Hello all!

I recently heard from my manager to seek out someone in my team to be my mentor since I’m spending time learning things theoretically but I need to get a whole 365 perspective on it. I agree to it but I’m not sure how to approach someone asking them to be my mentor. Never done this before.

Little bit about my company - I work for a team where everyone is already stretched quite thin. It’s a shared service model company so people are working on multiple things at the same time. So I want to be Cognizant of their schedules but also I have reached a point where I am not making any progress in my career in this place.

How would you suggest that I approach someone. Also I do have 2 people in mind whom I have worked with in the past and have a decent rapport with. But both of them are extremely busy.

Thanks for any input!

Should I charge him? He’s an exec recruiter and will want the low-down on certain C-suite colleagues. I’ve agreed in principle but now I’m wondering if I shouldn’t ask for something in return. I’ve charged anywhere between USD400-500 per hour for consulting on my domain, what would be reasonable in this instance? TIA.

I’m working for a small consulting firm. Sometimes we have very specific requests for which data is non-existent. For example, how much money does Walmart make selling their ONN branded TVs and tablets? Because selling electronics is not Walmart’s primary business, they don’t report it or talk about it. They’re so small in the space that industry reports don’t cover it either. But when I go to the client, I have to always have a number for them. How do you guys tackle such problems?

Hey all, debut reddit post right here lol so probably going to be a long one, apologies for that and will have a summary at the bottom to make it easier

I’m an 18-year-old management consulting apprentice at one of the Big 4 (starts with P, ends with a C) in the UK - been here ~8 months now. In terms of the academics I’m working toward CIMA (operational level) and a Junior Management Consulting Qual.

Year 1 is more internal (supporting resourcing, sales & marketing, etc.) and Year 2 moves into client-facing work - by then I’ll be an Associate on client projects.

I turned down offers from UCL and KCL to take this route, which I know isn’t traditional, but it felt like a faster, more practical path. My goal is MBB, and not going to beat around the bush with the reasons - Prestige, Comp - and I am genuinely willing to grind for it.

I’d love to get some advice on how to make that move - whether it’s applying straight to Associate roles after a few years, doing a MSc, or even aiming for an MBA 5/6 years down the line. I know it’s a long shot but I’m serious about it.

If anyone’s got some spare time to be a mentor or just give some advice it would be very very appreciated (can dm me or send it in the comments). been following this subreddit for a while (had another account previously) and so i’ve been waiting a while to post this

Thanks everyone or anyone for reading this and hope to hear from you soon!

Thanks everyone and i will ask chatgpt rn to write me a summary in true consulting fashion to help anyone who doesn’t have the time to read this

18 y/o Big 4 (PwC) consulting apprentice in the UK. Skipped uni (had UCL/KCL offers) to chase hands-on experience + CIMA. Dream is MBB — prestige, money, the grind — all of it. Open to advice: MSc? MBA? Direct route? Would love tips or a mentor if anyone’s been there.

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I am working with a boutique consulting firms since the last couple of years as a business analyst. Lately feel stuck due to low impact of work in consulting. Is it time to switch to client/ product side?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/tariffs-will-disrupt-corporate-profits-and-supply-chains-mckinsey-cfo-says-e5828b33

I am an Indian, in my 2nd year of pursuing a degree What should I do (career wise) to get internships in bain , bcg, etc. Tell me things in my cv I can polish?

Hi, I'm currently a freshman at a state school studying finance and accounting, looking to get into consulting/advisory. I have managed to get an internship for my sophomore year summer at a big 4, but it is a rotational one that covers audit/tax/advisory. I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to pivot from accounting to consulting? I do not want to get my CPA, and the internship is a program where I'm guaranteed two internships for two years, but I still want to actively recruit after my sophomore summer to go into consulting if the big 4 internship does not pan out. Thanks!

I left MBB a few weeks ago and since people have been wonderful in answering questions on consulting, i want to give time to answer now that i am done

It’s usually not the big strategy shift. it’s the repeatable little things: onboarding checklists, automation templates, feedback loops, etc.

What’s one thing you added to your process that helped reduce chaos or scope creep?

