Struggling new consultant

Question

I am a new MBA hire at a T2 in the Middle East. Today is officially my 7th day on a project. I was onboarded for 3 days and put on a project that has been running for 2 yrs. In the beginning I was excited, came with enthusiasm and a learning mindset but this week has made me start questioning everything . I have been assigned as a PMO and keeping track/getting up to speed has been challenging. I must confess that the day to day activities is not difficult but I am not upto speed with the activities and projects. My supervisor keeps making side comments like ”you are from a top MBA program and you are not giving me confidence”. i know its nothing personal but those comments has affected me so much. When I ask questions, he makes comments like you shouldn’t ask such questions and I am now afraid to ask any questions for fear of judgement.

I need help to navigate ny early days as a consultant. I want rebuild my confidence, be firm and get up to speed with all that is happening around me.

i am also afraid that my performance/perception so far may affect me in the long run and I need to change it as soon as possible.

kindly help with your advice

Answer 1

What you have is a classic case of a terrible manager with poor people skills. 7 days is not sufficient time for anyone regardless of intellectual ability to understand all of the nuances of a long running project so he needs to cut you a lot of slack.

There is no easy cure for a bad manager, ideally they would never be in this position to begin with. You need to have a clear conversation with them and ask for their view on how you can perform better going forward. Explain to them some of the issues you are facing and ask them to be part of your journey. It could be that he is jealous you went to a top MBA program so do not talk about your experience just focus on getting their help (some people need an ego boost to feel better about themselves)

Most importantly - build strong relationships with others on the team whom you can rely on for help. The more senior the better. They will also help you get staffed with a better team the next time around, one that respects people more.

Answer 2

Hi there,

First of all, deep breaths. You'll get through this.

Second, you need to DO something and invest in yourself. You're earning money. You want to keep earning money. Invest that money in a coach to ensure you perform as needed. A Q&A isn't just going to fix this…

Look, the job is brutal. It really is. But ultimately, you are going to get bad people (and great people!) that you'll have to deal with. Don't get me started on my first project :P

Find a way to push forward. Get used to that sort of feedback and don't let it bother you.

And, a Q&A cannot fix this. Please get coaching. We can help!

Finally, read this guide: Consulting Survival Guide - Tips for Your Consulting Career

Answer 3

Hi there,

First of all, don't panic. It normally takes longer than 1 week to get up to speed to a new job, specially in a project ongoing for 2 years.

You need to act quickly to regain confidence and turn the situation around. Some ideas on similar cases to yours I've seen during my consulting career:

Look for two internal mentors in your company. First one (more senior) will help you to navigate the company and challenging situations like the one with your current manager. The second one (more junior, typically someone with 2-3 years of experience) will help with hands-on apprenticeship (e.g., how to craft presentations, how to improve communication, how to build models, etc.)
Proactively work on improving the relationship with your supervisor. That would depend on his style (ask other colleagues that have been working with him for a longer time how to win his trust). I typically suggest to do regular feedback with supervisors, asking for specific actions on how you can improve and reflecting on how you are performing over those actions. This will shift the conversation with him to a more objective space
If you cannot improve with any of the ideas above, ask for help to some on HR. This situation should not be happening by any means and the company should help you to get up to speed, not supporting a supervisor who is taking away your self-confidence

Good luck!

Alberto

—

Check out my latest case based on a real MBB interview: Sierra Springs

Answer 4

This is like reading what I was feeling in my first few weeks in McKinsey.

I absolutely understand what you mean.

If it helps, multiple people go through this experience. Also, everybody emerges stronger out of it. In short, it's going to get better.

You might find the following article helpful. I've put together a brief guide for new joiners based on what I learned from my first few years in consulting:

Expert Guide: How to Become A Distinctive Consultant

Here is an extract with a few examples:

Making everybody happy should not be your ultimate goal. To be able to do this work in the long run, identify your boundaries and preferences (e.g., working hours), make sure you stick to them, and politely communicate them to your team and manager.
Find people who can guide you. These can be more senior mentors – such as Partners and Senior Partners – but they can also be consultants that are two years more tenured than you. Aim to make these relationships as non-transactional as possible and try to think of them as a two-way street where you are both learning from each other.
Be open, flexible, and coachable. Show others that you are willing to learn, that you react to feedback and you are striving to get better. Compromise is an important element of progress in a corporate career, so your focus should be on things going your way most of the time, not all of the time.

Best,
Cristian

Answer 5

Hi there,

That is a bad situation and there is no way to sugarcoat this.

Udayan is correct! This is a bad manager with issues and hopefully not the norm in your firm.

For now, you cannot do much except

play the game
ask your mentor for guidance about the situation
blacklist the manager for future projects

I can guarantee you that we all felt lost in the beginning, but usually, this is not made worse by a bad manager. If you want to dig deeper into this, I have a book out called Consulting Career Secrets, where I discuss such situations and how to deal with them in more detail.

All the best,

Florian

Answer 6

Hi there,

First of all, I am sorry to hear about your negative experience with your manager!

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

First of all, it seems that your manager lacks a substantial amount of interpersonal skills. However, at the moment, you unfortunately need to play along.
Moreover, I would advise you to seek continuous feedback in a structured manner. Perhaps schedule regular check-ins with your manager to discuss your progress and clarify expectations.
Lastly, consider seeking help or at least guidance from your mentor, and blacklisting the manager for future projects.

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

Best,

Hagen

Answer 7

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Answer 8

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