As a student or early career professional, you might be considering which route to take your career. Consulting and finance are two career paths frequently considered. Both offer many benefits and also drawbacks. Here are some of the things to consider:
Pay and benefits – Both consulting and finance offer great pay and benefits. However, the edge is with finance in this area. Finance roles in investment banking, private equity, and hedge funds generally offer better pay and bonuses as compared to consulting firms. Finance roles also have faster pay progression.
Work life balance – Consulting and finance are known to be tough industries when it comes to hours worked. Finance roles are typically more stressful however due to much harder timelines and longer hours in the office. Consulting roles often have client site travel which can prolonge the workday, especially when traveling abroad.
Career progression – While both consulting and finance offer great career progression opportunities, they differ in the roles and exit opportunities. Finance professionals often naturally move from banking to private equity or hedge funds. Consulting firms on the other hands often move into industry leadership roles. In either case, most in both fields choose to exit to different opportunities rather than stay long term to become partners or managing directors.
Project exposure – Consulting unlike finance typically involves more diverse projects. No two projects in consulting are ever the same, with differences ranging from new teams, timeframes, goals, etc. Finance deals on the other hand are often repetitive. Usually in finance professionals works on multiple deals at a time, while in consulting it is most common to work on only one or two projects at a time.
Business development – Both fields offer the chance to build business development skills. You will be expected to lead clients towards future deals and projects. Not too different between the two fields.
In the end, consulting and finance offer strong career opportunities for graduates and early professionals. It comes down to priority and personal preferences which one to choose. For those that want to climb the ladder and earn the most as fast as possible, finance offers a generally better path. However, for those that want to work on a wide range of projects and narrow down an industry that interests them, consulting might be the way to go.
About PrepareConsult:
PrepareConsult is a platform to practice the consulting case interview with AI and peers. PrepareConsult is founded by Milad Mohammadi and Sahhas Nathella.
Milad Mohammadi – 7+ years of experience in consulting and professional services with experience across North America and Europe.
Sahhas Nathella – 5+ years of experience in consulting and professional services with strong experience in complex digital transformations.
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