Consulting

Does maternity leave affect your utilization?

If you get laid off/fired for having poor utilization does that negatively impact your chances of getting employment at another company? Like does your background check tell you you were fired?

I was let go with no prior indications that I will be laid off. Good utilization solid engagement feedback. HR set up a call to tell me this. When I asked to counselor he couldn’t answer my questions

Got promoted recently along with one of my male colleagues. We both were at same base before, however, he was given 18% increment where as I got only 10%. My utilization, performance rating and all other metrics are either at par with him or higher. I raised my comp for review and have a process underway. I feel the data points for my male colleague are very relevant for the case but do not want to throw him under the bus during the review. How do I handle this?

I am a developer and one of my performance metrics is "Utilization" (billable hours). I am finding it hard to meet this goal (get enough work from my project team), accomplish all my admin tasks, and take vacation/holidays. Any advice?

Pros and Cons of Flexible/Unlimited time off policy while maintaining the utilization targets to avail leaves?

Have an opportunity to roll of a 6-month engagement soon. PPEDs & SMEs would like me to return (minimum another 6 months). Client work is something I have absolutely no interest in (open SOW so a lot of BAU work). That being said, I don’t have another engagement lined up. I have been networking but my conversations have translated into involvement in pursuits/leads. I’d be walking away from guaranteed utilization on a G360 account and a potential agile promotion in May..gamble or not? thoughts?

Do pending PTO get paid off if you quit amex suppose I have not utilized my 24 PTO and I quit Amex will I paid off for that PTO and my sick leave during full and final settlement with Amex?I

What’s everyone’s life utilization %?

What’s a good utilization percentage? Should I care or worry about it?

Is billing for utilization more difficult with no travel? Before, you could bill 100% of the time you spent at client site. Now you can only bill time you are “working”

Feeling stuck with this engagement. Team only allocated X hours for me which only makes me 66% utilized, when in reality I’m working the same amount as I would be with 100% utilization. Do people at the SC level typically rely on the practice partner align to you to projects? Or do you find your own? Just curious how other consultants handle this.

I feel kind of guilty. I don’t know why, but I make 110 base and 15% bonus, and lately my project is so slow that I’m filling my days with internal tasks and maybe 15-20 hrs/week of actual project work. I’ve talked to people about this and I guess given the year we are having it is what it is. Project goes til year end and either extend or roll off. Utilization still holding around 90% YTD since I was busy early on. I feel stupid for complaining, friend in government reminded me big $ low hrs.

My therapist just referred to the job as an abusive relationship. This is one of the more intense projects I’ve been on in my 4 years - not the most, but has been going for 6 months billing 120% utilization. Yeah, that checks out.

What’s everyone’s utilization on average? My firm targets 85% which I think is pretty solid but if you have a bad month it’s kind of hard to crawl out of it.

For those who work at companies with “unlimited PTO”....how does that work out for you? Do you like it? Do you find that you actually use/get time off? Does it negatively impact your utilization?

My project goes live Nov 9th but I have accepted a new job. When do I put my two weeks in? I have been with this client for > 1.5 years. My gut says give notice Oct 15th but stay through Go Live week. I don’t want to jeopardize my utilization at my new firm. New firm supports pushing start date but obviously prefers an earlier start date.

Never been on the bench. Always been 90+% utilization rate. Can I just be on the bench so I can study for CPA 🤣😭

Prob have had around 20% utilization so far is 2020. And that, my friends, is my protest to capitalism 🤑

How many consultants (perhaps at M/SM level) exited to big tech, and finds the scope of work is super insignificant & your consulting/management experience under utilized?

to people who are involved in lay-off discussions: Usually how are these decisions made regarding who to cut and who survive? Do you actually look at the utilization and rating first, or do you nominate the people who you personally dislike or had a beef first (though they have good rating and uti %)? How much time do you spend to consider for each person? Do any middle-managers usually try to advocate for the ones they know are on the chop list?

Kudos to the firm who did Trump’s tax, which utilized all the tax code they could. Also a point, taxing the rich never work.

I got super scared because my utilization was low this week (at 75%) and then I just remembered that I deserve a slow week because I’ve been working for 9 long months to get my return out on time. I think I’m going to take the rest of the afternoon off ✌🏻

Why am I treated as less utilized when I’m using my PTO balance?

Can you please share diversity job boards and organizations that your Firm has partnered with or utilized to hire diverse talent within investment management industry? Thanks in advance!

Is there an appropriate way to convey high chargeability on your resume? My firm doesn’t provide quantitative rankings as far as reviews go, but my utilization is 30% higher than the average so I’m trying to figure out how to convey that as an indicator of high performance

Any analysts been in consulting for a year but utilized less than 50%? Do you look for another role or just try to wait it out?

Slalom 🐠 I’ve got a few questions: 1) does utilization count against you? I’ve heard it doesn’t and only helps 2) is there a need to participate in internal initiatives (+1s)? Is it a part of the annual review?

A client keeps booking my time as a contingency, and then drops my hours last minute. They’ll book my hours on the scheduling tool, then not have any actual work to do. How do I bring this up as a concern without ruffling feathers? It’s so frustrating and hurts my utilization when the firm just upped the util metrics this year /:

Had an interview with another consulting firm and the interviewer goes “Yeah I worked 90 hours this week and have 200% utilization but my team is SO. NICE. Everyone is great here” ...... lol pass

Any firms that don't make you do initiatives? Not proposals. I mean the meaningless stuff that we get saddled with and appraised at YE for and that are a burden from a utilization standpoint?

What KPIs (e.g. utilization, sales goals) apply for Managers in other Big4 or similar consultancies? (MBB or other strategy consultancies excluded here)

I think silly string doesn't get the attention it deserves. I feel like it should be utilized way more than it is.

As a mod/severe teacher, I find it really challenging to find trainings that are useful for my students. Has anyone found any good professional development that is actually for the mod/severe population? I'm so sick of sitting through hours of training that cant be utilized for my students. It's such a waste of my time and its demoralizing

Utilization rate: incoming undergrad new hire, learned that our industry uses utilization rate to measure performance relative to the rest of our class. From my limited knowledge of it, it seems like it’s not the best metric to rely on, seeing that those who can quickly finish their work will be penalized for their efficiency, while those who dawdle and work extra hours will end up with a higher utilization rate. Can anyone shed some light on this please?

I have a good amount saved up in my emergency fund (6-8 months; high interest saving account) and an account for daily expenses (about 4K). I also have another high interest saving account with about 2 years worth of expenses that I've been meaning to use for investments. I feel like this money in the last account mentioned could be better utilized, any advice? Index funds?

How much should partners be expected to communicate with one another in terms of demands on associates’ time? Should associates be managing all the way up, or is it reasonable to expect some level of coordination at the top? My firm does not have a workflow coordinator so I am curious as to how other firms handle this issue. This has been a problem at my firm which has left to people leaving after being over-utilized.