I graduated about 4 years ago and I’m working in process safety consulting right now. The technical work is interesting but I have mixed feelings about writing reports all the time. My manager recently gave me more project management duties for client deliverables and it’s way more stressful but my pay hasn’t gone up yet.
What really bugs me is that my wife works in accounting and makes the same money as me. She gets to work from home most days and only puts in about 30 hours of real work per week. Meanwhile, I’m dealing with way more pressure and longer hours.
I keep thinking I made some wrong choices along the way. Maybe consulting isn’t for me or maybe project management just isn’t my thing. Seeing how much easier my wife has it makes me question everything.
Anyone else been through something like this? I’m wondering if I should try a different consulting firm or maybe look for an in-house process safety position instead. I could even consider switching fields completely but that seems really hard to do. I actually applied somewhere recently but they wanted references and when I asked one of the senior engineers he said only the company directors can provide those.
Man, I totally get that stuck feeling! Been there myself around year 3. The grass always looks greener, right? But here’s what helped me - I wasn’t actually unhappy with the field, just burned out from extra work without extra pay. Have you talked to your manager about adjusting your salary for those PM responsibilities? You’re bringing additional value. Before jumping ship completely, try setting boundaries around those longer hours. This video opened my eyes about what project management actually involves and whether it’s worth pursuing:
Sometimes we just need to advocate better for ourselves before assuming we’re in the wrong place.
Honestly, this sounds like normal career growing pains, not a sign you picked the wrong field. Process safety consulting usually means 45-55 hour weeks with stress spikes around deadlines - that’s just how it goes. Don’t get too hung up on comparing salaries with your wife. Accounting hits a ceiling pretty fast, but engineering consulting pays way more once you hit senior levels. Four years in? Perfect timing to jump firms if you hate where you are. Here’s the thing though - most consulting gigs involve tons of reports and project pressure. That’s the nature of the beast. Your company’s reference policy sounds weird. Most places let senior people give references. Maybe you don’t hate process safety - maybe you just hate your current company’s culture.
