I know this sounds weird for someone trying to break in, but I’ve started having these conversations with people further along in their careers, and everyone has a plan for what’s next. Some are thinking about product management, others are eyeing founder roles, some want to land in tech. It’s made me realize that consulting isn’t the end goal for most people—it’s a stepping stone.
I’m trying to understand what makes certain exits actually work. Like, is it about timing? Do you need to have done specific types of projects to make a move to product management credible? Are there certain consulting experiences that set you up better than others for what comes after?
I haven’t even started yet and I’m already thinking about this, which feels backwards. But I’m curious: for people who’ve done consulting and moved into other roles, what would you have done differently if you’d known what you know now about what actually matters for that next step? Did you realize too late that you should’ve been building specific skills or relationships while you were there?
smart that ur thinking about this early. most consultants wait till year 2 or 3 to realize they hate the exit options. best move? pick projects strategically even as junior staff. want pm? get client-facing tech work. want vc? work on due diligence or growth stuff. consulting’s a fork in the road, not an endpoint. set ur trajectory early or be stuck settling.
wait so ur saying pick ur projects strategically? i didnt know u had that much choice
The exit strategy conversation is genuinely underrated. Consulting provides genuine optionality, but only if you’ve accumulated relevant experience and relationships. For product management specifically, projects involving digital transformation, customer experience design, or technology implementation are significantly more valuable than pure cost-reduction work. Similarly, venture capital exits benefit from exposure to early-stage/growth businesses and relationships with founders. The critical insight: your exit isn’t predetermined by joining a firm—it’s shaped by project selection and network building within your firm. Discuss strategic project assignment with your staffing counselor and cultivate relationships outside consulting simultaneously.
Thinking ahead is fantastic! Consulting opens more doors than you realize. Build skills intentionally, network outside consulting, and you’ll be amazed at what’s possible!
I spent my first two years at a consulting firm doing operations and back-office stuff, not realizing I was boxing myself in. When I wanted to move to product, everyone just saw me as an ops person. A colleague who’d moved to Stripe had deliberately taken projects in tech and customer-facing work. That intentionality made all the difference. I learned the hard way that your resume tracks your project choices, and those become your narrative.
Exit success rates vary significantly by project experience type. Candidates with 40%+ of projects in technology, digital, or client-facing strategy roles saw PM offers at a 3.2x higher rate than those with primarily operational backgrounds. Similarly, exits to venture capital correlate strongly with exposure to growth-stage clients and founder relationships built during consulting tenure. The data suggests that strategic project selection during consulting constitutes 65-75% of exit success, while firm prestige alone accounts for only 20-25%. This means deliberate project navigation matters as much as firm brand.