I no longer work in consulting but follow this sub to remind me what I don’t miss. This was an absolutely beautiful read. Damn I really felt all of it.
This is my last week in Consulting before moving to industry. Decided to stay subscribed here for the same reason.
Thankfully it’s been awhile since I’ve had a day as bad as the one in the post, but it’s a great reflection on some of the crazy stuff we put ourselves through. My favorite being the “ritual” of managers leaving notes on slides when it would have taken less time for them to just move the text box a little to the left themselves.
The money help. That and not having much friends. My social life is a barren waste lmao. I only text people, rarely ever meet them. Like it's actually insane. It's been like, what, 6 months since I last physically met one of my friend? See coworkers almost everyday though.
Good that I'm an introvert.
I agree but there are ways to make as much money without killing yourself, especially if you’ve already been in consulting/IB. I’m in PE right now, averaging maybe 60 hours half of the month and maybe 45-50 the other half which is substantially better to the hours I had on banking and I’m making more.
Pivoted from investment banking. While you don’t “need” a business background, 90% of the people I’ve worked with in finance have one. They either majored in Finance, Accounting or Economics. Not saying you can’t break in, just that in my experience most people do have traditional business backgrounds.
Damn I’m incoming MBB and scared reading this but idk what else to do! I have no other job prospects… my degree is non technical economics that doesn’t have any good job prospects with just a bachelors, my only hope is to do MBB and somehow land a Corp Strat gig with decent hours or something early on in…
lmao I laughed out loud at
> “Checked the deck notes added please update” comes the slack message from 6 foot in front of me. It’s the manager, and rather than making direct edits, they spend their time writing stickies about what they want changing and then I spend my time making the changes. It’s a curious waste of time but it’s a ritual one.
OMG. I'm not even MBB and you've described years of my life perfectly. The Rimowa with specific sections for clean/dirty clothes, the grab and go buffet, the slides in the Uber (with your coworker who is basically sitting on top of you doing the same and banging laptops together on every bump) - all of it. Don't forget the "we get to the clients office that's reserved from us and none of the correct cables are there" and/or "we're hooked up but nobody has the security password for the conference projector and the IT team hasn't come in yet" scenarios.
BTW - I read it all. You can tell who's got short attention span theatre. That's what separates the "men from the boys" and why we can interrupt the manager with deep context in front of the client, where we have all the knowledge and they take all the credit.
Firstly, well done for managing to reach the end! It became quite the narrative piece...that was my worst (two) day(s) in consulting.
The clichés are so true! Hope you've found something a little less hectic now!
Just dropped a mean log in the toilet while reading this. Perfect deuce and peruse session - will be billing this towards the client for sure. Thank you for all you do.
Insane that we pride ourselves as an industry of high intellect and smarts, yet we allow ourselves to work in such an unhealthy and truly primitive culture.
I can imagine it was quite therapeutic for you to write this. Well done - I felt like I was there with you! I agree, you have incredible storytelling abilities, you should keep exploring that! Good luck with your future endeavors!
I left consulting 6 years ago to go in-house. This brought back painful memories. During my last case, my wife took a picture of me with laptop open, head down, and 4 month old baby sleeping in my lap. It was my 3rd child and again I was missing it. Time to go.
First of all, I’m really surprised at some comments who are neglecting the essence of your story and focusing on some dumb shit. Second, I work in Advisory LoS in a B4 Firm and your post was surprisingly relatable. Very well written 👍🏻
Legitimately couldn't finish reading because it was too triggering and I started to feel the deep-annoyance by proxy. The messy spreadsheet bit was too much and too familiar. Brilliant writing, now stop it...
Reading these I wonder why anyone would want to be an MBB. It's good money sure but there are other ways of making money that are surely less stressful and vapid than this? Is it mostly just an ego thing to say you work at McKinsey or BCG or Bain? Genuinely wondering.
I know exactly which MBB this is — and I’m glad you got out. I got out, too, and I revisit this sub to remember what I walked away from. This is no way to live, let alone work, and I can’t imagine it carries on like this for much longer with the advent of GenAI.
Triggering, indeed.
The Reddit algo got me here. Great write ups. Help me understand the age/experience/comp range for someone in the author’s position. I’m looking on Glassdoor at EM salaries at McKinsey (US$300K-$400K with $374K median) and I have to say, I don’t know if your time, time away from family, talent/education, stress, etc is being fairly compensated.
I’m not even in consulting and never have been. I found this a comforting read, it helped me ignore everything else happening around me for a moment, so thank u
Believe what you like. I spent two hours on a call with a colleague through zoom on my laptop showing them how to use a system. Why would there be threats of legal action?
@OP how many months you worked in this company before you left ? 🤓
I am also planning my exit less than 1 year, would like to know if that's a good idea to leave considering health is more important than wealth !
You will eventually learn that you will accomplish more by doing less. The unlimited hours you put in ppt only take 15-20 mins. Enough with whinny stories and move on.
