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First In First Out

When you come in brand new to a consulting firm, there is priority to get you billable and utilized as soon as possible.

As new classes of eager analysts and consultants come in, it's critical to get them released to the wild as soon as possible. 

The thought is that the consultants with tenure have established their reputations well enough to continue to find their own work once they've completed their first engagement. 

The big "but" is that the firm has to have the culture and structure in place for a reputation to be established.

If there is a lack of connectivity of the consultant to the office or to the company, the consultants that were newbies a project or engagement ago end up falling between the cracks. 

This is a problem with many purported consulting companies today -- hire for the immediate need and not for the long term talent and potential of the individual. 

The firms that hire for talent don't have this problem. People leave, but at least they got a great experience out of it, in general. 

The firms that hire to fill an immediate need at a client have this problem. People end up leaving, and they are glad that they did. 

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