Is Consulting still a good career in 2023?

It’s no secret that 2023 has been an extraordinarily difficult year for consulting. Client demand is drying up in light of the precarious global economic situation. This meant consultants were piling up on the bench, unbillable. 

Most of the big firms have been announcing redundancies, some of the biggest job losses consultants have seen in a long time. This is in stark contrast to the hiring race that existed in 2020 and 2021. You’d be forgiven for thinking that joining consulting in 2023 isn’t a good career move.

This blog will help you decide whether now is the right time to become a consultant. 

Is 2023 the year to start your consulting career?

Up-skilling

With a bigger bench than normal, now is the time consulting firms particularly invest in upskilling their people. There’s a lot of training and learning opportunities and plenty of time to complete them.

This means that if you join consulting now, there’s a good chance you’ll get even more training opportunities than normal. 

There are still roles

Consulting firms are carrying a bigger bench than they were this time last year, however this doesn’t mean that there’s no roles available at all. 

There are still consulting engagements happening and because clients want to maximise value for money, these roles are likely to have even more learning opportunities than normal. This may come with a little extra pressure to deliver the highest quality, however this is a valuable learning opportunity in itself.

Career Progression

We have to be realistic that there are likely to be fewer consulting promotion slots available in 2023. This can result in a bit of a promotion ‘backlog’ that can take a year or two to clear.

However, this actually makes now a great time to join consulting because you can polish your skills and experience to build a very strong promotion case without the spotlight being on you directly. 

You can make the most of this extended learning period to either deepen your skills or try new areas. 

Key Takeaways

The essence of what makes consulting a great career path hasn’t changed despite the challenging times. It might be a bit tougher to get off the bench and promotion will be slower than normal; However, consulting is still ripe with opportunity. 2023 isn’t the best time to join consulting but it’s certainly not a bad time. 

Don’t let recent events put you off!