Immediate* future of consulting

Hello,

It's true that hiring / economic activity more broadly have been slower in several parts of the world. However, I don't think consulting is going to be affected more than other parts of the economy. Think of it this way - management consultants frequently get brought in to help firms get through difficult economic times, so in that sense consulting is always an industry that will have work. In my opinion, there's nothing you can do about broader macroeconomic conditions, so if you're interested in a career in consulting, I would go for it. Consulting will help you gain a broad skillset and opens plenty of doors for opportunities down the line, as it always has.

Hi there,

Q: With the recent downward trend in consulting is this even a viable option for someone to pivot careers into? 

Getting a job in consulting has definitely become more competitive compared to past years. In some countries, a few companies have already stopped hiring for 2023.

Overall, compared to the last years there are:

• Fewer companies hiring
• A more competitive process for the remaining firms due to a lower number of open positions

On the other hand, some companies are still hiring. So if you are interested in transitioning to consulting you can still pursue it if you have a good application strategy (good cv, cover and referral) and great performance in your interviews.

You can find more on how to optimize your application material to receive invitations below:

▶ How to Get a Consulting Interview Invitation

Good luck!

Francesco

With the recent downward trend in Tech, is it even viable to pivot careers into?

With the recent downward trend in investment banking, is it even viable to pivot careers into?

Consulting overhired last year. As did Tech. As did Investment banking.

You know what's booming right now? Hospitality!

Industries are cyclical. Last year was overdone. This year is a correct. There was a downturn in 08, in 2020, etc.

There are certainly a lot of question marks in general for employment as we enter the AI era….but these apply to law, tech, banking, consulting, etc. “equally”. Truly hard to say on the more macro 5-10 year horizon!

Hi there, 

Trends go up and down. It's bad now, but it will get better. It's a certainty. Everybody with market knowledge is aware of this. 

What you need is a strong application strategy to maximize your chances of getting at least one offer. Here is how you build one:

• Maximising your chances of getting a consulting job during an economic downturn

Best,
Cristian

Hi,

the market environment is generally not ideal right now - that goes beyond consulting. Once the market turns around again, consulting firms will hire like crazy again to be able to deliver their project pipelines. There is certainty that this will be the case but uncertainty around the when. If you are truly interested in that space, you might as well apply now and try your luck. If it doesn’t work out, the resulting ban period will likely overlap with the market downturn anyway so you really don’t have anything to lose.

All the best 

Hi there,

in short, yes, it's still a viable option to go into conculting.

1. Yes, indeed consulting hiring has significantly been impacted by the current economic downturn. Firms hire less at the moment, often much less. Getting in has become a lot more competitive vs 1-2 years ago.
2. Yet, you can be assured that this is temporary. Once the economic situation improves, corporate and federal budgets will allow for more discretionary spend → more projects → more need for consultants → more hiring.
3. In essence, consulting hiring is cyclical and the current situation looks worse that it is. In the medium-term, hiring will ramp up again - as demand picks up and the firms also continuously need to backfill their pyramid (virtue of an up-or-out firm). 
4. From a more long-term and strategic angle, top decision makers will still rely on consultants to push their agendas. While technological evolvement definitely has an impact on the role of consultants and their ways of working (→ staffing), I would not expect that the general demand for strategy consulting to change anytime soon.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Andi

Consulting firms have a lot of turnout. So a lot of people join and leave every year.

It's never easy to get in, but also it is never that difficult… If it is something YOU WANT, you should do it. If it is not something you really want and are only looking for the money or a easy way out of your current career… then probably never was a great option anyway.