The Tricky Transition from Industry to Consulting
Insight into understanding the consulting mindset and why it matters from Day 1
Consultants face four major transitions in their careers: entry into consulting, stepping into management, taking on leadership, and moving into business development. Each of these requires a shift, not just in capability but also in identity and mindset.
The first transition — entry into consulting — often proves to be a more challenging leap than it first appears. This seems to be especially true for those who transition from industry later in their career, rather than beginning straight from university.
That’s what I did, and it was tricky.
If you’ve recently made the move from industry to consulting, or you are thinking about doing so, there are some things to know which may help ‘grease the wheels’. Here, I’ll share a few insights from personal experience and clients we’ve worked with at Honeycomb.
First off, what is this job?
We’re seeing more and more experienced professionals step into consulting roles after time spent in technical, delivery, or operations environments. In the past year alone, we’ve worked with several such groups — brilliant engineers, analysts, product managers, and IT leaders — who are now beginning a new chapter as consultants.
Often, they’re not just learning how to do the job. They’re trying to figure out what the job is.
That was my experience, too. I came into consulting from a career as an engineer in the Royal Navy. When I joined PwC, I was repeatedly asked how the transition was going. And the truth was, I didn’t really know what to say. I hadn’t yet figured out what I was supposed to be transitioning into.
What were they expecting me to become? What does it actually mean to be a consultant?
Two things stood out for me then, and they still underpin our entry-level programmes at Honeycomb today:
Technical skills alone are not enough
Clients hire consultants to create impact.
Let’s take a look at each of these.
What you know is less important than who you influence
The fundamental difference between a technical role and a consulting role is not intellect — it’s intent. As a consultant, you’re working from the outside in. You’re no longer part of the system you’re trying to improve, which means the way you create value changes completely.
Your technical expertise might get you in the door. But from there, it’s not enough to simply be smart or right. What matters is whether you can create impact — and that almost always comes down to your ability to influence people.
This is where many new consultants find themselves surprised. In industry, your functional skills might have been what defined you. In consulting, it’s a foundation, but it’s not the job.
Clients don’t hire consultants just for their ideas. They hire us to help them do something with those ideas. And that’s a very different skillset.
Delivering ‘Core Consulting Skills Training’ is some of our bread and butter at Honeycomb, but when we’re working with management and strategy consultancies, this has to cover much more than how to make great slides or learning tools to structure problem solving.
As you move along away from technical delivery towards client consulting, the skills that grow in importance include:
Understanding people — their blockers and barriers, and their personality type
How to communicate technical concepts so other can understand and engage with them
How to interact with senior stakeholders and hold their attention
How to land a message and get people energised to act.
In short, to do the job of a consultant, you need to know how to engage people. Often people who think differently to you, who don’t share your assumptions, and who may not even see the problem in the same way.
You might know more about the content of the work than anyone in the room. But unless you can translate that knowledge into decisions, action, and results, you won’t be doing the job you are there to do.
Know why clients really hire consultants?
I recall a formative moment which happened during my time in the Royal Navy. I spent a lot of time working at The Ministry of Defence and there were often a lot of consultants there. Confused by this — given they knew less about defence and defence engineering than we did — I asked a senior leader why they brought the consultants in.
His answer stuck with me.
“I don’t hire them for their knowledge of defence.
I hire them because they get things done.”
That’s the mindset shift. And it’s a big one.
Inside large organisations, inertia can be strong. Decision-making can stall. Motivation can fade. Sometimes, when you’ve been working in an organisation for a long time, it’s just difficult to see a way out of where you are.
Consultants are brought in to bring fresh perspective and dogged determination. To unblock, to reframe, to energise. To get things done.
So, rather than complain that something isn't progressing because a decision hasn't been made, a consultant must assume the responsibility of enabling that decision. Perhaps they find an unlock in the way they present the question or create the environment for decision making, but fundamentally they must be saying:
“I'm going to get that decision made because that's my job.”
It’s what we call a consulting mindset. And it’s what transforms good technical people into great consultants.
Squashing the credibility gremlin
You may find yourself thinking, “I’m not sure I’ve earned the right to be here yet,” or “What if the client looks at my day rate and expects me to be someone I’m not?”
It’s a completely fair concern. When you’ve built your identity around technical expertise or leadership in industry, it’s unsettling to suddenly feel like the outsider again, unsure whether you have the weight or experience to match what the role seems to demand.
You should squash that gremlin. The rules of the game have changed now. Remember: you don’t earn credibility as a consultant by knowing everything. You earn it by getting things done.
If you can show that you understand the challenges and you’re committed to creating real progress, clients will respond positively. They’ll see the resilience, the tenacity, and the determination you have to make something happen. They feel the difference when you’re not just handing over analysis, but helping them change something that matters.
When you show up with the consulting mindset, you’ll have no trouble standing behind your day rate.
The shift from industry to consulting is more than a change in job title. It’s a shift in how you see yourself, how you create value, and how you relate to others. That can feel disorienting at first — especially if you’re used to being the expert in the room.
But what makes someone a great consultant isn’t certainty. It’s perspective, adaptability, and the mindset to help others move forward.
If you’re in the middle of that transition now, or starting to think about it, know that it’s normal to feel a bit off balance. You’re not falling short. You’re learning a new role and the mindset you need to go with it.
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 | A guest post by
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There are many reasons clients hire consultants. Knowing and understanding them all helps tremendously in business development. A key one certainly is the ability to get things done, especially in a project setting.
But there are others. Expertise and knowledge is one. As is trusted advice and good ideas. As is using you as a possible scapegoat for organizational change. And there are more
Qualifying in the business development process includes determining what each prospect is really looking for