Is traveling fully back as part of the job?

Hi there,

It is back but it depends a bit on the type of engagement. I would say on average we are seeing 80% of pre-COVID travel.

That is just the nature of the job and it would not make much sense to collaborate closely with clients virtually. Consulting is a people-driven industry and getting clients to collaborate via Zoom or getting C-level buy-in virtually is not as easy or enjoyable as in a face-to-face setting.

From my perspective, travel was the easiest part of the job and something I mostly enjoyed. I usually flew out Sunday nights or later mornings on Monday as I could not be bothered to wake up at 5 am every Monday to kick off the week. I did it only a couple of times and I hated it. You need to figure out a schedule that works for you.

On top of that, travel will give you some of the perks of consulting such as air miles and hotel reward points. If you optimize your memberships, you barely have to pay for your vacations while being an active consultant…

If travel is really a dealbreaker, I would consider a different profession. One alternative would be to get solely staffed with local clients. I know that there is a lot of work in and around Paris so that could be an alternative but it is not 100% certain that you would only get those engagements.

All the best!

Cheers,

Florian

Hi there,

This is indeed an interesting question which is probably relevant for a lot of users, thus I am happy to provide my perspective on it:

• The amount of travel required may vary depending on the specific consulting firm, the individual's role and responsibilities, and the location of the office - both pre- and post-covid. For instance, in France and Switzerland, you will most likely not travel a lot/ at all given most headquarters are located in Paris/ Zurich respectively. In case you'd provide more specific information on “Middle East” (given the fact that it is not even a country, let alone a city), I'd also be happy to comment on this. Some consulting firms may have more opportunities for remote work or may be able to offer flexible work arrangements, such as working from home or condensed work weeks. It's best to research the specific consulting firms you're interested in and inquire about their travel policies and expectations during the interview process.
• It's important to consider whether the potential travel requirements are a dealbreaker for you before pursuing a career in consulting. If the amount of travel required is not something you're willing to commit to, it's better to be upfront and honest about it during the interview process. Consulting firms value honesty and transparency, and it's better to have an open and honest conversation about your concerns and preferences before accepting a job offer.

In case you want a more detailed discussion on what to do in your specific situation, please feel free to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi there, 

For most firms and in most geographies, travelling is indeed back. However, it's nowhere close to where it used to be. 

Going to the client used to be the default option. Alternatives weren't even considered. Covid actually brought the awareness that teams can be effective even if they are not co-located and some even perform better. 

Additionally, firms such as MBB have introduced initiatives around improving lifestyle that give consultants the flexibility to not be at the client Mon to Thur (but for instance Mon-Wed or Tue-Thur, thus spending only 2 nights away from home). 

For Paris specifically, there are lots of projects within the city, so you could make an active effort to be staffed locally. Once you have a bit of tenure, expressing your choices matters more and more. 

However, if you really dislike travelling and it's deal breaker, you might want to consider a different job. Working as a consultant requires a lot of travel, even if the industry has changed a little. You could also just give it a shot and see if you like it, and if you don't, you could always move on to something else. 

Best,
Cristian

Hello,

Here are my thoughts:

1) The answer to both your questions (if travelling is fully back and is it a big disqualifier) is that it varies per firm, per geography and per client

2) Logically, you only travel when the clients are located away from your office base

3) Thus, if you stay in Paris, and have Paris clients, you will not have to travel much. Same goes for cities like Toronto, Riyadh etc as they have a lot of clients in the city itself. 

4) However, if you are based out of cities where the clients are usually far away, then travelling becomes very common amongst the staff. E.g. Dubai, Vancouver, etc.

5) Thus, coming back to my example, if you are staffed out of Toronto/Riyadh, travelling is the exception, whereas if you are staffed out of Vancouver/Dubai, travelling is the norm.

6) However, you can still raise your concern to the staffing/resourcing team to put you on less travel projects. But then you may have to compromise in other ways e.g. working for an industry that does not interest you, or working with a project with poor work-life balance, etc.

7) Lastly, to answer your question about if things are back from COVID - this again varies per geography and per client. E.g. if all consulting companies in Dubai are willing to go to the client side, your company will have to too to avoid fomo! Similarly, if your client is not too concerned about COVID, then he will ask you to fly in frequently.

