Despite the rigorous interview process and structured two-week training, the role turned out to be more of a high-volume sales or business development position than one focused on consulting or private equity. You’re expected to use your personal LinkedIn account to source experts, followed by cold calling and emailing at scale. While that’s part of the job, it’s important for candidates to know what they’re signing up for.
A major challenge is that success often hinges on factors outside of your control. Even if you identify multiple high-quality experts for a project, there’s no guarantee the client will select any of them—or that the project will even move forward. Sometimes, the client chooses an expert sourced by the project manager already in the system entirely. This adds a strong element of luck to performance metrics.
Additionally, when results don’t go your way (often for reasons unrelated to effort or quality), you can quickly find yourself on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). The pressure is constant, and morale across the team especially among younger employees is noticeably low.