Keep getting cold feet about leaving job

[Anonymous]

I’ve been at my consulting firm for about seven years. I’m in an external (client facing) role - which I enjoy, for the most part. I find the work interesting, I have a STRONG network, and a lot of flexibility (but this could change as it’s project dependent). However, I’m frustrated by the higher-level politics (did not get a promo recently which I thought I deserved due to said politics) and the up or out culture. I do not want to sell work, and I do not want to become a partner. The money for now is great with potential for more, but again, that is contingent upon climbing the ladder which is a big question mark.

I’ve been offered an internal role at another company that would be a $40K pay increase ($150-190K). The work is (IMO) less interesting than what I do now, I’d have to start to build a network from scratch, and there’s slightly less flexibility. On the flip side, while I’m fairly confident that while I’ll never make millions in this type of internal role, I could easily get to $250K within a couple years and be very employable for the rest of my career. I’m 30 now.

I’m not sure if this is logical or not, but I am so apprehensive about leaving my current company/worried about regretting leaving consulting. Has anyone else made a client facing to internal role switch, and did you regret it?

[Anonymous]

I haven’t done this, but my company is full of ex-consultants. I think many of the colleagues I know with the background you have enjoyed the transition, especially the lack of travel and better hours. One thing I have noticed is these folks get really bored in roles after 1.5 to 2 years. You should look for a company that promotes internal mobility.

[Anonymous]

Honestly you are too old to have never done non-consulting work. If you manage interesting projects that you can leverage to expand expertise, you will be able to go back to consulting