would only add some additional perspective here.

1) Confidence: it will go up, but you have to accept to operate most time at the boundary or out of your comfort zone. a) Learn and imitate veterans at the firm and choose one mentor (principal +) who will take the time to talk about it and share his/her advice b) focus on mastering the fundamentals as quickly as possible and do not get distracted by the fact that you are new - you will be fine

2) industry knowledge: 100% of mbb personnel goes through what you are going through now. It is not a deciding factor for new employees. if you show sufficient progress and trajectory on fundamentals during first months you will be fine

On both of the above you will never be fully confident - you have to learn how to show grace under fire and PROJECT confidence

feel free to reach out if you want to deep dive.

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Answer 3

Ian

Expert

Content Creator

replied on Mar 12, 2023

Hi there,

First, remember that case/career coaches aren't just here to help you get the offer. They're also here to help you keep it!

If you are truly struggling and worried about staying/promotion, hire a coach to train you up!

Second, here's some reading I highly recommend. It helps keep you focused: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/tips-for-consultans

1. Confidence - This builds over time. Remember that everyone feels out of place and like not enough. Fake it till you make it here…it will build over time!

2. Industry Get reading. Get learning. Ask questions. Lean on your peers. Lean on the internal learning site. Lean on articles, youtube tutorial, etc.

3. Insecurities - Same as #1. Everyone ranks themself at the bottom feed in consulting. Trust me! Get a coach and you'll start to feel like the top 10%!

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Answer 4

Tom

Expert

replied on Mar 12, 2023

FREE Intro session | Deloitte Senior Consultant | Big4 & Boutiques coaching | Strategy & Operations | LBS MBA

Hi there,

I am sorry that you feel this way… as someone who came into consulting from industry, I can relate to these feelings.

First thing I will say is that you should not despair. The fact that you are trying to objectively judge your performance so far is a good skill and of those that I have seen who have been demoted or asked to leave, very few were able to do so. In fact, they tend to have been overconfident about their abilities, unwilling to hear constructive feedback and generally dont show a lot of care.

One of the toughest thing about consulting (vs. industry) is that everytime you start getting comfortable on a project (i.e. content, stakeholders, etc.), you end up moving onto something else (new role, client, industry etc.). Thats also why the learning curve is so high. If other analysts/consultants are more confident, it's likely because they are more used to dealing with ambiguity. If you notice that your hard/soft skills are objectively lower, talk to your coach/mentor and improve them constructively through trainings, mentorship etc. as part of your personal development plan. Unless you lied to them on your CV when you applied (and I'm sure you didn't…) they shouldn't expect new skills/certifications right off the bat

It's also quite common for management to staff you on a project in a new industry and/or in a new domain/function. They do this for a few reasons 1) see how you deal with ambiguity and what your propensity to learn quickly is, 2) make sure you take off your industry hat from your prior experience and learn about new approaches/frameworks etc. Again, they hired you and know you dont have experience in healthcare. But embrace it as a new challenge and don't think that your voice matters less because of it… it can actually be helpful to have an outside perspective. I can't tell you the number of times someone new to the content has asked a “stupid question" only for no one to be able to answer it effectively…

With regards to your third point, the only thing I would add to the above is that you really don't know how others are performing. Superficial exchanges where you get the impression that someone is super smart or an SQL wiz or a public speaking expert is usually not indicative of the overall performance of a person at their job. Avoid benchmarking yourself until you have your performance reviews and there are statistics to back it up.

Above all, don't panic and keep trying to improve. In the end that's all any of us can do!

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