Anyone here work in consulting?

[ChromePony]

So I'm a college senior at Northwestern, physics major and unfortunately its time to think about life after school. I was kinda planning on the grad school route, but I decided to drop a few resumes for jobs since I wasn't totally sure what I wanted to do. As it would turn out I ended up having a few interviews with a consulting firm, Deloitte to be exact, and somehow managed to get myself an offer, even though I dont know why anyone could possibly want me to work for them [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img].

So my questions to anyone who has experience in this field:

1. Whats the lifestyle really like with all the travel? You hear about talking to the people and stuff, but I'm looking for a more unbiased opinion.

2. Say I were to accept the offer and then get into a school and decide I wanted to go there instead, what would be the consequences of backing out on the deal?

3. What if I defer grad school and then cut out of the company after a year? Is there generally a min committment, should I be honest about this up front?

Any other words of wisdom would be great too, as this is all happening kinda fast and I have no clue what Im doing. Thanks guys,

[StevieG]

1. If you are staying in Chicago, you may not be going anywhere. But don't count on it. It's a grind for the low folks in the structure. You could easily be assigned to some gig someplace else for a long stretch, or many different places for short stretches. If you have friends spread out all over and no steady girlfriend that is going to be pissed with your travel, this can be a fine thing for you right now.

2. + 3.) Since you seem surprised to have this offer, treat it like found money. Go ahead and be up front. Tell them you have applied to grad school and if you get in you will defer admission to work with them a year. If they give you gruff, walk away. If not then you've gotten the best of both worlds.

Just remember that you can defer some student loans in grad school, but you will be paying them if consulting.

[Bazuul]

for what it is worth, i would not worry about any "committments" you do not put in writing. if a company wants you to make length of service committments then you should ask for reciprocal committments from them

i quit my last "real" job in 1999 and i contract myself out as an engineering consultant for process automation and control systems. i average 5 to 8 months of work per year and make far more than i ever made as a full time employee

sharpen your negotiation skills, poker experience really helps here

travel is ok if you do not have a family. always make your own travel arrangements if at all possible, the only bad travel experiences i have ever had were the result of letting some corporate travel specialist make the decisions

if i were in your shoes, and i could afford it, i would continue with school

[kenberman]

what kind of grad school?

your best best is to reach out to current Deloitte employees, and ask them all the questions you have. searching the Northwestern alumni database for Deloitte employees will probably give you a list of people in the practice area your offer is in. they wil be able to give you good opinions/advise.

also, ask your career office

[mshalen]

If by grad school you mean getting an MBA then I would advise you to work for a few years before going to school. Having actual work experience means you may actually get something out of school other than a degree. I went back to grad school 10 years after undergrad and was glad I waited.

The traveling can get to be a royal pain in the butt or can be a blast, just depends on where you go and what your projects are. I spent two years consulting to a conduit (it doesn't matter what a conduit is) and was gone Monday through Friday every other week. I quit because we had kids, I rarely saw them and at the age of 40 who the F wants to live out of a suitcase, sit on planes and survive on junk food.

Since then I started my own company and the past 8 years have been the best. I set my own hours, get to coach 3 sports teams over the year, see every school play, make more money than 99% of the public and get to play online poker during business hours. Good luck in whatever you decide.

[mshalen]

Forgot to add: I'd bet that Deloitte will pay the cost of grad school. Check it out. My wife got Bear Stearns to pay the full cost of NYU Business school. One month after she got the degree she left to work at a different investment bank. Oh well sometimes life works out that way.

[SheetWise]

I've worked with a lot of the consultants at Deloitte in Chicago -- top notch, flexible, and smart. I'll add ethical. A lot of the people I've worked with had private businesses on the side, school, teaching, etc. I think you'll find they're a lot more flexible than you might think. They usually work in teams, and they like to pull a lot of disciplines together. They always seemed to enjoy themselves as much as I did -- and I was paying the bill. I think you should consider the offer a compliment -- be honest with them and make a deal.

[slickpoppa]

I cant answer 1

2+3) Almost every job offer is for "at will" employment, which means you can leave whenever you please without any consequences. However, if you leave a job early, that employer will likely not serve as a positive reference for future jobs. Also, since most people who work in consulting after college do it for two years, it will look bad on your resume if you only worked at a place for 6 months.

I was also a physics major. Are you thinking of going to physics grad school? If you are, I would definitely reccomend taking a year off and working because getting a physics Phd is a huge committment.

[ChromePony]

Thanks for the responses guys. Just to clearify, grad school for me would be in physics or maybe engineering, but not an MBA.

I was pretty much planning on taking a year off anyway, since a PhD program is a huge comittment and Im definitely not positive enough that its what I want to do to sign up right now. Im only applying to a few schools basically so I'll have an extra chance to get in and then potentially defer.

Im still interested to hear from other consultants if theyre out there, the lifestyle sounds fun and glamorous now but I can imagine that it might wear off pretty quickly. Thanks,

[Ulysses]

I did this for 1.5 yrs out of school. It is pretty fun travelling, being on expenses, and banging chicks on your project out of town. Then it gets pretty old. A lot of my friends enjoyed it for 3-4 years.