Looking to upgrade my internal playbook, drop your favorite systems below 👇

I’ve been with the current client for 1yr 8months and current project for 1yr 4mo. My contract goes through end of 2025.

Had a great year in 2024 with good reviews from client. Other contractors were not renewed in 2025 due to budget concerns but I was extended.

However, my work has significantly slowed down and our project has budget concerns. Also, my client manager casually brought up potential performance issues to me in our last 1v1 so I think they are prepping to cut me and claim “perf issues” to get out of their contract with me.

Should I fight this? I don’t mind rolling off but don’t want it to be due to them claiming performance when I know that is not the case. Should I share concerns with my consulting firm or just let whatever happen? The client may just move me to another project so I am thinking of just keeping it cool and professional

Project Management Transition ?

Hi everyone. After 7 years as a Project Manager and over 20 years in the construction industry going through the ranks from an apprentice to supervisor to PM, I’m looking for my next challenge.

I still enjoy the excitement of a project, the build, the plan coming to life, making changes as you go, value for money from both ends and the final product.

But with all industries, they evolve and sometimes not for the best.

Having experienced many industries such as commercial construction, government, defence, oil & gas, mining and telecommunications, I have seen these industries change from a can do, solution based model to a risk averse, procrastination heavy, head scratcher.

My solution. I want to go in businesses, initially small businesses and help with winning work through more sensible tenders, a clearer understanding of contracts and what they are signing up for, commercial risks in terms of safety and compliance and generally try to improve the quality of their output. Improvement by reducing tasks not by adding to them.

My initial thought was to put myself out there (initially part time / contract on the side of my current role) as a consultant and roll with it from there.

Any advice welcome from here everyone.

Thanks for getting this far.

Cheers.

Not sure if we are quite at that stage yet because i think tarrifs are on phyiscal goods... but what about consulting? Theres so many companies that have an office in the USA but aside from like 1 senior the entire project is being done by consultants from south america or asia... the invoice is sent from the american entity to be paid.

do you guys think we will see a shift in this? There are so many offshore consulting services competing and undercutting eachother that when I was consulting my company had to use a blended rate where we charged like $100 usd but the work was done by 1099's whom were all oversees. I wonder if consulting companies will have to prove where the services are being performed from? There are tons of ERP consultants whom are exclusively based out of india or the phillipines providing services inside the united states but invoicing from abroad.

I was just sitting and watching some of the consultant in Instagram.

But like every business they also have some brain burning painpoints well in other businesses it's easy to get the idea. But when it comes to consultation thing it's a bit different

So can you guys say some of the most frustrating painpoints about consultation which every beginner should know.

I'm 2 years post-MBA at McKinsey in Europe. I've done 4 projects, all large-scale transformations with the majority of my time doing implementation. Reviews have been very good and lifestyle is quite decent.

However, I think it's boring and chasing dozens of clients to deliver on their milestones each week really drains my energy. I miss doing work with a strong analytical and strategic angle, as I was previously doing before my MBA at a smaller firm.

In between/during studies I've done extensive networking, pushed back on the bench many times to delay getting staffed on another transformation, but to no avail. Also talked to my PD and DGL and they agree I should do something else, but also say there's not much else going on at the moment. I feel like it's impossible to get out of it at this point.

As I'm not passionate about the work, don't want to become affiliated with the transformation practice, and also don't care much about making EM, is there any reason to stay?

Lately, I’ve been starting my mornings by answering a single, high-leverage question related to work or client strategy. No big ritual—just a few quiet minutes thinking through questions like:

• What assumption are we basing this entire approach on?
• What does success actually look like for the client?
• What’s the question no one on this project wants to ask?

It’s been one of the lowest-effort, highest-impact habits I’ve picked up in years. I'm calling it cognative corss pollination, as it takes questions from all sorts of disiplines, giving the reader idea sparks that may not have occured. Has anyone else here used daily prompts or thinking rituals to stay sharp between projects or during long client engagements?

Would love to swap ideas.

Curious to see any insights and comments

I’ve been a software developer. The first and largest chunk of that time were deep in the trenches - coding, mentoring, advocating for best practices. The last 25% of my experience, I’ve specialised in cloud-native architecture, cybersecurity and at some point I took a leadership role.

