Day in the Life of... Consulting Senior Analyst
Job title: Consulting Senior Analyst
Type of company: Public Consulting Firm
Yearly salary: $90,000
City: NYC
Age: 23
College major: International Relations
Summary of your job: I work with clients to help them solve problems and reach their business goals. The type of work I do varies by client, industry, and project. Some projects are local, and others require me to travel. The best part of consulting is that I get to try working in different areas before aligning myself to one!
ROUTINE
What is your morning routine…
Wake up, get ready, and head to work! I usually grab some breakfast from our client site cafeteria (they have really good food!) and eat it while catching up on emails. I like to keep “Inbox Zero” so I sort through any emails that came in the previous night. Once my inbox is empty, I’m ready to start fresh and get the new day started!
What are you doing at 9AM?
Our team is a global so at 9AM I’m usually wrapping up a call with our colleagues in Europe and Asia to align on topics. Afterwards, we have a team huddle where we all get together to talk about our current status, any outstanding items and risks, and plan out what needs to get done in order to achieve our goals for the week.
What are you doing at 11AM?
Usually in a meeting or working towards some deliverables.
What do you do for lunch?
Sometimes we go down and eat together as a team in the cafeteria, but if we’re busy with meetings, we’ll just grab food and eat it at our desks. I have a “no screens rule” where I devote at least 15 minutes to just eating my lunch and not looking at any screens – phone included! Since we’re looking at our computers all day, it’s a great way for me to clear my head and take a break.
What are you doing at 2PM?
Crunch time! Unless I have a meeting, in the afternoons I have my headphones in and “get into the zone” to focus. Afternoons are my most productive time, and I’m able to get so much work done. With so many moving parts on my current project, having this down time to focus on my deliverables is essential.
What are you doing at 5PM?
Wrapping up some tasks for the day, closing out any items, and writing my to-do list for tomorrow. If I finished my project work early, I also use this time to work on any plus ones I have – things I’m helping out with outside of client work.
Do you usually work late?
It depends on the client and what phase of the project we’re in. I’ve been on some projects where I work from home 9-5, and others where I’m working 12+ hour days. On my current project, I get into the office around between 7:30 – 8:30 (depending on when my first meeting is), and leave between 6:30 – 8:00. On nights when we work a bit later, we usually get a team dinner, which is a great way to bond as a team and get to know each other outside of work.
THOUGHTS
What is one thing you wish you knew about your industry?
It’s all about networking. Networking isn’t about what others can do for you, it’s about meeting new people and seeing how you can help them. That way you can build strong, long-lasting relationships with people who will support you and advocate for you throughout your career.
What is your favorite thing about the work you do?
Constantly having a new challenge. In consulting, you jump from project to project, sometimes in industries or areas you know nothing about. You’re expected to pick things up quickly and become an advisor in that field. Projects can be super short (I’ve had a 2 week one) or very long (1+ years), but in that timeframe you’ll learn so much.
A piece of advice for people entering this field
Be flexible. Go in with an open mind and realistic expectations. Things aren’t always as glamorous as they seem to be (constant travel can be very tiring), and things may not turn out exactly the way you want them to – you might not get your dream project, or you might be unstaffed for a while. But that’s ok! Use every opportunity as a learning experience, because you never know when it’ll come into use later.
What did you think? Let’s chat. Comment below!
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