By far the most common exit as a consultant is joining a corporate, very often even a client you served in the past. Especially once you reach the level of project manager or higher, you will have built strong relationships with core clients. Working closely with senior management at this client, you will ingratiate yourself with all the major decisions makers and also know the strategic priorities and operational pain points.

If you think about it, it’s only natural that most consultants leverage their client relationships to make an attractive exit to the industry. Already knowing the client’s business very well, this represents a win-win situation for both, the consultant and the client. For the client it’s a major advantage that they already know what they’re going to get. The consultant might have served them for years so they know exactly what quality of work he or she produces while also knowing the consultant on a personal level. If you are looking to fill a middle or senior management role, who would you rather hire? A person you don’t know and can only assess based on multiple rounds of interviews and recommendations? Or a person you’ve worked with for years and who was your trusted advisor in many strategic initiatives? The answer is obvious.

For the consultant, exiting to a client has the advantage that they already know what they are getting themselves into. They know all the decision makers and the corporate politics at play. Further, they don’t need a long ramp-up as they are familiar with most of the initiatives at the client and know in which direction they want to steer strategically.

The role in which the consultant joins the client varies a lot based on experience. A business analyst or associate will usually join the in-house strategy team or the M&A team of the client as these departments are similar to consulting in terms of pace and importance for future strategic direction. More senior consultants, so project managers and partners, tend to join in middle or senior management roles and are not bound as much to the strategy or M&A team. It really depends a lot on what you were focusing on as a consultant. Partners may even join directly as a member of the executive board – but this heavily depends on the size of the client company. It’s unlikely that you will join right aways as a board member at a Dow Jones company - but joining the board of a Fortune 500 company is not unrealistic for a (senior) partner.

Overall, joining the industry is very attractive as a consultant as you likely know the company you are joining inside out. Further, you will likely only take a small pay cut for having a much better lifestyle.

Exiting consulting to join Private Equity is also quite common – especially for more junior consultants. In the past, private equity firms used to recruit exclusively experienced hires because they didn’t have an in-house program for business analysts. Nowadays, most large Private Equity firms also hire fresh graduates but especially small Private Equity players still only hire experienced professionals.

The reason why Private Equity is popular among junior colleagues is because consulting equipped them with a toolkit that is also applicable in Private Equity. Especially, if they focus on Private Equity projects – so due diligences and portfolio company work – they are well trained in (financial) modelling and in PowerPoint, but they have also shown that they can work in a fast-paced environment. These skills make them highly attractive for Private Equity firms. By the way, this is similar to exiting Investment Banking, where you acquire a similar skillset in the first 2 years on the job.

More senior colleagues, from project manager upwards, are less attractive for Private Equity firms as the consulting toolkit diverges from what is required in Private Equity. A project manager in consulting would be the equivalent of a deal lead at a Private Equity firm. And for that role, you need in-depth knowledge on how deals a structured and how the whole process works. If you didn’t focus on that during your consulting career, it’s very unlikely that you’ll be able to exit to a Private Equity firm as a deal lead. Project managers can of course join in a senior associate role at a Private Equity firm but this usually comes with a pay cut. The bonus can make up for that if it was a good year for the Private Equity firm, but the base salary will definitely be lower.

The exception to that is at the largest Private Equity firms. They often have dedicated teams for work at portfolio companies. And this is where consultants come in very handy. Changing the strategic direction or implementation operational initiatives to increase profitability is the bread and butter of consultants. So experienced consultants are very valuable for this kind of work – even if they join as former project managers.

Overall, Private Equity is a very attractive exit opportunity if you don’t mind a lifestyle that is worse than in consulting. There is a lot of upside compared to a corporate exit if you stick it out for a couple of years. But the private equity industry is also a lot more cyclical than consulting or corporate and your bonus (and thus overall salary) can vary heavily over the years. 

If none of these private sector options are for you, there’s always the public sector. This could be an actual government agency, like a ministry or a government department. Or it could be a state-owned enterprise. Or it could even be a non-profit or NGO. Think of Amnesty International, or the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It’s a bit bold to all put them in the same bucket but let’s give it a shot.

What these options have in common is that all of them would be happy to have a former consultant in their ranks. Bringing some drive and agility to such organizations, especially government entities and state-owned enterprises is more than necessary. Does that mean you get to implement all your great ideas? No, actually not. Such organizations are often resistant to change. One the one hand, that’s institutionalized and maybe even legally mandated. On the other hand, the people working there are often even more resistant to change than your average middle manager in a corporate (where there’s at least some focus on performance). So yeah, you probably won’t work your ass off, but it might also be frustrating if you’re longing for a bit of consulting pace and excitement. Another disadvantage is that things aren’t always super objective. You might even have pull political strings to get things done (even more so than in a corporate environment).

