I have been working in technology for 19 years, of which 7 years in IT consulting.
I noticed that new consultants who come to us from universities enter the profession with some illusions. Not that consulting is devoid of romance, there is romance! Consulting is ruthlessly good, but also ruthlessly demanding. I will now tell you about some of the charms and difficulties of the profession.
Meet: 7 whales that support the work of an IT consultant. It will be useful for you if you see yourself in the future as a consultant. And it will be interesting to everyone who works in related industries and is thinking about moving to IT consulting.
Kit number 1. Difficult start
I am a SAP based solutions consultant . No university trains specialists in specific areas of IT consulting. The universities run programs that are organized by the consulting companies themselves. They give some kind of basis. Students take their first immersion training during an internship. There are two approaches and many nuances here.
Sometimes they conduct training, only after that they are sent to the fields. Or they are attached to a mentor and immediately sent to study in the fields. Both approaches have been shown to be effective. However, the result of such training strongly depends on the personal qualities of the student. Why?
In successful consulting companies, all consultants are busy, a mentor has several interns at once. Therefore, he does not have much time to chew every question to the intern. Sometimes there is no time for detailed explanations at all. This leads to the fact that the trainee has a high level of independence, learning ability and speed of work.
Internship programs also often recruit more candidates in order to weed out less talented ones during training. Thus, the stress level of young professionals goes through the roof from the very first steps, because they compete to stay in the company. And many do not stand this screening, leave and convince themselves that consulting is not interesting for them and in general they need to “look for themselves” further.
Kit number 2. Continuous training and exams
When a trainee stops being a trainee and becomes a junior consultant, the learning process does not stop for a moment.
Consulting is very dynamic. Today everyone implements and automates some processes, tomorrow others, the day after tomorrow the vendor released a release with significant changes - and you learn again. The more you know, the more in the topic, the more valuable you are as a professional.
It's good if the workload allows you to keep yourself in good shape and get the necessary training on time. But it's not always the case. Sometimes you have to sacrifice your personal time to get the next certificate.
In my practice, there were several cases when some certificates were not enough to participate in a competition for a large project, and consultants underwent training and passed exams over the weekend. And they did it, realizing that they were increasing their expertise, and hence their attractiveness for the employer.
SAP is very sensitive to certificates and has high requirements. Not everyone succeeds in passing an exam for a certificate the first time. I will give an example on the cloud solution SAP SuccessFactors... In order for a consulting company to have access to setting up this system, it is necessary not only to have a certificate for a custom module, but also to pass an exam for all deltas (changes rolled onto the system as part of releases). This is at least two additional exams per year for each module, to work with the system with which you are already working.
Continuous learning and improvement is the foundation for any consulting business. Those who were not ready for such a rhythm of learning and such portions of new knowledge quickly begin to lag behind and leave the distance.
Personal access to SAP Learning Hub or SAP Certification Hub spaces (cloud-based training and certification spaces for SAP solutions that a company buys for specific consultants) is an expensive pleasure for consulting companies, which is not available to all consultants.
Continuous training in consulting is a privilege that becomes an advantage. Naturally, and increases the attractiveness of the consultant in the market.
Kit number 3. Stress
I touched on part of the topic of stress in the first two paragraphs. However, the need for constant training and competition are not all sources of stress. This is just the beginning :)
The main stress, perhaps, causes pressure. Customers, managers, colleagues - everyone needs something all the time. The time frame, if not “burning”, will certainly sparkle on the horizon and this light is always with you. All “must” and “urgently needed” create a heavy feeling of pressure.
Naturally, it is impossible to deal with only one task. This is what makes consulting interesting, that there is always an opportunity to try yourself in different ways. However, not everyone is ready for multitasking, it starts to irritate someone. And not only this.
The consultant's work is aimed at the customer's project, and customers are different. The level of development of the corporate culture of companies in our country is low, this is reflected in the format of communication. If you're lucky, you work with nice people, but sometimes you don't. Regardless of whether people are pleasant or not, you need to work with them, and not just work, but also achieve results. And here communication skills, stress resistance and flexibility come to the fore.
When implementing SAP SuccessFactorsthere are situations when, despite the flexibility of the system, some restrictions still cannot be circumvented. And here it is very important how the consultant will convey the information and how he will convince the customer that the business process needs to be changed. It's easier when the customer does not have established processes. And it is much more difficult when they are so ingrained in the life of the company that it is worth a lot of effort to change them, and on both sides.
It is also very important to be able to say no to the customer. But not just say “no” and firmly stand your ground, but turn on your imagination and offer various workarounds. It is very difficult to convince someone who is confident that they are right that they can do something differently.
A consultant can be simultaneously engaged in several projects, with different customers, deadlines and project managers. On large projects, a consultant can participate in several tasks at the same time - training, testing, tuning. Each of the participants in all this action makes his own requirements to the consultant. Somewhere deadlines are already on fire, somewhere it is necessary to reassure the customer. At the same time, by the deadline, you need to undergo another training or certification, and they also pull their sales people and ask them to estimate the cost of a project or task, or to participate in negotiations with a client.
Sometimes the same person can perform different roles at the same time: a consultant on one project, a manager on another, an account manager for a number of clients. If a consultant does not know how, like Julius Caesar, to effectively solve several problems at once, then this will most likely lead to burnout.
You need to be prepared for this: as soon as you have ceased to be effective and efficient, it will not go unnoticed by the management of the consulting company. Procrastination, sabotage, and laziness are discouraged not only by management, but, even more importantly, by colleagues.
Why do situations arise when it is necessary to deal with several tasks at the same time?