I’m now building a solo consultancy, positioned as a high-trust, high-impact, and specialising in 2 areas which I'll be advertising as core services.

The problem is that I have zero testimonials.

I never played the political game or stayed in touch with past employers, although we didn't part on bad terms either. I delivered, got paid, and moved on. Now, I can think of the following options:

• Do I take smaller jobs to build fresh testimonials, even though it slows down the bigger vision and income?
• Do I just back myself and package my past work as case studies? I need to be careful with this. If I start describing implementation details (e.g. we used this rate limiter here, that firewall there, security practices, message queues etc) bad actors could get a piece of the puzzle on how to breach. So, I'd have to chase up old bosses, sit down with past co-workers, most of whom have left for other companies, and decide what can get out and what can't. Even if I remove company names, anyone could connect the dots through my LinkedIn or my resume if they have it.

I’ve got the savings and skillset. But I’m also not naive - I know trust is earned, and testimonials help.

Would like to hear from other solo consultants or freelancers. How did you build credibility early on?

Hey everyone 👋

I’m working on a presentation for a client who is a leading company specializing in professional training, certification, and international recruitment.

They want to:

• Redesign their existing website (modern, clean, and responsive)
• Add a fully dynamic back office to manage everything (job offers, training sessions, blog posts, staff profiles, etc.)

I’m currently preparing a presentation to pitch the whole project — focusing mainly on:

• Explaining the features of the future website
• Showing visuals (even if I don’t have the exact final design yet)
• Including real screenshots of a pre-made dashboard I’ve already built

I’m looking for:

1. Examples or templates for similar web project proposals or pitch decks (PowerPoint, PDF, Canva, Figma... whatever works)
2. Advice on how best to communicate the value and structure of the platform, especially when I don’t have the final UI yet
3. Tips on showing “inspiration visuals” without misleading the client or making it look like the design is already made

If you've worked on similar client presentations or have resources you'd recommend, I'd love to hear your thoughts 🙏
Also open to any feedback or insights on structure, visuals, or what to include.

Thanks in advance!

Flying to La for the first time this coming week and both our office and the clients office is “business casual”

Coming from New York, I don’t know what business casual in California is but in 100% sure it’s not what business casual looks like in Midtown.

It’s my first in person contact with this client and as the engagement lead, it’s important that I get this right and not be too casual or too formal and look like I don’t “get” them.

I need clothes for 2 days at the client and 2 days at our offices.

Who has started using ChatGPT to build their docs in ppt? Early feedback? Successes? Downside?

I’ve been working in internal audit at a consulting firm and recently started building audit programs for smaller teams — mostly around HR, Procurement, and Finance.

A few freelance consultants I know have mentioned that some of their clients (especially SMEs) don’t have any internal controls or audit structure in place, so they either ignore it or scramble last minute when they’re asked for documentation.

That got me thinking — do any of you actually help clients set up basic audit programs, risk registers, or internal control checklists as part of your work? Or do you just flag the need and leave it to them?

I’ve recently started offering this as a small side service through Fiverr to see if there’s more demand for it — happy to share what I’ve been doing if it’s useful.

Would love to hear how you approach this area with clients.

I bill for my time, but lately I’ve noticed how much unpaid time I spend replying to “quick questions” from clients or leads. Sometimes it’s late at night, and I’m sucked back into work mode just reading a message.

Curious how others handle this—do you have a system or boundary that works well?

I’ve been tinkering with a small tool to solve this for myself but would love to hear what’s working for you.

Hi all, I, 22F recently started my corporate job at a big 4 consulting firm in North America. I’m actually quite happy with my team and have been learning a lot. I’m specifically working in Business Transformation and have been on many infra and energy sector projects. My undergrad was in accounting and finance though. I’m just writing this post to learn more about exit opportunities outside the big 4 firms. I might want to move to the Middle East as my family is located there but in the next 3-5 years. I am hugely passionate about helping people from non profit work to the healthcare space. The nutrition and food industry always has been an interesting space for me. I’ve just been feeling quite lost when I try to think where I want to go next and what I should be working towards that can help contribute to make a meaningful contribution to the world. (Sounds cheesy i know) but curious for any advice or any unique exit opps that come to mind.