Financially, the upside for you as an ex-consultant is quite limited. But you can at least take comfort in the fact that you’re doing something good. This meaningful work is something that can actually be a big motivator – especially when working for an NGO or NPO you care about. Other than that, it’s probably not the best exit opportunity. Yes, working for a government agency might be chill, but the type of person that liked consulting might not be totally comfortable in a super bureaucratic environment.

Of course, there are many opportunities in the area of political advisory or lobbying. But let’s focus on running for office. There are plenty of cases where people with just a few years in consulting move on to politics. We personally know a members of parliament that used to work with us.

Is consulting a good preparation for politics? Well, it always helps being structured and a hard worker. Also, dealing with difficult characters is something that you learn, once you had to deal with hostile clients for a couple of years. But on top of that you also need new skills. You need to become a great networker, a fundraiser, and a debater. Also, you need to change your communication style. Yes, consulting means top-down, clear and structured communication. But to schmooze the average voter, you have to dumb down your messaging even further, and sprinkle some emotional storytelling over it.

One thing to keep in mind is that politics a field where consulting experience can be a disadvantage. Not for any rational reason, but simply because consultants (much like investment bankers and private equity professionals) are often portrayed as ruthless and greedy cost-cutters and bloodsuckers. It’s a classic political smear: not based on reality, but you might still suffer from it. That’s why Pete Buttigieg downplayed his McKinsey stint so hard when he ran for President, getting continually attacked for it. 

So why would a consultant become a politician? Financially, a career in politics is not very lucrative (ok, there might be some disagreement over this statement). And even if it was, you couldn’t start cruising around in a Lambo, purely due to bad optics. What’s more interesting is the prestige and the power that comes with a high-profile political position. Not even an MBB Senior Partner would get a state reception with a red carpet and an orchestra playing the national anthem when his private jet arrives in another country. Being the commander in chief is why even billionaires run for President. That’s what money can’t buy.

Joining an existing start-up (ideally with equity stake) is a very common exit for consultants. The main reason is that start-ups look for driven people that want to change an industry or develop a novel product. And the job profile of a consultant usually fits exactly this requirement. Most often, these start-ups hire multiple consultants and investment bankers to form their senior management team and accelerate the growth of their company. Such a driven team results in a work culture and pace that will be similar to consulting. Even though you typically take a pay cut, the equity stake in the start-up can make up for the lost income. It may even be worth millions down the road.

Founding a start-up is also quite common for consultants. Especially the educational leave (check out our article on training at McKinsey to learn more about it) is a great time to launch a start-up. You will have time to complete an MBA on the side while you’re actually working on your venture. The consultants then often don’t even return to their consulting company anymore. Some return briefly to avoid a claw back of the tuition support they got, before leaving to fully commit to scaling their start-up.

Consulting equips you very well with the know-how to join or start your own start-up. Especially, if you already know that you want to launch a start-up in a certain field prior to joining consulting, you can do project that will help you once you start your start-up. For example, if you are a chemist and want to set up a nutrition start-up, you can do projects in pharmaceuticals, specifically in operations, to learn more about how the processes work and what the bottlenecks are when producing a product.

This might sound like an odd one, but hear us out. It’s no secret that you can make a lot of money in consulting relatively quickly. All you need to do is make Partner in your early 30s, because then the big bucks start rolling in. If you manage to maintain a $200k lifestyle while making a million per year, there is no reason why you couldn’t just retire in your early 40s. It really depends on your spending habits and the lifestyle you aspire. You won’t be buying penthouses on 5th Avenue, but you can probably stop working and still live in your state-of-the-art family home.

But most Partner won’t retire early. They are simply too motivated and hard-working. Also, they want to keep on serving their clients with whom they have an often decade-long relationship. However, we have seen (Senior) Partners leave, take some time off, and then suddenly join the management board of a well-established company or set up their own company. People working in consulting for many years – maybe because of their competitive nature and drive – cannot just quit from one day to the next.

That's a sentence you will never hear from a MBB consultant. Consultants have drive and will likely continue to work even though they could retire. We have also seen many formally retired Senior Partners who still act as a Senior Advisor to the consulting firm they worked for.

As you can see, consulting is a great way to start your career. You will learn a lot in a short time and this skillset stays with you. Most consultants will eventually quit and exit the industry. And that’s when this skillset (and the reputation that comes with it) comes in handy. You’ll have almost unlimited opportunities and are set up well to thrive in virtually any environment. If you want to know more about how consulting firms train their recruits, check out this blog.