The consulting market is very competitive. Receives projects on tenders and in the end the one who works most effectively and efficiently survives. At the same time, it can still show the client a good value, quality of work, experience and expertise. The faster and better each consultant does his job, the better the consulting company shows the result. This leads to the fact that the company can pay more: both salaries and bonuses.
And let's look one step further. With bilateral pressure from the labor market and clients, the question arises about the possibilities of increasing the income of consulting companies. It is possible to stay on the market, for example, thanks to the growth in turnover - that is, you constantly need to attract more projects. At the same time, not all companies create salary reserve funds. As soon as the market starts to sink, such companies are not ready to suffer losses for a long time and the first thing they do is start to lay off their staff. And now we come to another complexity of consulting work, for which you should be ready.
Kit number 4. Uncertainty
Consulting, like any driving project business, lives in conditions of uncertainty.
A cloud of questions always flies next to you:
- What project will you be on tomorrow?
- What kind of people will there be?
- What will be the project manager or architect?
- Will the customer accept the results of the work?
- Will he pay on time?
- Will the client's colleagues or employees do their part?
- Will you complete the training and get a certificate?
There are a lot of questions and no one will give an unambiguous answer to them.
Consulting is so dynamic that in the morning you don't always know where you will be in the evening. It is quite possible that you will fly on a plane to another city or country, although in the morning you chose the series to watch with your wife tonight. In a pandemic, these challenges do not go away, but simply transform. You rarely know when you will be free and how much time you will spend with your family today.
Or it happens like this: you work for yourself on a project that you know as your five and which is coming to an end, you plan a vacation. And then again - you are transferred to another project, where some tasks are already burning, and you may not have the necessary experience. For a good in-demand consultant, this is the norm. Having learned to live in constant uncertainty, consulting has developed an extreme flexibility that gives it an edge as a business.
Kit number 5. Knowledge in various fields
A good consultant should be able to speak different languages. It's not about English, German or Chinese. The point is that the main task of a consultant is to speak the same language with representatives of the customer's IT service, HR, finance, accounting, marketing or sales. To speak the languages of all departments, the consultant must have a good knowledge of both the technical part and the methodological one. I know some consultants on the SAP HCM Payroll module (salary) who talk on equal terms with the chief accountants of large industrial companies. They often know even better and more.
A good consultant should be able to speak the same language with the developers, acting as an analyst and translating from the language of the first two (IT services and business customer) into a language that the developer understands. Gaining the experience of an IT consultant, it is necessary to develop all sides in oneself. You should be able to speak well, write letters and project documents, know the solutions and methodology of the processes that you are implementing. And the more and deeper you know, the more in demand you are. SAP, for example, does not allow falling asleep, constantly expanding the capabilities of the system and the list of new solutions. Thus, there is an endless process of expanding and deepening knowledge in various fields.
Kit number 6. Business trips
Traveling while working is the calling card of consulting. Sometimes consultants change clients' offices along with city views, and one is more beautiful than the other. And it happens that they live in snowy Norilsk for several months, waiting for good weather to fly home. They will stay at home for a week - and back to the client, in Norilsk. Client offices are often located in hard-to-reach places, and getting to them is already a whole adventure. This has its own romance, however, not everyone is ready to change comfortable conditions for the unknown of rented apartments and hotels. You need to be ready for this, even now, while everyone was forced to move to a remote location.
Kit number 7. Result orientation
Last but not least. The result is a super important aspect of a consultant's work! This is what customers pay for. There are people who think and live by processes, this is completely normal. They can be great administrators. But they certainly have no place in consulting. The assigned task must be completed on time and in due quality. The problem must be solved, the story must have an ending, and our business does not stage plays with endless continuation.
An excellent result of the work of a consultant who likes the client will bring new projects and tasks. The result works for the reputation of the consulting company in the market. This is a win-win strategy. If one party, a company or a consultant, stops being effective, everyone suffers.
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You shouldn't think that everything is so complicated and that it is bad to work in consulting. The market gives people a lot of opportunities. For many, this drive is the goal, and when sailing to a calmer “haven” of customer support, consultants often lose interest in their work. After that, they sometimes come back for adrenaline. It's like jumping into cold water - very invigorating.
The consulting market is well worth the effort. This is one of the highest paid sectors. Starting immediately after college at the age of 21-22, by the age of 30, many are already very confident, and most importantly, they stand on their own feet, buy real estate, often go abroad, see the world.
The speed of development of consultants is enormous, since soft skills are primarily important here. Hard skills are acquired along the way. If a young specialist has the required set of soft skills, his career is likely to be successful. And it is not always necessary to have a specialized technical education for a career in IT consulting.
In addition to the financial side, consulting offers its residents a wide range of projects, as well as functional and role-based directions. Tired of consulting? You can safely go to sales or account managers, where the skills of a consultant will be very useful. Either become a product manager, or go into management consulting. In the end, you can go to the customer, where experienced consultants are always waiting and picked up with arms and legs.
And the conclusions will be?
I find IT consulting very difficult for young specialists and very interesting for specialists in general. If you are in doubt about whether to go to consulting, show a professional look now: look inside the shiny packaging. In the article, I have reflected the subtleties of practical, not glossy consulting. Think about it for yourself, compare it with your character. To blow up your psyche, so that at all costs jump into an "expensive suit" and on a flight? What if he flies to Norilsk and for a year, and not to New York? Today, there are prospects in almost all industries, you can find something to your liking.
The consulting attracts wonderful talented people, erudites and international professionals. With many you remain friends for life.
Join you too!
ECOPSY always welcomes interns and young professionals. Send your resume to the mail: hr@ecopsy.ru