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Looking for a Consultant mentor!
I am approaching my 5th year in industry. I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering, I am an Energy Engineer at a Fortune 500 company and just surpassed 2 years. I was the first of my immediate family to go to a 4 year university so I never considered anything beyond undergrad. Now that I’ve reached my career goal of being an Energy Engineer, it’s not as fulfilling as I hoped it to be. I am looking to make a larger impact on my work and am considering grad school, MD or PhD. I realize it’s not necessary to get a PhD to go into consulting, but know that is an option on the other side. I am considering a few career changes but ultimately I’d like my work to be more independent, flexible, and impactful. I love helping people understand solutions, I am organized, and love to learn. My career is important to me, but having a family one day is also important. I want to do it all! I’d love to know what path you took, what your day to day is like, and any advice is welcome ?
Punya Sandhu10 yrs in Big4 Consulting, Founder - BYONDGOOD
301
06/03/20 at 10:20PM UTC
I've been a Big4 management Consultant for the past 10 years and a mom for the past 6. I had both my babies while working as a full-time consultant and while my firm had excellent maternity leave policies, I did feel like my career slowed down because I preferred local projects that cut down on the travel and couldn't dedicate the time I had after the high burn projects to do internal firm initiatives. I loved Consulting, but felt that I had to give up a lot of personal/family time to succeed.
Recently made the move to Industry and it's a better work life balance. I miss Consulting enough to blog about it :) but I do love the fact that I'm home to tuck in my little ones every night. (Though the current environment has forced us all to WFH, but I'm commenting about the "standard" Mon-Thu traveling Consultant life I had till 2 months ago!) Hope this helps!
Lisa CliffordMarketing Ninja | Cannabis & Finance Co. Owner
44
10/05/22 at 3:39AM UTC
Hi Punya! What is your blog address? I'd love to see it!
HanBanMake an impact in a world that needs change fast
22
03/20/20 at 5:22AM UTC
Thank you so much! Yes that’s definitely helpful. Yeah I definitely wouldn’t go out on my own now, more experience is definitely needed. How many kids do you have? Would you do anything differently with balancing your career and kids?
Amanda TysonGovernment Contracts/Acquisitions Consultant
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03/20/20 at 12:30AM UTC
I've been consulting for the past 6 years and started having babies nearly 3 years ago. Consulting gave me flexibility for sure and was a portable career (military spouse). I was able to use my JD and be a professional. It has been very rewarding. I think having a graduate degree or a chunk of experience is important to go into consulting. I started under someone else's wing, so that helped. I wouldn't go out on my own but that is a personal preferance primarily for two reasons: 1. I don't want to do company admin and 2. I don't want to market/BD/sales my brand. My current organization or other firms do both for me and I have to "sacrifice" following their drum. So far I've had a good bit of freedom but I can tell you that once you start having the babies, you will be treated differently. Its just harder to travel (the core of consulting if your customers aren't in the same place that you live) with little kids at home. Hope this is helpful and happy to opine more.
