Is it common to leave consulting within a year? Is there good exit?

It is certainly shorter than usual. In my own experience, headhunters started reaching out around the 1-year mark. If you are deciding that it is too much and you can't continue any more, you will need to prepare a good story for why you will want to leave so son.

This will raise red flags. I d stay at least for a year and then have a nice story as to why I left. I felt an increase in headhunter activity around 12-18 months into the job.

Hi there,

I agree with the rest - the year mark is hard to justify. Try to get to at least 18 months. Around now the headhunters should be reaching out, so if you can find a positive exit then you can make it work.

Start networking and putting out feelers. Please don't leave without having something else locked in! Otherwise this will look very bad on your resume.

A bit too soon, hang on for 2 yrs if you can and exit will become a bit easier. If you absolutely can't, then prepare a good story on why are you leaving early.

Hello!

A year is a bit little, I would try to go for the 1-5 years at least. 

This said, once you have the MBB brand in your CV, that is forever -even when short-. 

Important: preparing very well your pitch regarding why your left. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Hi there,

Usually people leave after 2-3 years. In terms of how good could be an exit after 1 year, it depends on what you are planning to do:

• For corporate: agree with the other coaches, 2 years is usually the minimum for a good exit (there are still exceptions)
• For startups: no strict timeline if you are the founder. I know people who left after few months and did very well. However, you are going to direct your career in a very different direction (not necessarily a bad thing). The MBB brand is going to be very useful for fundraising.

If you need more help please feel free to PM me, I worked in VC and founded a few companies after MBB.

Best,

Francesco

Hello,

I would try to reach at least 1-1.5 year before exiting, but you could find a good exit options even earlier. Having a strong consulting brand on your CV means that you are a brilliant person that was selected as top 1%, no matters how much time you spent there.

Best,
Luca

Hi there,

I agree with others that 1 year is too soon. Try to get to at least 1.5 years if it’s possible. But if you can't wait that long, then it’s better to prepare a good and reasonable story of your early leaving. 

Hope it was helpful,
GB

Agree with other answers here. 1yr is too short to really highlight the strength of your consulting apprenticeship. Ideally make it to the next promotion cycle then you'll find far better exit opportunities