Consulting 101 - Being on the Beach
Trip to Phuket
Well, you just finished with a final presentation on your project, and you head back home not really knowing what you'll be doing next. Sometimes you'll know ahead of time (if the firm is busy and you're staffed right away), but sometimes you'll wake up the next day just staring at your phone, waiting for the impending call that is bound to happen.
Welcome to the beach.
As you may know, we call the time in-between projects as 'being on the beach, on the bench' (I've heard other expressions as well). Most of the time, being on the beach entails helping out in drafting consulting proposals, which, in regards to day-to-day work, is a lot 'freer' when compared to being in a project. If you're 'lucky' enough, (depends on how much you want your utilization rate to be), sometimes you just get the day off, as perhaps the managers of your firm couldn't place you in a project/proposal, or possibly just missed you out during the staffing meeting, which occurs once or twice a week. Some firms have a way more structured way of allocating human capital to projects/proposals, but generally I think it's not as systematic, and you learn to live with the concept of being "on-call" while being on the beach.
Reasons for not staffing:
There could be a number of reasons for why you've not been staffed on a next project. Perhaps the firm simply doesn't have enough projects in the pipeline (during an economic downturn), and a lot of the workforce is underutilized; of course, this is a bad sign, and the pressure is increased to position yourself as a more distinguished consultant, so that you get prioritized in during the staffing decisions.
Which brings us to another possible reason for not being staffed: nobody wants you. As you go up in seniority, consultants tend to have a particular 'tag' to their name, in regards to the practice area that you are more focused in (i.e., financial services, consumer goods, etc.), and also in regards to your skill level, which all impact the degree of appeal you may have in a PM/PP wanting to work with you. Obviously, your evaluations are key here, along with your utilization rate history, which basically show your profile, along with the strengths and weaknesses you might bring to a consulting project.
Generally, most firms evaluate you on each project basis, and have a specified criteria on how they rank/judge consultants. It's nothing too out of the ordinary compared to other companies, as you can imagine, with categories such problem solving ability, communication skills, client relationships, etc. I guess the difference stems from the fact that the data is actually used to compare you with your peers, so that a ranking system will definitely be in place, paying homage to the concept of "up or out" in consulting. It's a loop; where you get poor evaluations, you end up not being staffed as often, which brings down your utilization rate, which hurts your reputation within the firm, delays promotions, etc., which then makes you question your worth in the firm as well. On the other side, be a high performer, then you'll get staffed more often, higher bonuses, fast track promotions, etc,. but, this also ends up in you being given more work than you can handle, and perhaps getting confined to a particular practice area and/or industry. So, I guess you need to pick your poison, depending on your ambition level in regards to your career and your priorities in life.
I, of course, don't want to under perform, but don't want to be an overachiever as well, despite knowing that I'm a passionate and motivated individual. I'm aiming for a balance (if there is one in consulting), that results in me sometimes getting catching a break here and there while being on the beach, but also with the inner security of knowing that I won't have issues maneuvering my way in the firm and getting staffed on projects that I would like to participate in.
Regardless, until that phone call reaches you to inform you about your next mission, try to get as much sleep as you can.🙂