Next Career Step for consultancy

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the offer!

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• Personally, given the tight economic situation and the information provided about the consulting company, I would advise you to consider staying with Cisco for a little longer, especially since you only have 1.5 years of work experience in total.
• Still, I would highly advise you to opt for the option that better aligns with your professional (and maybe even personal) mid- to long-term goals. In order to make an informed decision, I would advise you to do the following:
  • Weigh the different criteria that are meaningful to you independently of the current options (e.g., prestige, culture, international exposure, compensation, location). After that, score the two options based on your criteria and their weighting, resulting in two scores. This way, you have covered the left-brain perspective.
  • Critically assess your initial reaction to the outcome of the scores. For instance, if you feel the urge to tweak the numbers, this is a solid indicator that you do not want this decision to become reality. This way, you have covered the right-brain perspective.
  • By doing so, you will be able to integrate both parts of the brain into the decision-making, guaranteeing a higher chance that you will still be happy with it years later.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi there,

congrats on your offer.

If you want to end up in consulting, you should get into consulting ASAP. As you correctly pointed out, you will have to learn the consulting skill set in the beginning. That is something that is universally applicable and will be required at Tier 1 as well.

You already have the Cisco name on your CV and it won't get washed away anymore. But you also mentioned it is a very technical role. So sticking with it for longer won't make the Cisco name any better and it also doesn't prepare you for a consulting job much more than it already has.

Obviously, I don't know the detailed implications that your consulting offer entails (e.g. compensation and how it compares to you current job) but in my view, Option 1 gets you closer to where you want to go than Option 2.

Best of luck

Hi,

congratulations on the offer!

My thoughts on the different options I see:

• Staying with Cisco: This could be a good and safe way to build up more experience, take on projects that are in line with your interests and ideally develop skills relevant for consulting. 
• Moving into consulting
  • Tier 1 firm: From my experience, all the Tier 1 firms are eager to build up technical expertise as digitalization is a large driver for their growth and they need knowledge in this. Thus, your profile would be sought after as a lateral hire and I wouldn't be surprised if your application is successful with the right preparation. Look at BCG Platinion and BCG X, two departments/subsidiaries of BCG that focus on digital projects and where your profile could fit. McK and Bain have similar organizations. So if this is something you are interested, give it a try.
  • Local firm: Good option to build consulting skills and experience but I would make sure that you can work on topics and projects that are in line with your interests and profile, so you can leverage that in case you want to move on after 1-2 years to a Tier 1 firm. 

Best

Marvin

Hi there,

Q: What do you think would serve me with the best experience?

It depends on the brand of the local consulting firm and on what are your preferences in terms of career. I would try to answer the following questions:

1) Is there evidence that it is easier to move from the local consulting firm to MBB compared to your current role in Cisco (you can check LinkedIn for that)?

2) Would it be better for you to stick to the local consulting firm if you don’t manage to move to MBB compared to staying in Cisco?

If the answer is yes to both, I would move to that firm.

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

Sharing a few of my thoughts:

• If you want to move to the generalist track in MBB, it would probably be better to move to the local consulting firm, assuming its for a generalist role
• If you want to move to a digital speciality role in MBB, then it would be better to stay at Cisco (e.g. BCG X/platinion)
• If its somehow possible to be rotated internally to a more strategic role in Cisco, then this could also be a potential 3rd option - the brand name is strong and doing something more strategy/BD like would round your experience more than just staying a solution architect

All the best!

You have Cisco brand name already. In the consulting firm you'll start gaining the consulting toolkit, so it should be positive. At least you'll be able to state that you now know consulting and know it is the type of work you want to do. 

Just apply immediately to bigger consulting firms right away.

Hi there,

Please don't forget that you already have Cisco on your resume! Firms will see this.

If your ultimate goal is Tier 1 consulting you do need to get consulting experience. The sooner the better.

You need to evaluate this consulting offer (I don't know the firm, their prestige, their level of job security in this environment) but if it passes the test then it will be better than Cisco for getting Tier 1 interest (If they see consulting experience on your resume it greatly increases your chances)

Based on the limited info you have given, my take would be that you remain at Cisco and job hunt in parallel. Given its very early days in your career you will likely go at entry level- Analyst/Associate.

Cisco brand is good and in this chaotic economic climate, its better to remain in a set job. Again, I dont know the details of your circumstance so take this advice cautioulsy.