For the past couple of months, I’ve been “learning the ropes,” so to speak, on an internal project for my firm. When I was first staffed, I remember being disappointed that I wasn’t on some “sexy” client case — like the ones they promise during recruiting, full of high-level executive contact and making exciting decisions all day and everyday!
Of course, no entry-level consultant has a job like that — the most they can reasonably expect is some discussions with the senior management at a client, and one or two interesting decisions here and there. And, if anything, “sexy” clients usually are extraordinarily demanding and enter each conversation with a sense of entitlement and an insatiable desire to be impressed. But, regardless of the the truth, I was sure that being staffed on an internal project was a surefire way to miss out on the “sexy” client work.
One would imagine, then, that after almost four months of working on internal work that I would be delighted to receive a call from my staffing manager about finally being put on a “real case”.
But I wasn’t. I was not eager to let go of the great relationship I had built with my team-mates. I had grown fond of the smaller team size, the greater ability to take on roles beyond what a typical entry-level consultant does, and the interesting, more “theoretical” nature of the work. And, I was certainly not eager to give up the great work-life balance which comes with not having to deal with demanding clients.
Alas, all good things must come to an end. I have actually been staffed on a very “sexy” case, doing very interesting strategy work to determine new growth strategies and to think about competitive responses to those actions. Yes, I’m now busier (which explains the decreased blogging), but only time can tell how I take to this new team and this new case.