employment as a Consultant

Your 20+ years of experience in financial management are highly relevant. You probably bring in-depth knowledge of financial processes, regulatory requirements, risk management, and strategic financial planning.

So if you are looking to go in to consulting, tailor it to work on those topics and within financial institutions.

Because of your experience it would make sense for you to enter at a managerial position, not as a Consultant. However, this means you are someone who is considered “higher risk”. This is because you won’t have the experience a 4-year consultant would have at the time of becoming team leader.

This means you must have a very clear rationale why you want to switch, strong transferable skills, and deep expertiese in a certain topic or fiels that is of interest to the consulting firm.

Key considerations

1. Firm Culture and Values: Look for firms that value diversity, professional growth, and have a supportive environment for experienced hires.

2. Industry Focus: Target firms with a strong focus on financial institutions and financial services and ensure they have a solid client base and projects that match your expertise.

3. Training and Development: Seek firms that offer robust training programs for experienced professionals or at least some form of support from colleagues on the job at the beginning.

4. Work-Life Balance: Consulting roles can be demanding, so evaluate if that is something you are willing to embrace.

Network thoroughly and reach out to people who have joined consulting as experienced hires so you can definitely assess whether it is your cup of tea.

Hi,

Typically for people with ~20 years experience, you would come in either as a Partner, or expert track. 

Expert track in some companies is not as straightforward as some on this forum would lead you to believe. Many who join don't often last, due to some nuanced reasons I can explain more in a private chat. 

Firms would not hire you as a Partner, because typically they want someone with commercial experience - meaning most lateral Partners are often already consulting Partners elsewhere. 

Potentially you could come in as a Senior Advisor as well - this is not a full time role though. All options however depend really on how relevant your knowledge and area of expertise is. Your experience shared here is abit vague for me to comment more, but if i just take it as face value of “financial management” (assuming you worked in the finance department of companies), this is definitely not as hot as other expertise now such as sustainability, digital, AI or ops. But i would need more information to give a more detailed commentary. 

All the best!

Hi there!

I've worked with several seniors transitioning into consulting at ages 40-50 and can confirm that it is totally doable. 

It's impossible to give you a full download within the scope of a Q&A, but the main thing is that you need to identify in what sort of consulting role your current skill set and knowledge would be most valuable.

To give you an example, typically people transitioning into consulting in the middle of their career, do so in an expert or specialist role. 

This way they have already a strong value proposition and contribute with something to the firm (which is critical when applying as an experience hired). 

If I were you, I'd start the reflection exercise from here. 

And do reach out if you need additional help.

Sharing also a guide on how to approach the application process:
Expert Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy

Best,
Cristian

Hi there,

With your experience, you would be a great fit for an Expert track role or move towards a senior consultant role (EM, AP, Partner) depending on your experience (mainly impact, responsibility, leadership).

You need to get out there and start networking with senior consultants from your target firms, who work in the relevant practice you are interested in.

All the best,

Florian

They do. But you should try to get there through networking.

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on your career trajectory thus far!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

• Consulting firms also hire experienced professionals, albeit at a lower rate. I would advise you to take a look at their job boards to understand what roles they are looking for.

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

Best,

Hagen