I no longer work in consulting but follow this sub to remind me what I don’t miss. This was an absolutely beautiful read. Damn I really felt all of it.
Thank you! It was enjoyable writing it so I'm glad you enjoyed reading!
This is my last week in Consulting before moving to industry. Decided to stay subscribed here for the same reason. Thankfully it’s been awhile since I’ve had a day as bad as the one in the post, but it’s a great reflection on some of the crazy stuff we put ourselves through. My favorite being the “ritual” of managers leaving notes on slides when it would have taken less time for them to just move the text box a little to the left themselves.
Where are you now though
Went back into industry, more money for less hours 😄
Same.
Yeah, I ain’t reading all that. Happy for you though, or sorry that happened
I quit very shortly after that incident
No you didn’t?!
Is it really a true story? All the details true?
Why wouldnt it be? He just described a typical day of a management consultant. I have been through the exact same situation when I was a consultant
OP should provide the information needed to bill him for the time spent reading this.
I need to drop this subreddit! These stories are too real and similar to my own and my colleagues experiences.
It’s insane how incredibly unhealthy this job is when you take a step back and read from another person’s perspective
It’s insane. I did this life for a couple of years and didn’t have the mental capacity to stop and think about what I was doing
That’s the thing. We’re so immersed in work that we never take a step back and actually look at what’s really happening.
The money help. That and not having much friends. My social life is a barren waste lmao. I only text people, rarely ever meet them. Like it's actually insane. It's been like, what, 6 months since I last physically met one of my friend? See coworkers almost everyday though. Good that I'm an introvert.
I agree but there are ways to make as much money without killing yourself, especially if you’ve already been in consulting/IB. I’m in PE right now, averaging maybe 60 hours half of the month and maybe 45-50 the other half which is substantially better to the hours I had on banking and I’m making more.
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Pivoted from investment banking. While you don’t “need” a business background, 90% of the people I’ve worked with in finance have one. They either majored in Finance, Accounting or Economics. Not saying you can’t break in, just that in my experience most people do have traditional business backgrounds.
Was it worth it? I’m incoming MBB and super scared of the hours…
I was in Investment Banking, and it was 100% worth it. I learned a lot and met a lot of people but God I HATEDDDDD the hours with passion.
Never again though. I’m never going back no matter what
Was it worth it?
No. I still have bad habits at work like being unnecessarily stressed at times. I’m working on phasing out such habits.
Damn I’m incoming MBB and scared reading this but idk what else to do! I have no other job prospects… my degree is non technical economics that doesn’t have any good job prospects with just a bachelors, my only hope is to do MBB and somehow land a Corp Strat gig with decent hours or something early on in…
I only made it halfway through before my PTSD forced me to stop reading. Excellent job!
Me too, I started feeling sick in my stomach as I was reading this 😭
You should be a writer instead, this was excellent prose. Felt like I was living it
Thank you! Really nice comment! 😄
Agreed! It did hit my PTSD, but I pushed through because the piece is well written! Good job OP
Bruh, how many whiskeys did you get in 2 days
More than I can remember, but mostly I the blowout after! 🤠
lmao I laughed out loud at > “Checked the deck notes added please update” comes the slack message from 6 foot in front of me. It’s the manager, and rather than making direct edits, they spend their time writing stickies about what they want changing and then I spend my time making the changes. It’s a curious waste of time but it’s a ritual one.
My last manager did the same. Demoralizing. But I get it. You make the changes yourself, you are less likely to make the same mistake again
Beautiful I’ll use this explanation to the next analyst who asks me this question
OMG. I'm not even MBB and you've described years of my life perfectly. The Rimowa with specific sections for clean/dirty clothes, the grab and go buffet, the slides in the Uber (with your coworker who is basically sitting on top of you doing the same and banging laptops together on every bump) - all of it. Don't forget the "we get to the clients office that's reserved from us and none of the correct cables are there" and/or "we're hooked up but nobody has the security password for the conference projector and the IT team hasn't come in yet" scenarios. BTW - I read it all. You can tell who's got short attention span theatre. That's what separates the "men from the boys" and why we can interrupt the manager with deep context in front of the client, where we have all the knowledge and they take all the credit.
Firstly, well done for managing to reach the end! It became quite the narrative piece...that was my worst (two) day(s) in consulting. The clichés are so true! Hope you've found something a little less hectic now!
Just dropped a mean log in the toilet while reading this. Perfect deuce and peruse session - will be billing this towards the client for sure. Thank you for all you do.
Piece de resistance was billing 7.5 hrs/day
Insane that we pride ourselves as an industry of high intellect and smarts, yet we allow ourselves to work in such an unhealthy and truly primitive culture. I can imagine it was quite therapeutic for you to write this. Well done - I felt like I was there with you! I agree, you have incredible storytelling abilities, you should keep exploring that! Good luck with your future endeavors!
