Do All Management Consultants Have to Travel Frequently?

The answer to whether all management consultants must travel frequently varies significantly across regions, business units, and geographies. While many consultants, particularly those in large firms such as the MBB and Big 4, often require extensive travel, this is not a one-size-fits-all requirement.

Regional Variations

For mature economies and most consulting firms, the typical requirement might be four days a week working from the client location with weekly fly-backs to the consulting firm's office. However, in places like India, the travel frequency can vary from four days a week to permanent postings at the client site.

For instance, at Accenture, consultants would work five days a week from the client location, with weekly trips back to their base office. Meanwhile, pure strategy firms might only require four days of client site work, with one day spent at the consultants' base or home location. Some consulting projects, however, do not offer the option of fly-backs. In a long-term project with the Himachal Government, two freshly graduated analysts spent three months in Shimla before a new joiner took over.

Client Headquarters and Office Locations

When the client's headquarters are in the same location as the consulting firm's local office and both the consultants and clients reside in the same city, travel requirements can be significantly reduced. This was the case when the author worked for Booz Allen Hamilton on a federal government project in Washington, D.C.

For consultants working in the private sector, the job often requires significant travel because the project is usually located far from the consulting firm's local office, and the consultants do not live in the same city as the project is based.

Regional Variations - Australia Example

When the author worked as a management consultant in Australia, covering the triangle between New Zealand, Japan, and India, weekly long-haul travel was a standard requirement. This level of travel was necessary for the specific roles and clients in this region.

Flexibility and Personal Choice

Some consultants may spend months away from their home, while others work within their home city throughout their careers. Most consultants fall somewhere in between, with a mix of on-site and remote work. Junior consultants often spend more time on client sites, while more senior consultants typically visit multiple clients in a week.

The first requirement in consultancy is to be chargeable, which means if there is work and you can do it, you are expected to do it unless there is a very good reason why you cannot. However, personal circumstances or long stints out of town can sometimes grant some flexibility.

Additionally, the author mentions working in London, where most of their career was spent working for financial services clients in and around London, with periods in Edinburgh, Bristol, Cheltenham, Manchester, and Swindon. They also spent time in Beijing, and multiple years in Mumbai and New Delhi.

Impact of the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that remote work can be almost as effective as on-site work. Teams can complete projects without ever setting foot on the client site, which could lead to less travel in the future. However, it is still uncertain how this will affect the industry, and the potential for cost savings is likely to influence travel decisions.

Understanding the travel requirements in consulting can help in making informed career decisions, whether it is choosing a specific company or managing travel expectations within a role.