Here's a quick overview of my experience in a big consulting company:
-Don't expect to work on cutting-edge stuff. They're the conservative choice for conservative clients.
-Most consulting companies are "up or out". If you're not on the partner track you're an interchangeable cog.
-Most of the folks who make partner are project managers, business analysts, and rainmakers. Coding skills can get you on good projects, but advancement is about how many other people you can leverage. The techies that make partner are generally "architects" and "practice leads" who can lead a bunch of junior people.
-Work/life balance isn't a thing that exists at a lot of big consulting firms.
-You will often be forced to become an instant expert next project. Most big consultancies are not afraid to invest in training, but it's also up to you to fake it for a while until you know it.
-You can learn a ton of non-technical skills from the partners. These people are often at handling people, delivering bad news, making presentations, gathering input from others, etc. There's a reason they make tons of money and it's not because they're 10x programmers.
I can't say I enjoyed my time there, but it was an educational experience really helped my career.
-Don't expect to work on cutting-edge stuff. They're the conservative choice for conservative clients.
-Most consulting companies are "up or out". If you're not on the partner track you're an interchangeable cog.
-Most of the folks who make partner are project managers, business analysts, and rainmakers. Coding skills can get you on good projects, but advancement is about how many other people you can leverage. The techies that make partner are generally "architects" and "practice leads" who can lead a bunch of junior people.
-Work/life balance isn't a thing that exists at a lot of big consulting firms.
-You will often be forced to become an instant expert next project. Most big consultancies are not afraid to invest in training, but it's also up to you to fake it for a while until you know it.
-You can learn a ton of non-technical skills from the partners. These people are often at handling people, delivering bad news, making presentations, gathering input from others, etc. There's a reason they make tons of money and it's not because they're 10x programmers.
I can't say I enjoyed my time there, but it was an educational experience really helped my career.