8) Having said that, I would say travelling is 60-80% back to what it was at maximum. So if consultants from Dubai were flying 4 days a week every week pre-covid, now it may be 3 days a week every week, or 4 days every other week. 

Hope this helps!

All the best :)

Rushabh

Consulting requires traveling quite a bit, on average.
Although videoconferencing substituted some traveling, it is fair to state that 2-3 days every 1-2 weeks are spent away from home.
 

There are a few things to consider:

• In particular as a junior you really need client interactions, so you shouldn't see traveling as an issue.
• MBB let people travel in great hotels and go to great restaurants.
• Some offices and practices require more traveling than others. For instance, ME offices are known for heavy traveling. Industrial Good practice is known for heavy traveling. Private Equity, Luxury or Healthcare practices usually require less traveling. 

Beyond that, in your message, there was something I found “strange”: why someone who spent a year in IB is applying for Accenture? Accenture is not even close to the level of MBB and it is quite peculiar to see bankers moving to Accenture.

 

Hi there,

Travelling is back, yes, albeit not to the same extent as pre-pandemic. That being said, it's not necessarily a deal breaker if you'd rather not travel too much (there will always be a little bit, if only for training, internal events, etc.).

Whether or not you have to travel a lot depends on the location:

• Concentration: I used to work at McKinsey in Santiago and in Chile a lot of the business (aside from operations) is actually concentrated in the capital. Hence, some colleagues never had to travel when they didn't want to because there were always projects nearby (even pre-pandemic). This may also be the case in ME.
• Distributed: The exact opposite of concentration is found in some European countries e.g., Germany, where projects are distributed all over the place and you will hardly find an office with continuous availability of nearby projects. Hence, I would advise against those locations.

Hope this makes send and that you find what you're looking for!

Best,

Moritz

I just wanted to add a different perspective. The type of travel will depend very much on what practice area you align with.

• Sectors like financial services and practice areas like due diligence for private equity will be mostly located in Paris with occasional trips outside (e.g. BNP, SocGen, CredAg)
• Sectors like manufacturing and aerospace tend to be outside Paris and further to travel to (e.g. Airbus, Michelin)

Companies HQs tend to be more concentrated in Paris than other countries.

If you really want to minimise travel you can try and align with those. However, starting junior means you can be staffed on anything and you may be expected to travel every couple of week.

Hi there,

you will not be able to avoid traveling in consulting. So it really depends on how much travel would constitute a deal breaker for you.

The ratio between work travel and “stationary” work (from home or office) has definitely shifted towards the latter since Covid. That said, it ultimately matters what the clients want which varies project by project. Some will want the consulting team to be onsite and readily accessible on most days, others are fine with a remote setup - also saving on a bunch of consultant travel expenses they otherwise would incur.

People who want to limit travel in consulting often gravitate towards investor support areas, for example, where most projects are due diligence assignments that can be run out of the office. However, these types of assignments are not the most interesting ones and not worth entering consulting for - in my opinion,  

The ammount of travelling really depends on the office. In Middle East you are likely to have a lot of travel. In Paris, not so much.

Now, some consultants really want the travel. Others want to avoid it. During your staffing conversations you can state preference for industries that tend to be local, or to be upfront about it in a positive way (i.e., ok to travel, but a preference for staying in town…)

Hi there,

Honestly, if travel is a dealbreaker then you should not be in consulting (at least with the big firms).

It's a core part of the job and you're just setting yourself up for misery if you join. In the period of a year I can almost guarantee you'll travel for half of it.

Now, the caveat is that every company is different. Maybe, for certain companies, you can negotiate to not travel. However, it's really just so central to a successful consulting career.

Quick answers to your questions

1. It is more or less fully back. Some teams have reduced travel days and some are more conscious about a week they don't travel but by and large it is same as before.

2. YES - Traveling is extremely painful because there are delays, flights get canceled and you have to wake up at 4 am on a Monday sometimes to take a flight. You also are more likely to get poor quality sleep and unhealthy food while traveling.