For graduates about to step foot into the professional world, you’re likely to have just one overarching question on your mind: how can you determine which career is best for you? There are so many options to choose from, yet among those options, consulting keeps emerging as the top choice for many graduates.
This could be for a few different reasons, including the fact that consulting firms in Australia have a strong history of setting up graduate programs and partnering with tertiary institutes. Alongside this, a career in consulting also offers exceptional variety, giving young graduates the rare opportunity to work with the world’s biggest companies, multinational organisations and even government agencies right after they finish up their degree.
To understand more about why more graduates are opting for a career in consulting, read on to discover the benefits of commencing a career in this unique market sector.
1. Enjoy high reward – low risk learning
Working in consulting is the opposite of a monotonous job. You won’t be filing paperwork or entering data all day. Instead, you’ll be analysing the financial performance of top companies, looking at various angles to resolve complex issues and could perhaps play a role in shaping their future endeavors.
But even though you’re getting involved in large-scale decision-making, you can do it all with the added safety net of your consulting firm. Alongside having legal and regulatory compliance basics like accountability measures and professional indemnity cover to protect firms from potential legal issues, graduate streams at consulting firms typically also give their new hires the time and space to get to grips with the environments and clients they can expect to deal with, and build familiarity on the job. As a result, you’ll find your first few months in a consulting role provide a ‘high reward – low risk’ dynamic, where you can freely think outside the box and brainstorm potential solutions with your mentors and learn in a more hands-on capacity.
2. No two workdays are the same
In consulting, no day is exactly like the other. This is because at big consulting firms, tasks are on a project basis. This means that each client’s needs will be different from another, which means you yourself will be facing a unique set of challenges.
For instance, if your client works in the agricultural sector, on some days you might be on-site looking over soil condition reports or crop yield rates, and the next day you might be back in the office to attend a shareholder meeting. On the other hand, if you’re focused on the tech industry, you could be studying the latest technological innovations to give advice on the product’s commercial viability, and interviewing engineers and statisticians the next day.
3. Strengthen your professional network
A career in consulting grants direct access to senior business leaders, industry professionals and executives at some of the biggest national and international brands. These business leaders can be on your team, allowing you to collaborate with them to resolve client challenges like marketing campaign strategy development on designated projects – or they can even be part of the client team that’s seeking your professional advice.
Regardless, you’ll be able to meet them, providing you the opportunity to build your professional network, which will ultimately open doors that were previously unavailable and perhaps even inconceivable to you. In short, a career in consulting can be a great jumping off point to secure new opportunities, mentorship or collaborations that help further shape your career in the direction you’d want to grow in.
3. Build your professional reputation
Today, consulting carries a high level of prestige. This is because working as a consultant requires a combination of strong analytical reasoning, critical thinking and interpersonal skills. A few years under your belt at a consulting firm can be a great way to demonstrate your value as a young professional, signalling to prospective clients, employers and even to your peers that you’re highly credible and thus, a strong potential collaborator.
4. Maintain higher earning potential
In order to attract the strongest industry talent, consulting firms typically offer competitive salaries – even for graduates. So if you’re worried about not being able to earn a living wage after graduating, lining up a graduate placement or even an internship at a consulting firm may help you maintain a higher earning potential after finishing up with your degree.
Similarly, financial incentives like bonuses, performance-related rewards and promotions are also not unheard of in consulting. This is an addition to the base pay, and is used as motivation to get junior consultants invested in business development strategising.
And speaking of business development, climbing up the corporate ladder will naturally also lead you to earning 6 figures by becoming a partner, manager or senior consultant. So if you’re interested in career progression as a consultant, there’s no better place to be than at one of the big firms.
5. Global reach
Another perk that comes with working in consulting is that most of the big consulting firms aren’t just national – they’re actually global, and typically manage multiple branches across different continents and countries.
Joining a firm with a global presence gives you the opportunity to collaborate with teams in different regions, as well as potentially even transfer abroad. You’ll be exposed to different perspectives, cultures and markets, giving valuable insight that you wouldn’t find in most other graduate roles.
Is a career in consulting the right fit for your professional goals?
In a consulting role, you will be at the forefront of change with the business advice you will be giving. You can expect to never have a dull day, and be able to learn plenty about other industries and markets, which makes consulting an ideal career pathway for any graduates who want to see what the world has to offer them.
So if you are considering kickstarting a career in this unique sector, then remember to keep an eye out for opportunities like graduate streams, and to also do your own research into any firms you interview with. By keeping your career goals in mind, you should be able to find the right professional opportunities to bolster your CV.
