World of Consulting v/s Corporate

As I have experiences across both - the world of consulting and4 industry, I often get asked about this question as to what is the difference, which one is better and which one leads to better growth opportunities. Since the answer is not too straightforward and totally depends, I have tried to break it down into some segments, which hopefully, can be easily understood by everyone. There are four segments that I would like to discuss in this blog:

A. The difference lies in the underlying concepts

Consulting is a fast-paced world. Across consulting, the world does not stop - its multiple projects, working with multiple clients, collaborating with the leads to work on business development and proposals. Consulting comes with a lot of dynamic behavior and being ready for the change. A lot depends on clients - the type of projects that you get to do, the type of projects the firm is able to sell, the level of competitiveness between different consulting companies.

There is no thumb rule for corporate, its a complex system wherein you have to assess how you want to operate. There is a set and defined role that a person is provided, and that is the bare minimum. But the possibilities are endless. Since I started my role in the Data and Analytics team at Gilead, I have been trying to do things wider than my horizon, and I have enjoyed it very much. In most cases, there could be moments where this job is more fast paced than the other. It also depends a lot on which all things do you dip your fingers in which make it more fast paced for some people than the others. For me personally, in my current role, I have put my consultant hat on in my role and that has kept my role fairly dynamic and busy.

B. The way we navigate is different

Now that we have learnt the fundamental differences, I wanted to highlight that the way to become successful at both types of roles is different. Consulting has very strong underlying fundamentals of molding according to the situation and being as dynamic as possible. The day to day looks like a mix of often working on multiple projects often with multiple clients. That is the reason there is a constant need to switch on and switch off the brain from situations and topics. That is the reason people say its difficult. The reality is that it is more difficult for some people v/s others, and a lot depends on where you thrive and not just survive. On top of projects, after a certain levels, every consulting trims down to selling - selling more projects, selling to more clients and building and selling more capabilities.

Industry companies are more bent in ways, cultures and is more top-down than consulting. It is also driven through values which make up the the strong and unique foundation of each industry company - that is the reason each company is different from another in terms of how they operate. Also - there is no pre-defined underlying values that drive all internal roles. Each company, team and role within that team varies, which is why everyone might have different experiences with corporates. Personally, I have had a very good experience given the team I have operated in, the level of freedom and trust I got from my leader and the impact I have been able to drive. I have been enjoying it. On top of the defined set of responsibilities, it depends as to how much extra you wish to do, and how much you are able to navigate that. Sometimes, doing extra might be difficult, but the real win is in identifying where should you tap to produce maximum impact. Once you do that, wonders can happen even within industry role.

C. Every individual is different

I often get asked - which one is better. Well, I have no good answer and the reason is that its not that easy of a question. It depends. An individual has to assess what do they really like and what type of culture would they thrive in. There is no set rule as to where can you drive more impact. Impact is a result of three things in my opinion:

1. The opportunity you are provided with
2. The work you do and the initiatives you drive
3. Level of recognition you receive (because an initiative is only as good as its recognition)
4. And the leaders you work with

The above factors are common irrespective of where you work. The right opportunity will provide you with the ground where you can touch down. It is important to identify those opportunities and act on them as they arrive. If there is no opportunity at the time, they can be created. Its simple - think really what is that problem that you could help solve?

The golden question of where would you really thrive - consulting v/s industry role depends on several factors and its more complicated than you think. Also, its not binary. Despite the distinct nature of the type of roles, there does exist fundamental similarities. Those similarities are actually beautiful - indicating that there is no set way to make impact across roles - it depends on the individual and many other things. I developed a framework of the personality traits or strengths and mapped them across these two different roles - consulting v/s industry in terms of the level of depth ingrained. However, needless to say, this is not a set framework, each role is distinct and is driven by its own uniqueness. So it all depends. But this is a general averaged out scenario based on my experiences and observations:

D. My own experiences

Let me tell you very briefly how my experiences have been shaped. I have worked with ZS Associates, one of the really good consulting companies out there, especially for the pharma and healthcare companies. At ZS, I have worked in various roles in data, strategy and analytics. Each role I played was different from the previous one - and that led to a strong lift in my skills and experience. ZS is where I got shaped and where my skills got developed - both soft and hard skills. I got a real good sense of how to run projects successfully, how to use people skills to keep the clients happy and how to drive things in difficult situations.

At Gilead, I got to learn how to spot opportunities. There are lots of problems that need solving and which is that problem which I can help solve is something that I learnt to drive. That has been challenging and rewarding at the same time. Once found, I have been well supported by my leaders to drive those workstreams and innovate. That is the reason I have enjoyed this role too. For me, it has been really working in the industry role but with a consulting hat whenever possible and wherever necessary. That has really helped me enjoy my role, create impact and build good relations with my stakeholders over time.

To conclude, each role has its fundamental parameters and uniqueness. More than the role, what is more important is the uniqueness, strengths and goals of the individual, and current state of the individual. This is because goals and plans also change with time and sometimes to reach a final goal, there could be stages of experiences you wish to go through. Finally, its more important to be an individual self, and every role can be navigated through, developing a unique story - your own story. For me, working across both types of roles has given me 360-degree view and has opened my mind to endless possibilities, and I am really thankful for that.