10 things I learned as a management consultant
1. Utilization
In other words, how much time are you billing to clients and projects, and how much time you have in a week - divide one by the other and you get your utilization
2. RFPs
Request for Proposal - a process to win projects with the government
3. The power of PowerPoint
It's true, PowerPoint is the document of choice for consultants
4. Some partners make less than analysts
Some partners earn a percentage of the projects they sell, so if they don't sell enough in a year, they make less than what an analyst makes ($50k)
5. Setting expectations is a key skill
Under promise and over deliver
6. Tracking project metrics are key
One of the most important things is being under budget. Second most important is being on time. If you're over budget and over time, you better wrap up the project fast.
7. Customer satisfaction and sales wins
You could be the most hated management consultant but if you deliver projects that clients want and sell work, you will never be fired (though wait until that stops).
8. How something looks is more important than the content
Provide content in an uninspired fashion and you get the client to focus on the content. Take the same content, organize and format it in a fancy way and you've got a client that sees how great it is and worries less about the content.
9. Management consulting is a fantastic opportunity to see the world
If you're willing to travel to not so nice places too
10. There's no work-life balance
Either you work as hard as you can or you work as hard as you can and fit other things (commitments) into your life after.
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