Do You Like To Travel?

The clients of consulting companies can be as close to the same building as your home office to halfway across the world. So, if you are looking into consulting, the possibility of travel is pretty good. Though a consulting company may have an office closer to the client, that office may not have the expertise or people needed to complete the job. That's when people from other offices are brought in, so you could be working with people you have never met before (which is why you need to be a people person). However, just because some employees will travel, that doesn't mean that YOU have to. Some consulting firms are good about taking personal preferences into consideration. So if you just can't live without your boyfriend or girlfriend for an entire week or really hate flying, you may be in luck. But, some firms really don't care if you want to travel or not, it's part of the job.

Thus, when interviewing for consulting jobs, make sure you ask questions about travel opportunities and frequency. Firms will also come right out and ask if you are willing to travel, so be honest. If you really would like to be close to one city all the time, you probably will be unhappy if you say yes just so you can get the job. They are serious when they ask this question and you may find yourself in the middle of Iowa or worse. Not that Iowa is bad, but I've never been there so who knows.

Here are some good questions to ask that will give you a feel for what the travel may (or may not) entail:

• Where are the majority your clients located?
• How long is the typical assignment?
• Does everyone have to travel?
• Is personal preference taken into consideration?
• What percent of the year is typically spent on out-of-town clients?

While you probably won't be assigned to a client in Hawaii or London your first week on the job, you may get to go to some cool places (I spent a week in New York City this summer and a weekend in Orlando) and some awfully bad places which I've yet to experience.