A Comprehensive Look at the Consulting Career
This book is a detailed guide to building a career as a consultant. CONSULTING looks at the ins and outs of surviving and thriving in this hectic but rewarding profession.
My book aims to help anyone who interested in consulting as a career. In thirty chapters, CONSULTING takes you through all stages of the job and outlines tips and tricks to progress up the ranks.
Do You Like Excitement
Consulting has very high-highs and very low-lows with very little, “just boring” times. Consulting can be an exciting and daunting career. You will be challenged, inspired, and motivated to accept increased responsibilities along with the increased rewards and risks that accompany them. Rising through the ranks can be meteoric. The financial rewards have few limits. Likewise, the professional and personal benefits of consulting have few limitations.
Do You Like Making a Difference
As a consultant, change will dominate your life. Companies hire consultants to do one thing, make changes. The changes may be to things, people, or what people do. These might be changes the company cannot do themselves, like installing an enterprise-wide software system or changes that they are unwilling to do on their own, like layoff 15% of their staff. The product of any consulting project is change, potential change, or actual changes. Your role as a consultant is to help your clients achieve the change by overcoming the resistance to change.
Do You Want a Growing Job Market
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) defines consulting as a career where individuals conduct organizational studies and evaluations, design systems and procedures, conduct work simplification and measurement studies, and prepare operations and procedures manuals to assist management in operating more efficiently and effectively. BLS estimates that there are about one million jobs in the United States alone and that this number is expected to grow by more than 11% in the next ten years.
Are You Looking for a First Career
Consulting is an excellent career for any stage of working life. Consulting is a great stepping-off point for someone unsure of what they want to do. Consulting has a low barrier to entry. Almost anyone with an undergraduate degree in any subject can become a consultant. But not every qualified person will be selected for a position, and if not well prepared, many will not be successful in the short or long term.
Do You Want to Change or Pivot
Once someone acquires work experience in any industry entry into consulting will not be at the entry-level. Their knowledge and experience will be welcomed, and they will be put to work quickly, either on projects or business development. They have already proven that they can survive; their challenge will be to thrive by climbing the ladder to bigger and better responsibilities and compensation.
Do You Want an Interesting Life
While you will get excellent pay, you will also be doing interesting and exciting work. There will be clients and teammates who are much brighter and clients and teammates who are seemingly incapable of competence, much less excellence. Consulting exposes you to the vast array of human behaviors and potential. Many of these interesting people will be managers and bosses.
Do You Want to be Rewarded for Hard Work
If you are good, ambitious, willing to work incredibly hard to succeed, and are considered a “pair of safe hands,” you will be in high demand for projects. Project directors and managers will compete to have you on their team. Every organization finds ways to distinguish and reward the best staff while trying to keep them from leaving to join other firms looking to hire the best-of-the-best.
There are three parts to this book
Part I. Starting – Preparing for a Career as a Consultant
STARTING describes the consulting career, including what consulting is, how the consulting business works, what to expect as a consultant, how to get hired, and how to progress. Starting has extensive information that will prepare you for success.
Part II. Surviving – How to Prevail as a Consultant
SURVIVING contains sections that address the critical skills and behaviors that someone needs to do the work of a consultant and do that work well. Surviving also covers some of the rigors of surviving the politics and logistics of most consulting businesses.
Part III. Thriving – How to Prosper as a Consultant
THRIVING deals with advanced skills and techniques that help consultants take their experience and ramp up their achievements and performance. This Part is intended to help consultants prepare and compete for advancement. Selling, business development, and coaching are just a few of the topics covered in this section. