u/Psychological-Ad4902

I’m a rising sophomore majoring in MIS, and my goal is to start my career in Big 4 consulting after graduation.

Instead of asking how to get the job, I want to ask what I should be doing while I’m still in college so I’m actually prepared once I get there.

If you could go back to your freshman or sophomore year, what would you focus on?

- Low-cost (or free) certifications

- Technical skills (Excel, Power BI, SQL, Python, etc.)

- Projects that actually matter

- Business concepts I should understand

- Soft skills that made the biggest difference

- Anything else you wish you’d learned before starting

I’m less interested in checking boxes for my resume and more interested in building skills that will make the transition into consulting much smoother.

What would you recommend?

I’ve seen a lot of conflicting information online, so I wanted to hear from people who are actually in consulting.

For those of you who are analysts or recently started your career, what are your typical weekly hours?

Also, what does your day-to-day work actually look like? I’m especially interested in tech consulting, but I’d love to hear from anyone in consulting.

I’m trying to get a realistic picture of what to expect before recruiting. Thanks!

I’m an MIS student considering Big 4 consulting after graduation, and I’m trying to separate reality from Reddit.

A lot of the posts I see make consulting sound absolutely miserable, with constant 60-80 hour weeks, burnout, and no work-life balance. But I’ve also heard that people are much more likely to post when they’re unhappy, so Reddit can sometimes give a skewed perspective.

For those who have actually worked in Big 4 consulting, how accurate are the horror stories? Are people exaggerating, or is it really that bad?
I know a lot of it is project, team, and client dependent, but what were your typical hours as an analyst/consultant? Did you feel the experience, learning, and exit opportunities were worth the tradeoff?

One thing I’ve heard is that a lot of consulting hours are meetings, and the actual deliverable work may only take a few hours, while others make it sound like you’re working nonstop. I’m curious what the reality is.

Would love to hear perspectives from people who stayed, left, or exited into industry.

I’m an MIS major going into my sophomore year, and my current plan is to pursue consulting internships over the next few years and hopefully convert that into a full-time offer at a Big Four firm after graduation.

The reason consulting has always appealed to me is because I’ve viewed it as a “boot camp” for business. My thinking was that spending 2-3 years in consulting would expose me to different industries, help me build a strong skill set, and make me more marketable when I eventually transition into an industry role.

However, after reading a lot of posts on Reddit about burnout, travel, work-life balance, and people wanting to leave consulting, I’m starting to wonder if it makes more sense to go straight into industry after college instead.

For those of you who worked in Big 4 consulting (or consulting in general), was it worth it? Even if you left after a few years, do you think the experience accelerated your career enough to justify it?
If your goal was eventually to work in industry, would you still choose consulting first, or would you skip it and go directly into the industry you’re interested in?

I’d love to hear both perspectives, especially from people who have already made the jump.