ex-MBB here who transitioned to a FAANG corporate strategy role 18 months ago. The reality hit hard: 70% of my time is spent chasing stakeholders for alignment, 20% reworking exec decks, and maybe 10% actual ‘strategy.’ Biggest myth? That consulting prepares you for the political chess game. The work’s impactful long-term, but be ready to trade velocity for bureaucracy. What aspects of corporate strategy surprised others who made the jump?
pro tip: ‘strategic roadmap’ just means doing the same analysis every quarter until someone above VP changes their mind. my team spent 8 months ‘optimizing’ a process that got axed during reorg. but hey, free microkitchens beat consulting per diems amirite
wait till you discover the magic of ‘capacity planning exercises’ - aka guessing headcount needs while HR ignores you. consulting case prep feels like navy seal training compared to this bs. silver lining? 6pm dinners with family…if you consider sad desk salads ‘dinner’
wait shud i focus on biz ops models or stakeholder mapping? 2nd yr consultant looking to jump next cycle pls advise
do faang strat roles care about sql? heard mixd things. got tableau cert but now ppl say learn power bi?
anyone transitioned without mba? heard some directors did but not sure how
One undervalued skill: translating strategic concepts into operational jargon. What consultants call ‘synergy capture’ becomes ‘cross-functional efficiency targets’ to VPs. Learn to reframe your value proposition in the language of your stakeholders. Pro tip: partner tightly with finance - they control the oxygen supply (budget).
My first month in strat ops, I proposed a slick market entry framework…only to discover engineering had already built half of it in stealth mode. Now I coffee badge daily with dev leads before proposing anything. Sometimes the real strategy is just connecting dots that already exist.
Was shocked by how much babysitting metrics involves. Once flew to Dublin because a regional lead thought our ‘customer obsession KPI’ required literal hugs. Now I add footnote dictionaries to all dashboard releases…
Analysis of LinkedIn profiles shows 83% of FAANG corporate strategy hires from consulting have 3-5 years’ experience. Those with operational rotations promoted 1.8x faster. Recommendation: If transitioning, negotiate for embedded rotations in biz units during offer stage.