Global Consulting Executive Search recently completed a study about the motivations of consultants, former consultants and prospective consultants. We were interested in what makes highly-educated business people join the field, remain in it, leave it and sometimes, return to the profession. Our findings confirmed a number of motivations considered common knowledge in the field, as well as some trends that we did not expect. Expected results include: 1. Variety of work is the most significant attractor to consultants. 2. Travel is the most significant downside of the profession. 3. Pressure to sell stands alongside travel as the most significant negative among consultants and former consultants.

1. Jason Sanders
Managing Director
Global Consulting Executive Search, LLC
Jason@gcexecutivesearch.com
Consulting Talent Study
Executive Summary
January 2014

2. Jason Sanders
Managing Director
Global Consulting Executive Search, LLC
Jason@gcexecutivesearch.com
Consulting Talent Study - Executive Summary
January 2014
Global Consulting Executive Search recently completed a study about the motivations of consultants,
former consultants and prospective consultants. We were interested in what makes highly-educated
business people join the field, remain in it, leave it and sometimes, return to the profession.
Our findings confirmed a number of motivations considered common knowledge in the field, as well as
some trends that we did not expect. Expected results include:
1. Variety of work is the most significant attractor to consultants.
2. Travel is the most significant downside of the profession.
3. Pressure to sell stands alongside travel as the most significant negative among consultants and
former consultants.
We found some interesting anomalies:
1. Culture: is one of the most significant attractors to students, while former consultants view
culture as one of the least attractive features of the profession. Consultants do not express
particularly strong feelings either way.
2. Access to executives: Students and former consultants list access to senior executives as a
significant benefit of the profession, while current consultants rate this quite low on the scale.
3. Financial reward: sits in second place as a reason for consultants to stay in the field, while it
remains in the bottom half of motivators for students and former consultants.
4. Return to the profession: The vast majority of former consultants would return to the
profession under the right circumstances, and the most list financial reward as an important
attractor. In addition, the intellectual challenge of working with motivated teams ranks high on
the list. Surprisingly, travel is the least significant obstacle among those that would consider
rejoining the field.
Many consultants view corporate experience as a way to get ahead within the consulting field.
More than one-third of those that left consulting did so with the expressed purpose of returning
to the profession.
5. Short vs. long-term career choice: We found that more students view consulting as a short term
career choice than experienced and former consultants did when they joined the profession.
The field has always been viewed as a great training ground, but the decision to leave is being
made at an earlier stage than it has been in the past.

3. Jason Sanders
Managing Director
Global Consulting Executive Search, LLC
Jason@gcexecutivesearch.com
Through direct interviews with representatives of the students, consultants and former consultants, we
gained additional understanding:
1. Many students view the consulting profession as an avenue to work with highly intelligent
accomplished professionals. This perspective continues fairly strongly until consultants reach a
level where they are forced to manage and sell in order to remain in the field. These activities
require well-formed emotional intelligence, whereas most consultants are cerebral. This creates
a tension between the natural analytical skills of consultants and the relationship-oriented
demands of senior professionals.
2. Students tend to perceive consulting as an avenue to access senior executives. Former
consultants agree based on earlier experiences, but have watched access decline as the field has
grown more commoditized. Current consultants practice within a more commoditized
environment and experience less access to senior executives than they would like. This suggests
a disconnect between entrants to the field and those experienced with it. Resolution of this
misperception may help increase retention rates among more junior level consultants.
3. Almost all respondents surveyed through follow-up interviews acknowledged that consulting
provides attractive financial rewards. Students offer the most consistent perception of
consulting as a lucrative career, but note that it does not motivate them as much as other
factors. Consultants and former consultants also believe the profession provides adequate
compensation, but have seen a decline relative to other professions, particularly financial
services careers. This has to do with competitiveness and commodification of services creating
fee pressure.
Global Consulting Executive Search has been recruiting consultants at all levels for almost 20 years. We
focus on the front end of the hiring process, and use a data-driven approach to take advantage of the
increasing transparency of social networks.
GCES provides clients with high-quality, vetted candidates and turn relationships over after an initial
introduction. That means a highly-professional, cost-effective solution tailored to the needs of small to
mid-sized consulting firms.