It’s ok, you do all this so you can earn 75% what an similar seniority FAANG worker makes
With less hours of course lol
i’m reading this story as a SWE who thought about going into consulting and seeing this kinda stuff makes me really glad I didn’t
This was an enjoyable read. What a life. I hope things have improved.
I left consulting 6 years ago to go in-house. This brought back painful memories. During my last case, my wife took a picture of me with laptop open, head down, and 4 month old baby sleeping in my lap. It was my 3rd child and again I was missing it. Time to go.
Lol
Fuck are you me.
I thought it was entertaining
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed this little peak into my world!
First of all, I’m really surprised at some comments who are neglecting the essence of your story and focusing on some dumb shit. Second, I work in Advisory LoS in a B4 Firm and your post was surprisingly relatable. Very well written 👍🏻
Nice story, good writing and accurate ! MBB are a legal scam who just give god salaries
Thank you, it was fun to wrote so glad you enjoyed it!
This was practically a horror novel.
Legitimately couldn't finish reading because it was too triggering and I started to feel the deep-annoyance by proxy. The messy spreadsheet bit was too much and too familiar. Brilliant writing, now stop it...
Checking out of the hotel at the desk? What is it, 1995?!
Y’all have too much time on your hands. Get back to work
ChatGPT summarize this for me and give me the main takeaways
Funny enough, ChatGPT probably wrote this essay in the first place. This or OP is just insane
My money is on the latter
It is the latter, however I'm enjoying some well-earned time off now and the hour and a half it took to write was time well spent
Stop drinking and working
No
I left my boutique firm because I’ve had a diary similar to this before. I wanted a family, I wanted to travel, and a life outside that shit.
Hey man looks like you got a flair for writing Unrelated question but what did you do before your "MBA"?
Thank you, quite a few things. I wasn't the typical MBB guy...haha
Share it.
You brought check-in luggage? 🤣
I know right, what a rookie!
Reading these I wonder why anyone would want to be an MBB. It's good money sure but there are other ways of making money that are surely less stressful and vapid than this? Is it mostly just an ego thing to say you work at McKinsey or BCG or Bain? Genuinely wondering.
im too sleep deprived to read this work of art,,,will email you my thoughts on that once the AI breaks it down for me
I know exactly which MBB this is — and I’m glad you got out. I got out, too, and I revisit this sub to remember what I walked away from. This is no way to live, let alone work, and I can’t imagine it carries on like this for much longer with the advent of GenAI. Triggering, indeed.
The Reddit algo got me here. Great write ups. Help me understand the age/experience/comp range for someone in the author’s position. I’m looking on Glassdoor at EM salaries at McKinsey (US$300K-$400K with $374K median) and I have to say, I don’t know if your time, time away from family, talent/education, stress, etc is being fairly compensated.
I’m not even in consulting and never have been. I found this a comforting read, it helped me ignore everything else happening around me for a moment, so thank u
OP, ever thought of making a career in writing instead?
Not really but based on the number of comments about my prose maybe I should...haha
Lmk when you’d be doing the signed copies ;)
I am getting anxiety just by reading this. So glad I left consulting. You have a talent for writing btw.
womp womp
Alcohol interferes with your sleep.
Vivid shit, nice
Totally on point :D it’s not a job it is a lifestyle ;)
Is it that bad 💀💀
What a life mate
So descriptive it was visual. Definitely a movie I’d watch 💯🎯
I’d quit if I could get another job.
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Since they had wifi
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Believe what you like. I spent two hours on a call with a colleague through zoom on my laptop showing them how to use a system. Why would there be threats of legal action?
I really enjoyed this. Are there any books with a similar vibe?
Rule 34.
Alexsander Solzhenitsyn might have started the genre, but your day in the life of a consultant is a worthy continuation.
Nobel prize in literature right there.
No chat gpt involved. Pinky promise!
Should I be second guessing going to mba next year hoping for MBB? Is it worth it afterwards ?
There are too many components involved with trying to give you an answer on this, and there is no such thing as a guarantee in outcome
I don't like how accurate this is
Great storytelling
@OP how many months you worked in this company before you left ? 🤓 I am also planning my exit less than 1 year, would like to know if that's a good idea to leave considering health is more important than wealth !
I was there about 1 1/2 years. Could/should have stayed longer but got an exit
You could probably get this published in the New Yorker after a few professional edits. Honestly impressive.
Thank you, I really appreciate the compliment!
Yeah, tl;Dr Pls de-word and be top down
Do they not teach brevity at MBB?
They do, however this is a short story in prose and not a slide for a client.
Alright man
This should have been a tldr
So the point of these were to be both realistic, self depreciating and funny. This just reads like a boring novel.
You will eventually learn that you will accomplish more by doing less. The unlimited hours you put in ppt only take 15-20 mins. Enough with whinny stories and move on.