The majority of Deloitte consultants will spend a lot of their time traveling. But why is this? And how much travel do they actually do?
Deloitte consultants will often travel several times a month, often for days at a time. They travel to visit their clients in their locations, attend training and conferences, and attend business meetings.
When I’ve been researching how to get into consulting, the amount of travel required seems to be close to the top of lots of people’s agendas. It’s both a good and bad thing, depending on your viewpoint – a way of seeing the world, or a barrier to your work-life balance.
In this post, I’ll take a look at:
- The 5 top reasons why Deloitte consultants travel
- How much do Deloitte consultants travel
Do Deloitte Consultants Travel?
Almost all Deloitte consultants will travel to some extent, with some spending many weeks or even months of a year on the road.
Travel is pressurized and work-focused, and there is often little scope for sightseeing. This is business travel – staying in hotels, business meetings, meeting clients, and all that kind of thing.
Here are the top 5 reasons why Deloitte consultants travel:
5 Reasons Why Deloitte Consultants Travel
1. Performing Audits
Performing audits is a key role of Deloitte.
Deloitte audits many of the world’s largest multinational corporations. Many of the Fortune 500 are on their books. (Source)
Audits require on-site visits to perform some of the following tasks:
- Verification of financial records
- Verification of other data
- Gathering information about a business
Deloitte consultants will regularly require to travel to their clients for auditing purposes. This will be both domestically and internationally.
The exact number of trips for this purpose depends on:
- Your role
- The sector you are working in
2. Client Meetings
A big role of consultants is truly getting to know how their client’s businesses work.
A great vehicle for doing this is traveling to meet clients in businesses. Consultants will meet with:
- Employees
- Stakeholders
- Managers
Traveling to meet clients in person can really help to increase trust and build relationships.
The distance of travel and frequency will really depend on the nature of the role of the consultant and the project they are working on.
3. Conferences And Networking Events
Deloitte is a truly global organization, which operates in around 150 countries throughout the world.
Consultants will often be required to travel to conferences and meetings. These conferences allow them to:
- Network with their peers
- Hear from experts about their niche of expertise
- Learn about the latest industry trends and technologies
Sometimes consultants will also get the opportunity to speak at these events or showcase what they have done.
A big focus of these events is networking. It really helps to build your power team of players in the industry.
4. Training And Workshops
Deloitte offers extensive training to its employees to keep the skills of its workforce high, and also to help with rapid progression up the corporation hierarchy for high-achieving staff.
Deloitte’s training program is geared toward helping staff:
- Acquire new skills
- Enhance their expertise
- Increase their knowledge
- Stay up-to-date with industry developments
Consultants will often have to travel to workshops or training sessions, either domestically or internationally.
Deloitte also offers training in the form of:
- Online sessions
- On-the-job training
- Mentoring programs
5. Project Implementation
Probably the biggest source of travel on this list is project implementation.
Consultants will often need to be onsite when a client is implementing a project. The consultant will be ensuring that it is running smoothly.
Traveling to the site will help the consultant to:
- See the business systems and practices firsthand
- Speak to relevant employees about systems
- Gather paperwork and data
How Much Deloitte Consultants Travel
The amount of travel that a consultant will be required to do will vary and will depend on a range of factors, such as:
- The sector they are working in
- What project they are working on at a particular point and where that business is located
- Their particular role
However, in general, travel is common and will probably be somewhere in the following spectrum:
| Amount Of Travel | Quantity |
| Light Travel | One trip per month |
| Medium-Light Travel | Travel every other week for a couple of days |
| Medium-Level of Travel | Two days per week |
| High-Level of Travel | Several days or whole weeks at a time, and several travel assignments per month |
Some consultants will be more towards the lighter end of the spectrum, with maybe one trip per month, while others may be towards the higher end, with extensive travel each month.
As a real-world example of this, consultants who work on audit engagements need to often travel more regularly to work on-site.
Consultants who work on strategic projects, on the other hand, may be able to work primarily from the Deloitte offices or even remotely.
Deloitte Travel Vs Regional Firms
You may be interested in the different levels of travel of Deloitte consultants compared to regional firms.
In general, consultants at the Big 4 (Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG) will travel more than consultants at regional firms.
This is because of the size and scope of the Big 4 companies. These corporations operate across multiple continents and work with businesses that are complex and multinational.
Regional firms, on the other hand, often offer services that are:
- Regional
- Small or medium-sized businesses
- Are targeting a focused niche or part of an industry
Regional firms may also access more local training and conferences, and have a more geographically targeted client base than the Big 4 firms, such as Deloitte.
Summing Up
For some people, extensive travel seems like the dream ticket.
However, for others, it resonates with a lack of work-life balance.
I found a Youtube video from an ex-consultant that describes the downsides to traveling extensively as a consultant. You can watch it here:
