What does a day in the life of a consultant look like? While no 2 days are the same, consultants often balance client meetings, customer interviews, and factory tours, while managing tight deadlines and coming up with big ideas to solve client problems. It’s a fast-paced, problem-solving role that offers variety and constant challenges, making it both demanding and rewarding.
Consulting is known for its dynamic environment, with priorities that shift as the team gathers data and better understands the client’s problem. Consultants must be adaptable, quick on their feet, and able to navigate different industries and client needs. Understanding what a typical day looks like can help you decide if consulting is the right career path for you.
In this article, we’ll discuss:
- The different types of workdays consultants experience
- A detailed look at a typical consulting day, featuring a real consultant’s schedule
- The key tasks and responsibilities consultants manage throughout the day
- 4 skills you must master to tackle a day in the life of a consultant
Let’s get started!
Different Types of Workdays in Consulting
Consulting offers a variety of workdays, depending on the stage of a project, client needs, and team dynamics. Here’s an overview of the different types of workdays you’ll encounter as a consultant:
Client-Facing
These are the days consultants spend at the client’s office, either collecting data, leading workshops, or presenting findings to CEOs. Client-facing days involve working closely with stakeholders to understand their challenges, dig into their problem’s root causes, align on the next steps, and ensure project objectives are met.
Early in the project, consultants might meet with the client to gather data or interview front-line workers who understand their challenges. Later on, these days might focus on facilitating workshops to drive consensus to solutions and then presenting the recommendations to the main client leaders. Throughout the project, client-facing days are always about collaboration, problem-solving, and relationship-building.
Example: The team arrives at the client to present findings from a 3-month market strategy project. The day involves leading a presentation to the C-suite, discussing market opportunities, and guiding the executives through key decisions to finalize the company’s go-to-market strategy.
Data Collection, Analysis, and Synthesis
Consultants spend a significant portion of their time gathering, analyzing, and synthesizing data. This work typically involves diving deep into the client’s internal data on costs, revenues, products sold, employee hours by activity, waste, and other data related to the client’s problem. External market research is frequently used as well.
Consultants spend hours working in Excel, building models to forecast trends, evaluating cost-saving opportunities, or benchmarking performance against industry standards. This phase is where consultants transform raw data and numbers into strategic insights.
Once the analysis is complete, consultants must synthesize the findings into a coherent story and actionable recommendations. Example 1 – retail client: analysis might reveal that labor costs are disproportionately high, leading to the recommendation to adjust staffing levels. Example 2 – manufacturing client: consultants might identify excessive waste in a production line, suggesting a need for tighter quality controls. These insights are then summarized into key takeaways and presented as part of a broader narrative that addresses the client’s specific challenges and outlines steps for improvement.
Before formal presentations, consultants frequently meet with key client stakeholders to share insights from the data and the initial hypothesis. These meetings are essential for getting feedback, ensuring alignment on recommendations, and avoiding surprises during the big presentations.
Example: After receiving data from the client’s supply chain department, the consultant spends several days analyzing inventory levels and shipment delays. Using advanced Excel models, the consultant maps out trends in order fulfillment rates and identifies underperforming suppliers contributing to delays. The findings are then translated into graphs in a PowerPoint deck, highlighting both quick wins and long-term solutions to streamline the supply chain. Before presenting the recommendations to the client’s COO, the team meets with the logistics leader to validate the data and gather feedback, ensuring buy-in.
Travel
Travel is a frequent part of a consultant’s life, especially for those working with clients in different geographies. Travel days can start with an early morning flight or a late-night arrival, and consultants use this time efficiently, catching up on emails, reviewing project documents, or preparing for upcoming meetings.
For many junior consultants, the travel aspect can be a perk. You can earn credit card points, access airport lounges, and find travel hacks to make the journey fun.
Example: A typical travel day might involve a consultant flying from New York to Milwaukee on a Monday morning. With a 7 a.m. flight, the consultant uses the travel time to review workshop notes and refine the agenda for an upcoming client meeting later that day. After landing, they head straight to the client’s office to kick off a day of meetings and presentations.
Consulting Office or Remote Days (including Recruiting and Extra Curricular Activities)
When consultants aren’t at client sites, their days are spent either in the consulting firm’s office or working remotely. These days are focused on project-related work like data analysis, team meetings, and preparing client deliverables.
Depending on the project and team, remote days mean plenty of virtual collaboration through video calls and shared online workspaces. These days can feel more solitary, but they are essential for digging deep into the analysis needed for high-impact client solutions.
However, consulting life goes beyond just client work. These days often include participation in firm-wide activities like recruiting, mentorship, and culture-building events that help consultants stay engaged with their firm. Firm culture is a big part of the office environment, with events like Friday happy hours, team lunches, or office celebrations being a common way to unwind and connect with coworkers. These moments help build the camaraderie needed for high-intensity projects.
One unique aspect of consulting is that even consultants early in their careers get pulled into recruiting and mentoring. You’ll be asked to represent the firm at recruiting events, conduct interviews, or help onboard new hires. Mentorship is another key component, where consultants regularly guide newer hires, helping them navigate client work and firm culture. These opportunities provide valuable leadership experience early in a consultant’s career.
Example: On Friday, the consultant starts the morning with a client update meeting. Following the call, the team gathers in a conference room for a debrief session, discussing feedback from the client and planning the next steps for the upcoming week. Then, the consultant heads to a lunch meeting for the firm’s social impact event planning committee, where they brainstorm ideas for an upcoming fundraising event. In the afternoon, the consultant shifts gears and participates in a recruiting event for prospective summer interns. They meet with students who are interested in joining the firm, sharing their experiences, and answering questions about what a day in the life of a consultant is really like.
Example Calendar of a Consultant’s Week
Here’s an example of what a full week might look like, showcasing the variety of workdays consultants experience.
As you can see, there’s a blend of external client work, internal collaboration, and consulting firm culture activities, which is what makes the life of a consultant so dynamic!
The week begins early on Monday with a flight to the client city, where the team hits the ground running with morning check-ins, client meetings, and workstream discussions. Throughout the week, there’s a strong focus on collaboration, whether through daily team check-ins or workstream meetings.
As the week progresses, the consultant continues juggling client meetings, analysis, and presentation material creation, often working late into the night to refine slides and review insights. After wrapping up with the client, the consultant catches a flight home on Thursday evening, using travel time to tie up loose ends and prepare for what’s ahead.
Fridays shift gears slightly, focusing more on internal consulting firm activities. The consultant begins the day with a big client update before participating in non-client tasks, such as planning the firm’s charity event or recruiting efforts like coffee chats. The week concludes with a company happy hour, a chance to relax with colleagues and reflect on the week’s achievements.
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Main Responsibilities in the Life of a Consultant
Responsibilities vary depending on the role, but there are some key differences between what undergraduate hires and post-MBA consultants do.
Analyst (Undergraduate Hire)
*Note: job titles vary by consulting firm.
Analysts are often responsible for gathering and analyzing data, whether it’s financial statements, survey results, or operational metrics. For example, you may be tasked with sifting through hundreds of documents in a client’s “data room,” an online folder where they’ve posted information responding to questions the team has asked or requests you’ve made. You need to identify the relevant data and synthesize important information for your manager.
As an analyst, you won’t be left alone to figure it out. You’ll be supported and mentored by a senior consultant. While analysts may attend client meetings, they typically don’t lead discussions.
Consultant (Post-MBA or Advanced Degree Hire)
At this level, you’ve gained some professional work experience while earning your multiple degrees. Consulting firms expect you to lead and communicate with clients. Post-MBA consultants take on more leadership in client engagements, owning relationships, and driving strategy discussions.
You often oversee analysts, ensuring their work is accurate and providing feedback to help them grow. For example, you may own the market analysis workstream and work with one analyst to lead a customer survey and do secondary research. Then, you would be responsible for leading a workshop with the client’s executive team to present the implications of your findings.
We dive deeper into and how your responsibilities change as you progress in your consulting career in the Consulting Career Path.
A Typical Day in the Life of a Consultant
Every consulting project brings its own unique set of challenges, and your daily schedule reflects that. Let’s look at a real client project example from a MCO coach, who is a former Bain consultant.
Project and Client Context
As a first-year Associate Consultant, I was part of a team working with a major retail chain client facing profitability challenges. The client needed help identifying areas to cut costs without affecting customer experience or store operations. Our team was tasked with recommending cost-saving ideas and an implementation plan to turn the ideas into real savings.
I worked directly under a senior consultant. My specific role was focused on gathering, analyzing, and interpreting internal financial and operational data to identify potential cost-saving opportunities. For example, I would draft interview guides for my senior consultant to interview store managers, and build a model on what cutting labor costs could look like.
Real Example: A Day In the Life of a Consultant
Morning Kick-Off: Align with the Team
8:00 a.m.: The day starts with a team huddle. In this 30-minute meeting, we align on the day’s objectives and discuss any pressing issues. I told the team that I received data from the client over the weekend, so I planned to review the store-level performance data and flag any outliers for potential cost savings. This included analyzing labor costs, inventory levels, and logistics expenses across different stores.
Client Meeting: Present Initial Findings
10:00 a.m.: My manager and I have a meeting with the client’s retail operations team. My manager leads the conversation, presenting our initial findings on areas where costs seemed higher than industry benchmarks. I assist by pulling up key data points during the meeting and answering technical questions about our analysis. Although I didn’t lead the meeting, I was actively involved by providing insights on the data and helping my team prepare our discussion.
Professional Development: 1-on-1 with Mentor
11:30 a.m.: I have monthly check-ins with my mentor. We discuss my progress on the project, and she offers advice on how to improve my client communication skills. It’s an opportunity to reflect on my growth, ask questions about navigating consulting, and get guidance on my long-term career path. These sessions are invaluable for professional development, helping me build confidence and gain insights from someone a few years ahead of me.
Midday Work: Deep Dive into Data Analysis
12:30 p.m.: It’s time to dive into more data. I spend the next couple of hours working through the client’s data, analyzing store-level profit margins and labor costs to pinpoint where we can suggest improvements. This is a crucial part of the day, where I sift through dozens of documents to uncover patterns and trends. I focus on identifying stores where labor costs seemed abnormally high compared to sales.
Team Workstream Meeting: Review Findings
4:00 p.m.: Our workstream team meets as a smaller group to review the ongoing analysis. I present my data analysis and suggest potential savings opportunities. My manager provides feedback and helps me troubleshoot any challenges.
This step is crucial, as the workstream lead needs to stay updated on everyone’s progress and identify potential overlaps or connections with other workstreams in the project. These interdependencies occur when the work of one team impacts or relies on the work of another. For example, the cost-saving recommendations might depend on the operational efficiency improvements being developed by another team member. Sharing this context ensures that any analysis or new findings in one area are communicated across the project, keeping everyone aligned.
Evening Wrap-Up: Prepare for the Next Day
5:00 p.m.: The entire team gathers, often joined by senior partners, to review the current hypothesis and final recommendations. We also align on the immediate priorities versus tasks that can wait until tomorrow. My focus tonight will be on creating 3 slides to present the labor cost savings opportunities.
Team Dinner: Connect Outside of Work
6:00 p.m.: After a long day of hard work, it’s time to refuel. Since many of us will be working late, I handle ordering and expensing dinner for the team. Tonight, we’re going with sushi, but Thai is always a crowd favorite as well! It’s a great way to take a short break and recharge before getting back to work.
Go Home
9:30 p.m.: I finally wrap up my work and go home. It’s been a full day of meetings, analysis, and slide creation, but knowing we made significant progress keeps me motivated. I try to unwind by listening to a podcast or catching up on a show before getting some rest. Tomorrow’s another big day, and I’ll need the energy to tackle it.
4 Skills to Master to Have a Successful Day as a Consultant
While the hours are long, the work is intellectually rewarding and fast-paced, making it an exciting career for those interested in solving complex business problems.
1. Master Time Management
In consulting, time is your most valuable resource. As a consultant, every day brings a long list of tasks, from preparing client presentations to analyzing data or responding to team emails. Learning to prioritize high-impact tasks over less urgent ones is essential. As a new consultant, talk to your supervisor about the priorities. Block off focused time for deep work like data analysis or creating slides.
Don’t forget your personal time! It’s easy to get caught up in the long hours, but making time for yourself is just as important. Whether it’s squeezing in a morning workout, meditating, or maintaining a personal routine, scheduling your downtime is essential for staying sharp. Neglecting your well-being will only make it harder to manage the demands of the job.
Check out our MBB Work-Life Balance article for more tips on managing your personal and professional life.
2. Embrace Flexibility and Adaptability
One day you might be analyzing data for a cost-cutting initiative, and the next day, the client might ask for a deep dive into a completely different area. Client needs change quickly, and consultants must be able to pivot and adapt.
It’s common for consultants to get requests for presentation revisions just hours before a meeting. Being adaptable means preparing for these last-minute changes and also proactively anticipating them. Building buffer time into your schedule can help manage these unforeseen requests.
3. Hone Communication Skills
Clear and effective communication is the backbone of consulting. Whether you’re drafting a client email, presenting a solution, or collaborating with your team, your ability to convey complex information in a clear and compelling way is crucial.
Also, over-communicating is often better than assuming everyone is on the same page. With so many moving parts, miscommunication can happen easily.
4. Learn to Collaborate
Whether you’re working within your project team or directly with clients, strong collaboration skills can elevate your work and the overall project experience.
As a consultant, you won’t have all the answers and that’s okay. One of the most important collaboration skills is knowing when to ask for help. If you’re stuck on a problem or need more context, ask a team member. Sometimes it’s faster to ask someone who has done it before rather than spending hours searching for the answer yourself.
Just as you might seek help from your colleagues, it’s equally important to be available to support others. If a teammate is struggling with their workload or a specific task, offering your help can help foster a collaborative culture.
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In this article, we’ve covered:
- Different types of workdays consultants experience
- What a typical consulting day in the life looks like, including a real example of a consultant’s calendar
- The main tasks and responsibilities consultants handle every day
- 4 essential skills needed to navigate busy consulting days
Still have questions?
If you have more questions about a day in the life of a consultant, leave them in the comments below. One of My Consulting Offer’s recruiters will answer them.
Other people interested in what a day in the life of a consultant looks like found the following pages helpful:
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