Consulting at Omni: What to Expect and Embrace

Before you continue your interview journey with us, we wanted to share some insights into what it’s like to work at a mission-driven, people-first organization that believes rigorous research can drive social change.

What’s Different Here (and Why It Matters)

If you join Omni, you’ll be stepping into a consulting environment, which is a significant career shift for many new employees. If your background is mainly in academia, government, or a nonprofit, some aspects of our work and culture might feel like a sharp turn, and that is normal. This guide is here to help you consider what this career step means, and what we will expect, before you continue with the interview process.

**We Work in Teams—Really Work in Teams**

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Our work is rarely done in isolation. You’ll brainstorm together, co-develop deliverables, edit each other’s drafts, and navigate client dynamics as a unit. This means constant communication, humility, and shared ownership are critical. It also means your success is everyone’s success.

Task Switching Is the Norm, Not the Exception

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Omni consultants are often on 6–8 projects at a time, each at a different stage of its lifecycle. Expect to toggle between drafting survey questions, synthesizing notes and assigning tasks after a client meeting, editing a slide deck, and outlining a logic model process—all before lunch. It’s intense, but it’s never boring and it’s always changing.

Feedback Is Fast, Frequent, and Detailed

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Every deliverable gets reviewed. Yes, even the email you drafted. It’s part of our commitment to rigor and our core value: accountability. Feedback is not personal, but it does serve two purposes: improving the product and building your knowledge. Embrace it like a coach yelling from the sidelines—they want you to win.

Deadlines Drive the Work

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We live in the client’s timeline, for multiple clients. This often means working on tight timelines to deliver work to the clients; addressing ever shifting priorities or unexpected changes; and, a need to deliver even when things aren’t perfect or you’re not the expert on the topic. You’ll learn to manage ambiguity while balancing quality and efficiency.

Your Role Is Flexible by Design

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Consulting doesn’t provide rigid roles and task boundaries; it’s about doing what the project, and client, needs. That might mean stepping up to lead something that’s a stretch, or rolling up your sleeves for something that feels “below your level.” Titles don’t get the work done, people do. You’ll grow faster here by staying humble, hungry, and ready to flex.

Mindset Shifts That Help

From Expert to Problem-Solver

Your subject matter expertise and academic training are invaluable, but clients hire us to solve problems, not just analyze them. Be curious, ask good questions, and focus on solutions.

From Independence to Inter-dependent

In academia, autonomy is prized. In consulting, it’s collaboration. You’ll still own workstreams, but they will have dependencies on the workstreams of others. You’ll work in close conversation with your teams comprised of peers, leads, and clients.

From Static to Adaptive

Plans change. Scopes shift. Clients pivot. Consulting requires resilience, flexibility, and a willingness to roll with uncertainty. Treat it as a challenge to rise to, not a failure of the system.

Final Thoughts: Consulting as Craft

At Omni, we don’t see consulting as giving advice from an ivory tower, we see it as rolling up our sleeves and doing the work with and for our clients and their communities. That work is often a little messy, frequently fast-paced, and always collaborative. You’ll juggle multiple projects, wear multiple hats, and navigate multiple perspectives. At times, it might feel like the deep end, but don’t worry: we swim in teams.

Consulting is also a skillset you build over time. The pace is faster. The stakes are different. The learning curve can feel steep. But it’s also exhilarating, impactful, and deeply rewarding.

You won’t have a rigid role but you will be challenged and coached. You’ll write, think, build, edit, pivot, stretch, lead, and follow... sometimes all in one day. You’ll likely learn more in a year here than in three years anywhere else. And if you bring the humility to grow, the drive to deliver, and the willingness to collaborate, you won’t just succeed here, you’ll help others do the same.

We’re excited you’re considering a role with Omni. If this sounds like a place where you will thrive, we look forward to continuing the conversation.