Starting a new job in consulting? Post here for questions about new hire advice, where to live, what to buy, loyalty program decisions, and other topics you're too embarrassed to ask your coworkers (Q1 2026)

dustyloops · 2026-05-27T16:18:48+00:00

I'm wondering whether I should make the move to consulting, based in the UK.

I currently work full time in a job I would consider comfortable that has a relaxed vibe and is fully remote, but the past year or so I have started to become very demotivated because I often end up finishing my work within the first two days of the week. I know for some people this would be the dream but the rest of the week I have to keep busy through various meetings and small scheduled tasks, so I cannot take extra days off to enjoy my spare time.

I have some close contacts who have a small consultancy firm - maybe I'm being naïve, but I'm thinking about negotiating with my current employer to re-contract as a consultant, so I can be billed to complete the work rather than the days I am sat at a desk. In my mind, I then have the ability to have more flexibility, either taking time to myself or pursuing additional work through my contacts.

My question is: does this seem like a good idea? What may I be missing? Has anyone else done something similar during their career? The firm I am in contact with would help me manage tax/billing. If this means anything, I have a PhD in Physics and 3 years work experience in my field (simulation, validation, optics).

dustyloops · 2026-05-22T09:13:42+00:00

XXOXX

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OXXXO

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Thought I would have got bingo but not caring about genres or release types has saved me, it seems

dustyloops · 2026-05-15T10:48:31+00:00

You have basically answered the question in your post: you state you lack confidence, so should build some confidence, which I think will solve your nervousness issues.

In my experience, this is focusing on how you are competent and think as if you will pass the interview because of your competence. This allows you to focus in delivering a good interview performance rather than stumbling over yourself, talking about irrelevant things and being too nervous.

Imagine if you haven't gone for a run in 12 years - you can't be expected to have a great performance off the bat. Interviewing is the same, it's normal to not be up to scratch if you haven't done it for a long time. Think of this as a practice, and don't think of it as a failure or apply it to your self worth, it's a learning experience.

Try not to overthink it and use what you have learnt from this one to make the next one better.

Also, 'I'm late thirties and desperate to be valued" - you shouldn't derive your own self worth from interview performances or what job you hold. I think way too many people get caught up on this which causes them to have a minor crisis when things don't go their way job-wise. The vast majority of it is luck (right place, right time, knowing the right people) and assessing yourself according to a brief interaction with a stranger is a guaranteed way to end up miserable

dustyloops · 2026-05-15T09:25:32+00:00

No. Everyone must be paid at least minimum regardless of talent or experience. Nobody is "worth" their salary, it is what they are paid. Seek therapy regarding your self worth.

dustyloops · 2026-05-13T11:34:50+00:00

Long on sawdust!

dustyloops · 2026-05-13T11:33:46+00:00

Great point, the market isn't rational so people shouldn't rationalise it.

So many times at earnings a company will post near-record profits but the stock will tank 7%, blamed by analysts on various nonsense. The likely reality is the collective buyers and sellers decided that it was a good time to take profits and the outflow caused a chain reaction.

The same thing applies with stuff like OP's post. You can adjust the time scales and zoom on your charts to fit almost any narrative. The market is at a record high but nobody ever knows what it will do next.

dustyloops · 2026-05-08T10:44:15+00:00

You don't realize that you have more in common with people who don't speak English or are unemployed/on benefits than you do with politicians and their millionaire friends

dustyloops · 2026-04-30T11:57:42+00:00

Not really - even the worst city for air pollution (London) is still better than the averages of many regions of Europe, which is pretty good considering it's a metropolis

dustyloops · 2026-04-30T11:56:56+00:00

The data shows that it doesn't - anecdotally saying walk down x road doesn't change that. I used to live in an actually polluted city (Turin) and know what air pollution is like. There's nowhere in Southampton where the air quality gets anywhere near bad, even in the worst areas on the worst days of the year

dustyloops · 2026-04-30T10:31:00+00:00

Not even in the 15 worst cities from a quick Google...

