Leaving consulting

Question

How do you schedule interviews with your exit option companies if you're working 12-16 hours a day? It'd also be weird to take days off if you are staffed on a project. Those of you who left consulting and went to other companies, how did you navigate setting up interview times?

Answer 1

Schedule interviews around early morning (830am)/lunch time slots/late evenings (after 5pm)/Friday...which ever is feasible.

Take some time off here and there and thats okay.

Answer 2

Hi there,

Here are a few thoughts for you:

Fridays are easiest
Figure out days that you expect to be light (i.e. 1-2 days after a big deliverable)
Use "personal matter" excuses to block out times. You honestly don't even need to say what it is. If pressed, doctor/dentist appointment is the route.
WFH should allow you to get away with a lot more without raising eyebrows

Good luck with your interviews!

Answer 3

Depends on how much time the interviews take, if we are talking Zoom-based 1-2 hours on a Friday you could more easily find time (e.g. telling your supervisors that you have a personal appointment - doctor, govt stuff etc). If it takes more time or even consecutive days, depending on where you are, get vacation approved as early as possible or simply call in sick.

Answer 4

I guess it depends on the firm but McKinsey for example will give you dedicated search time of a few months once you decide to leave. The other approach is to take a more stable or even internal non-client facing project where you should have more flexiblity and predictability to schedule interviews.

Answer 5

Hello,

I recently did that to switch consulting companies from a Tier 2 to an MBB.

1) A few interviews during lunch break - I've told my manager that I had a personal thing that would take 2 hours

2) One interview set in the morning, from 8h to 9h30 - Same, I told the manager I had a thing

3) For advanced rounds, I took half a day vacation. I did it twice, even though I was on a project during one of the breaks. Managers usually trust the consultants if they are able to compensate and give the extra mile when needed. In my case, no questions were asked, but I am a senior consultant, and I am quite autonomous.

Hope it helps,

Good luck

Answer 6

Friday's are best as you'll be back from travel and these are usually light days
Aim for around lunchtime - block this out as personal appointments / gym time in your diary
For 1-2hr calls/zooms this is easier. For in person interviews, you'll have to be tactical around project delivery dates
Eventually for me when it came to final interviews I just took a week or two off to properly prepare