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I don’t travel a ton, but some. Every 6 weeks or so, I travel for off sites for the business I support. My company is large (60,000+) and spread out, so your client group may not be in your city. It really depends on the company and team norms.
A consulting gig with one of the big firms - Huron, Towers Watson, Aon, Gallagher - might get you the amount of travel you’re looking for. At one point, we had consultants on site for a project four out of the five work days. With virtual meetings, companies may want to save on consulting costs by reducing the number of days on site.
From what I've seen, there's been less travel in general. Even a consulting job that had a ton might have it scaled back at this point.
I've found that travel for work is not very gratifying. You see the inside of your hotel, the place you're working and maybe a restaurant and....the airport. There isn't time for sight seeing / visiting, unless you wrap a weekend around the place you're at. So consider why you want to travel for work......
Become a UR recruiter, you’ll be on the road, all the timeeee
Facts. I’m a UR recruiter and am on a plane every week during recruiting season.
I'm a interim HR leader for HealthTrust. We travel to different markets to cover HR vacancies. I have a blend of BP and VP duties. Great resume builder! If you're interested, just message me.
How does one get into consulting? Like does an agency train a person to be a consultant?
Former HR Transformation consultant here (~15 years)…if you enter straight from school the big firms do have a 1-2 week training program. If you enter as an experienced hire there is no formal training and it’s a somewhat difficult transition from industry. I just recently coached a friend from his former CIO role to a management consultant role and he’s done well but keeps highlighting how different it is. You have to think differently and be on top of your game, ready to over deliver, work long hours. Travel for most of the big firms is really client dependent now. Many of my former colleagues are working LONG hours from their home offices without the travel perks as additional compensation. Also, traveling as a consultant in the Sun-Thurs/Mon-Thurs is exhausting as you’re traveling on the first/last flight with a full day of work. It’s not glamorous and it’s not for everyone but I did love it and miss it sometimes. Coming in to understand a clients issues and help them solve them is really rewarding…you’re essentially solving a new puzzle with each new project.
Most of the consulting firms are also “up or out” meaning if you aren’t growing/progressing to the next level you will either be let go or expected to move yourself out. You’ll work very hard but the rewards are high.
Consider being a trade show rep for an HR consulting firm or software company. Pay isn’t great- but you could be on the road all year long.
Do you ever travel out of country? That’s my big goal!
I traveled weekly for ~15 years as an HR Transformation management consultant . Traveling for work is very different than traveling for pleasure. While you can do some personal travel on weekends or before/after a trip, you generally only see the inside of offices/conference rooms etc.
Traveling for work is great, in my opinion, but it’s not for everyone and you really need to understand the nuances of business travel vs pleasure travel before you decide if it’s for you.
No - the way our company is structured it wouldn’t make sense. We have local HR teams in each country. I know others who have but it’s typically at the executive level for larger scale meetings. Especially with the pandemic, much of those trips have slowed or stopped altogether.
I used to work in an Hospitality org which had a cruise ship division. It was not unusual to meet HRBPs in that division who had been to 75+ countries for work and would join conference calls from Tahiti. The caveat with these jobs is that travel is seen as a perk and reflected in lower salaries (let’s not forget about how events like Covid basically shut down the industry) and while you are in beautiful exotic places, you are essential working ALL the time.
If you focus on consultancy, you'll probably do more traveling.
Prior to my HR career, I was a hotel manager. The national chain I worked for had a central HR department, and I know our region's HR rep did travel frequently. That being said, her need for travel was almost always for negative reasons (i.e. terminations, layoffs, etc.), so something to keep in mind depending on the industry.
M&A!
Yes I’m currently interviewing for consultant positions where they like HR training experience. You can travel all over the country for clients 30% of the time. Just know, business travel is not the same as leisure travel!!
Cruise lines have HR teams on board, upto an HR director. You’ll get to travel all the time. It’s not for everyone though. I loved it while I was there.
I travel and so do our HRBPs
I work in an international HR role and have lived and travelled globally. It has given me amazing opportunities to experience living in Asia, Europe and the US. So YES .. HR can be a career path that could enable you to travel. If you work for a global company there may be international opportunities :)
I'm traveling often in agency recruitment. I'm 28, have been in recruitment 6 years, I live in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada and I've traveled for work to:
- Baltimore
- Orlando
- London, UK
- Barcelona
- Munich
- Buffalo
- Miami
- Austin
- Montreal
- New York & Chicago likely next month