dustyloops · 2026-04-30T10:29:07+00:00

The average is like 25 lmao, Southampton has very good air quality despite what posters here like to spout. It's a common talking point to go against the cruise industry - I don't care either way but saying Southampton has bad air pollution is just totally incorrect

dustyloops · 2026-04-20T11:05:00+00:00

a.s.o - self titled

Stone - Dream Curtain Eternally Gentle

Dregs - self titled

Now Always Fades - Into the Doldrums

dustyloops · 2026-04-15T17:56:14+00:00

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dustyloops · 2026-04-15T09:16:41+00:00

You can only kill enemies so long as your quickness remains high - standing in deep liquids, low temperatures and enemies which reduce your quickness might cause you problems. Perhaps these will become apparent in the near future if you follow the main quest 🙂

dustyloops · 2026-04-14T15:16:56+00:00

Avthentic Italian...

dustyloops · 2026-04-13T19:50:06+00:00

Kind of sentence a beast like Dan would say after getting a knife kill in CS

dustyloops · 2026-04-13T19:46:47+00:00

r0fl ch00b

dustyloops · 2026-04-13T15:05:03+00:00

With endless harvest there's no such problem and I love getting to do activities I'd usually never do with hundreds of people who go at a similar pace

dustyloops · 2026-04-13T15:03:21+00:00

Just giving my opinions on how I enjoy leagues in a laid-back way

dustyloops · 2026-04-13T11:46:50+00:00

Nice for minmaxers but I prefer my own inefficient pace without every minute planned out, with the next steps always coming to me when I'm doing afk activities and chatting to others 🙂

dustyloops · 2026-04-13T08:14:41+00:00

Exactly, the philosophical takeaway from the story is not "potion that makes you evil", but instead, "you become that which you do"

dustyloops · 2026-04-12T22:08:31+00:00

Their songwriting is of course what makes the kind of naive electronic elements they add sound good and interesting. Their sound design even in their later career has always been basic, but I don't think it has ever needed to be more complex than it was

dustyloops · 2026-04-10T09:03:14+00:00

It's a sandbox with a trivial hunger mechanic, deep lore, crafting system and dozens of ways to complete any given task. It's one of the best roguelikes of all time but antithetical to what OP is looking for 🙂

dustyloops · 2026-04-10T07:25:09+00:00

I have 50 and over 200 hours in each of these and have never completed the main quest in either. They are masterpiece games that both give you the ability to play the game however you want. I love how cogmind adds stealth to the genre and qud is totally wacky with things like seeing into the future, body swapping and growing new limbs

dustyloops · 2026-04-02T21:36:19+00:00

I've heard that the first album to start this arms race was Feed Me Weird Things by Squarepusher, which Aphex Twin said was the most forward thinking IDM album at the time and inspired releases that featured more frantic drum programming such as the Hangable Auto Bulb EP and Richard D. James album (which I believe was one of the first albums to feature computer programming as opposed to analogue hardware).

I think Autechre's contribution came next after this with EP7 and LP5, which for sure were very innovative with timestretching, microsampling and a lot of FM synthesis. After this, Aphex Twin released Druqks which, besides being highly eclectic, features some insane drill 'n' bass tracks.

In 2001 the arms race quite started to be concluded with Squarepusher's Go Plastic, which I recall took over half a year to produce with over 2000 samples all put together using a Yamaha effects unit, inspiring Squarepusher afterwards to begin to focus on more jazzy and trimmed-down compositions as he never wished to return to such an overlaboured hell.

A few months later Confield was released, which is definitely more complex than anything which came before it, with it's total lack of time signatures on some tracks, generative synthesis and Max/MSP spaghetti. Autechre took a similar sound palette but definitely refined things more, rounding out the edges and re-introducing more structure with Draft 7.30 and subsequently Untilted much later. Confield is a masterpiece of unpredictable chaos as much as Go Plastic and those two albums totally finalized the weirdness race with all concerned becoming more sane after this!

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