Should I change from inhouse Consultant to Operational Excellence Consultant?

Question

Hello everyone

I have been working for a large corporation as an in-house consultant for 1 year. Before that I worked in a management consultancy for 2 years. Before that, I completed a Bachelor's and Master's degree in business administration.

In my current job, I was offered the opportunity to move to the Operational Excellence Consulting team. Should I take this step?

I would like to return to management consulting in 1-2 years. (if it works out MBB. My impression is that recruitment is still low).

Advantages:
- Build up further methodological skills in operational excellence, which could be beneficial for management consulting
- Receive additional training

Disadvantage:
- Not a classic consultant

Thank you very much for your input

Answer 1

Actually I'd dare say that the classic consultants used to do exactly this - ops excellence :)

I wouldn't worry about the impact this is going to have on your path.

It's rather whether you are actually excited about deepening your skillset in that area.

In terms of career impact, what I expect to happen is that you can then go in as a specialist hire in MBB within the Ops practice. That might actually make the recruitment process easier for you since the competition is lower (though of course there are also fewer specialist roles available).

In short, I wouldn't make the decisions based on how I want to play my chances in the future for MBB, but rather how genuinely excited I am about the topic.

Best,
Cristian

Answer 2

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the offer!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

I would highly advise you to opt for the option (changing vs. not changing your role within your current employer) 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, 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 your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Answer 3

Hi there,

Depends on two things:

Is this the direction you want to move to? If you are positioning yourself as an OE Consultant, this is likely also the role and position you would be hired for later on in MBB. If this is what interests you, go for it.
Is this connected with a bump in the hierarchy? What is important for MBB is that you can demonstrate progress in your career - a lateral move would not be progress but it should ideally also go hand in hand with a promotion.

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 4

Hi there,

Which office though are you considering? Is it Europe/UK/Middle East or elsewhere?