Working in Consulting vs Tech Company: What I learned
Career Reflections comparing strategy, technical and ops roles
Introduction
Two very popular career tracks are strategy consulting and working in tech.
In the last 5 years, I’ve worked in both, moving across different roles within Strategy, Analytics, and ultimately Sales Operations in a Tech Company. I’ve documented my journey so far in another article, which weighs more heavily on the compensation side of things.
How I tripled my salary in 3 years: job hopper Journey in Data Analytics
Practical tips to think about when carving out your own path (Notes: All opinions are my own) Introduction As a professional with 4 years of experience, this article comes as both a self-reflection on my journey within the data analytics and tech world so far as well as a list of considerations you may find useful if yo…
Though both these paths are now very technology-driven, there are significant differences that impact their work culture, career trajectories, roles, and responsibilities.
This article explores these differences coming from my own experience, giving you a bit of insight into what you can expect across several different factors.
Let’s dive in!
Ownership
The obvious difference I realized as I moved into the tech industry was the degree of ownership a junior/mid-level employee is given compared to working on consulting projects.
During my consulting tenure, ownership was minimal, and not just in the sense that ultimate responsibility for delivery is assigned to your Project Lead, but also since the client was ultimately the one fully deciding:
whether to accept your consulting advice
whether to actually implement your recommendations and to what extent
In consulting, could be working on proof of concept models that would never see the light of day, and ultimately never be used.
As I moved into tech, I could sense from the beginning that every project we do has an impact on the bottom line, on actually improving (or not) processes and making life easier for your colleagues and customers.
This is especially true while working in an Operations role, where most of your time is allocated to improving systems, and processes, and putting your internal teams at the heart of both.
People
One thing that many consulting companies do is provide you with a Mentor-like figure who’s responsible for guiding you through your development at the consulting company. In my case, this relationship was very hands-off and I did not take much out of it, but I’ve heard of colleagues who benefitted from having this guidance more than I did.
This is not necessarily a bad thing, since ultimately only you are the person responsible for building and growing your career, but not having a manager can take away from having a colleague who can guide you and provide suggestions based on your path. This is a person who, if you work long enough together, can get to you your ambitions and areas of interest, and can thus provide great input when you need it most.
Great managers are also a great source of learning and inspiration, both related to your work and other areas of your professional life.
Compensation
The biggest difference I found with moving to a tech company is getting compensated with equity, or shares in the company you work for, while in big consulting firms, only Partners tend to own a piece of the business itself. Everyone else is comped on salary plus a variable bonus component.
In boutique consulting firms equity may be given to employees, but this is generally an edge case in the industry.
Depending on the maturity stage of the tech company you work for, the equity component may be different from different angles. You may receive stock options, or restricted stock units (RSUs), but independently of this, you will have some sort of equity-based compensation that allows your compensation to move with the company’s overall valuation.
Development
Career progression in consulting is usually well-defined. You start as an analyst or junior consultant, moving up to a consultant, senior consultant, and eventually partner. Each role comes with increased responsibility and client engagement.
Consulting also offers rapid skill development, as consultants are exposed to various technologies, business problems, and strategic challenges.
In technology companies, career paths can be more varied. You might start as a junior developer and move up to a senior developer, or switch to a management, architecture, or strategy.
There’s much more fluidity in terms of the career moves you can make, which are not always in the vertical direction.
Additional Aspects to Consider
Below are some additional aspects to consider while comparing the two tracks:
Nature of Work
The most fundamental difference between consulting and working for a technology company is in the type of work. As a consultant, your primary role involves advising businesses on how to utilize technology to achieve their goals. This could involve everything from identifying tech solutions to improve efficiency to planning strategic initiatives to implementing new software systems.
On the other hand, at a technology company, you’re part of the team that designs, develops, maintains, and markets these technology products or services. Depending on your role, you might be creating software applications, managing data centers, developing new hardware, or engaging customers with your products.
Variety of Projects vs. Depth of Products
As a consultant, you’re likely to work on a variety of projects across different industries. This exposes you to a wide range of technologies, business models, and strategic challenges. One day you might be helping a hospital improve its patient data management, the next day, you could be advising a retail business on adopting AI for inventory management.
In contrast, working in a technology company, especially in product development, often means focusing on a specific product or suite of products. You get the opportunity to understand the product in-depth, working through different versions and updates. This allows you to see the direct impact of your work on the product’s evolution.
Client Interaction vs. User/Colleauge Interaction
As a consultant, you often have more direct client interaction than those who work in tech companies. You need to understand the client’s needs, present solutions, and manage relationships. Thus, you often need excellent communication skills and the ability to explain complex technology in layman’s terms.
In technology companies, while there is still interaction with customers, it is usually mediated through roles like sales, marketing, or customer service. Engineers and developers in these companies may have less client interaction, focusing more on the product or service itself.
Work Environment and Culture
In consulting, the work environment can be more formal and structured, following a client-focused and deadline-driven approach. You often work in teams, collaborating to solve complex problems under tight deadlines.
In contrast, technology companies, especially startups, may offer a more casual work environment. The culture is often product-focused and innovation-driven. While there can certainly be intense periods (like during product launches), there’s also potentially more room for experimentation and failure.
Job Stability and Travel
Consulting often involves more travel than working for a technology company, as consultants need to visit client locations.
In tech, you tend to have more stable roles, though the stability of the company itself can vary, especially for startups and even bigger firms (as the rounds of layoffs across the tech sector have so far shown).
Travel is typically less, except for roles like sales and field services, or senior executives. Even in this case, more and more companies are moving towards adopting remote work.
In summary
Both worlds have their pros and cons, and overall I hope this article helps you consider which factors you may want to weigh more at different stages of your career.
Thanks for reading!