| Decision time looming for disillusioned consultants? |
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| | By Tony Restell,
Founding Director of
Top-Consultant.com
I’m a great believer
in the premise that a
lot of good can come out
of a bad situation –
which is just as well
because the last 12
months in the management
consulting industry have
been pretty dire.
For many, the
combination of decent
salary progression and
chunky (if not
life-changing) bonuses
has made leaving the
consulting industry a
very difficult decision
to take. The slump that
consulting has endured
of late, though, means
that bonuses are meagre,
pay rises are for the
lucky few and
aspirations of promotion
have mostly been
shattered. The
consulting juggernaut
has screeched to a halt.
In fact, a more
accurate assessment
would be that it’s gone
into reverse. Most
recent predictions I’ve
seen anticipate that
consulting revenues will
have declined 10%-12%
from peak to trough –
and that’s in an
industry more used to
seeing 10%+ annual
growth being achieved.
So the good that I
expect to come out of
this situation is that
lots of consultants will
be compelled to look at
their careers and decide
whether consulting is
truly for them. With
promotion hopes dented
and the annual bonus no | |
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| | longer worth sticking
around for, there will
be many who take the
opportunity to progress
their careers in other
directions. Many –
through no fault of
their own – will have
been “pushed” by their
firms in recent weeks
and will equally be
forced to decide whether
a continued career in
consulting is something
worth fighting for.
Invariably, I can see
many reaching the
conclusion that now is
the time to get out of
consulting –
particularly as the
pick-up in other types
of recruiting gathers
pace. For most this will
be a good long-term move
and will simply be
bringing forward the
inevitable career switch
(when you consider how
few consultants will
actually ever make it to
partner the vast
majority are destined to
leave sooner or later).
I would hope the
consulting industry will
be left with a smaller
pool of professionals
who really relish the
challenges of the work
and who will be most
driven to helping the
sector return to decent
levels of growth in the
coming quarters.
Related event:
Your career at a
crossroads – which way
next?
For those who’ve been
through this thought
process already and
decided consulting is | |
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| | still for them, the
positive news is that
hiring activity is
finally picking up.
Recruiters have noted
that since early June
there’s been a marked
pick-up in new hiring
assignments, though
understandably the
interviewing process is
still dragging on longer
than desired as firms
feel their way back into
the hiring market.
Off the record we’ve
heard from some of the
biggest consulting
brands that there’s now
pent-up demand for
significant hiring to
take place – and that
this will translate into
mass recruiting the
moment the businesses
are convinced that
client demand has turned
a corner. Most are also
expecting an exodus of
staff as other sectors
of the economy pick up,
meaning that replacement
hiring will become
business critical once
again.
The interesting
dynamic in the coming
year will be just how
many disillusioned
consultants exit the
industry and therefore
how quickly we revert to
hiring challenges being
the number one growth
constraint on firms. For
those who’ve decided to
stick with consulting,
I’m certain the coming
12 months will see a far
broader range of career
opportunities and so
your patience is likely
to be rewarded. | |
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