Opinion of working at consulting firms

[Alissa Horner]

I applied for a software engineering position at a consulting firm in Northern California. For those of you who have worked or are working at consulting firms, what is it like to work for consulting firms? Should I expect to work over 40 hours per week for several weeks? Would a software engineering position require plenty of travel? If I were to work in a location that is far from home, would the company pay for a hotel? Would there be any projects where I would have to work out of state for several months?

[Campbell Ritchie]

If the company send you on an assignment far away I would expect they would pay accommodation subsistence and travelling. But you should ask the company themselves.

[Maneesh Godbole]

In the past, whenever I had to travel for business, my employer provided for
1) Air travel
2) Hotel accomodation
3) Per diem expense (which is usually food, drink et.al)


Of course the quality/quantity/value depends mainly on how generous your employer is.

[Henry Wong]

Also note that there are requirements due to being a consultant too. Since, T&E have to be paid by the client, they are "regulated" by local (mainly tax related) laws, and by the contracts themselves. Some countries don't allow per-diems, and the ones that do, well, the amount may be specified by the agreed contract.

Henry

[Alissa Horner]

Maneesh Godbole wrote:In the past, whenever I had to travel for business, my employer provided for
1) Air travel
2) Hotel accomodation
3) Per diem expense (which is usually food, drink et.al)


Of course the quality/quantity/value depends mainly on how generous your employer is.

Suppose you had to travel for business and stay in that location for several months. Would you stay in a hotel for several months or would your employer find somewhere else to stay for several months? I was just wondering because staying in a hotel for several months would be expensive.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Alissa Horner wrote: . . . staying in a hotel for several months would be expensive.

Depends on the hotel. You can probably negotiate a large discount for a long stay. Maybe they will find you a flat, or ask the client who knows the local area better, to help find you accommodation.

You are going to have to phone the prospective employer, who can answer all your questions far better than we can.

[Jayesh A Lalwani]

Different consulting firms have different cultures. I am sorry, we cannot talk about the specific consulting firm here because of board policy.

Generally speaking, The bigger consulting firms will usually make you work a lot, because you are like a revenue stream to them. The more you work, the more they earn. However, the advantage is that you get to learn a lot. You get to go work at world class companies for 3-6 months at a time. You get to understand how different companies work differently. Product companies that have consulting departments are better at the number of hours, because they spend time and money training you on their own product. So, they want you to stay with them for a while. However, end of the day, you are "sales", and your growth in the company is dependent on how many clients you can keep happy. You will squeak by putting 40 hours, but the guy putting 60 hrs will get the promotion. Boutique consulting firms that focus on certain verticals or technologies will treat you well, but they won;t hire you unless you have a specific skill, or knowledge of a vertical. Then there are the thousands of "body-shoppers" who basically are the IT industry's version of temp agencies. They will go where the big consulting firms can't go. The working conditions really depend on your client. Your employer will be mostly hands-off.


If I'm assuming correctly, you are asking about one of the bigger consulting companies. You should expect to work more than 40, and also expect to learn a lot of new things. It's not bad if you are young, and ready to learn.

[Maneesh Godbole]

Alissa Horner wrote:
Suppose you had to travel for business and stay in that location for several months. Would you stay in a hotel for several months or would your employer find somewhere else to stay for several months? I was just wondering because staying in a hotel for several months would be expensive.

From the monetary perspective, it does not matter, as your employer will be paying for it.
However, like Campbell correctly mentioned, there are some hotels where the more you stay, the cheaper it is. Extended Stay America is one example I know from experience, where I once stayed 3 months.

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

An extended stay place is better for long term assignments because it is usually set up with a kitchenette area and the like.

Also, when you travel out of the area for a long time, some employers pay for you to go back home for the weekend every so often. (if you want to)

[Alissa Horner]

Jayesh A Lalwani wrote:Different consulting firms have different cultures. I am sorry, we cannot talk about the specific consulting firm here because of board policy.

Generally speaking, The bigger consulting firms will usually make you work a lot, because you are like a revenue stream to them. The more you work, the more they earn. However, the advantage is that you get to learn a lot. You get to go work at world class companies for 3-6 months at a time. You get to understand how different companies work differently. Product companies that have consulting departments are better at the number of hours, because they spend time and money training you on their own product. So, they want you to stay with them for a while. However, end of the day, you are "sales", and your growth in the company is dependent on how many clients you can keep happy. You will squeak by putting 40 hours, but the guy putting 60 hrs will get the promotion. Boutique consulting firms that focus on certain verticals or technologies will treat you well, but they won;t hire you unless you have a specific skill, or knowledge of a vertical. Then there are the thousands of "body-shoppers" who basically are the IT industry's version of temp agencies. They will go where the big consulting firms can't go. The working conditions really depend on your client. Your employer will be mostly hands-off.


If I'm assuming correctly, you are asking about one of the bigger consulting companies. You should expect to work more than 40, and also expect to learn a lot of new things. It's not bad if you are young, and ready to learn.

Thank you for your input. This gives me a good idea of what consulting firms are like.