4. Jason Sanders
Managing Director
Global Consulting Executive Search, LLC
Jason@gcexecutivesearch.com
Addendum
Total sample size – 442 Average years of consulting experience
Students 182
Consultants 151
Former consultants 109
Consultants 8.5
Former consultants 7.1
**Consultants – attractors to consulting
Variety of work 80
Financial rewards 56
Culture / people 47
Advancement opportunities 44
Prestige 23
Access to senior executives 21
Training opportunities 21
Travel opportunities 18
Job security 5
Former consultants – attractors
Variety of work 88
Access to senior executives 49
Advancement opportunities 48
Training opportunities 48
Financial rewards 40
Prestige 32
Travel opportunities 29
Job security 3
Culture / people 2
Students – attractors
Culture / people 77
Variety of work 75
Access to senior executives 46
Financial rewards 37
Advancement opportunities 37
Travel opportunities 36
Training opportunities 36
Prestige 27
** Figures represent a percentage of respondents that chose the option listed. There were no limits given to
number of choices allowed.

5. Jason Sanders
Managing Director
Global Consulting Executive Search, LLC
Jason@gcexecutivesearch.com
Students – negatives
Work hours 70
Travel 56
Lack of advancement opportunities 17
Type of work 11
Compensation 7
Consultants – negatives
Travel 42
Demand to sell 39
Negative perception 25
Not enough responsibility 24
Poor management 18
Former consultants - negatives
Demand to sell 48
Travel 40
Not enough responsibility for outcomes 35
Poor firm management 30
Negative perception 19
Former consultants only
Under what circumstances would you return to the profession?
 42% would need to have a relationship with an influential leader in the firm
 37% would return for more responsibility
 35% would return for better financial rewards
 26% would return for the challenges offered by a different type of firm
 21% would return to consulting if there were substantially less travel
 15% cannot imagine circumstances that would bring them back to the profession
 37% intentionally left as part of a career plan
All three groups
How long did you (do you) intend to remain in the profession upon joining?
Of those that considered long terms careers in or out of consulting, 50% of the sample:
 Consultants and former consultants: 61% expressed plans to stay in the field for 5 years or more
 Students: 39% expressed plans to stay in the field for 5 years or more

6. Jason Sanders
Managing Director
Global Consulting Executive Search, LLC
Jason@gcexecutivesearch.com
Acknowledgements
Hundreds of professionals from a wide variety of consulting firms, corporations and educational
institutions helped make this study a reality. We would like to especially recognize the contributions
made by leaders from the following companies:
Acosta
Acquis Consulting Group
Alliance Life Sciences
A-TEK
Aveus
Axialent
Bayer Business Consulting
Blue Stone International
Brand Integrity
Brightlight Consulting
Business & Decision
CapCo
CAST Management Consultants
Cayenne Consulting
CGN & Associates
Chevo Consulting
Citihub
Cliff Consulting
CMG Partners
Corven
Deloitte
DNV Kema
Doblin Group
Equation Consulting
Ernst & Young
Frontier Strategy Group
Fuld & Company
Gnarus Advisors
Guidon Performance Solutions
Impact Advisors
Intersource
Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group
Kurt Salmon Associates
Liberty Advisor Group
Makosi
Meridian Compensation Partners
M Squared
Neo Group
New Market Partners
PA Consulting
Pariveda
Peoplefirm
Peppers and Rogers Group
Putnam Associates
Rightpoint
Romulus Advisory
Rouse Analytics
SAIC
Segal
Sensei International
Slalom
SSA & Company
Systems Evolution
Tata Consulting Services
The Waterstone Group
Trusted Advisor Associates
Vision Consulting
Westernacher
Wilson Perumal & Company