You’re probably not always at a point to be too selective in all your career choices, but if you have a chance to work for a major, established, well-known consulting company and understand some of the nuances that come with it:

travel, extra hours, difficult clients, metrics, driven management, egos, continuously being pushed out of your comfort zone, asked to take on more work, small fish in a big pond environment, etc. and can grind it out for a few years, please do.

As I meet with companies (industry and consulting), they often ask for this background for their next hire, as they were once there and can relate: “Oh, you worked at X, me too, let’s chat”.

It has benefited me in my career, although it often sucked at the time, being on conference calls on a Friday night or prepping for a go-live over a holiday break, it’s opened up future conversations and opportunities that I might not otherwise would have had.

It’s not for everyone, but might be something you’d like to think about trying as you continue down your career path.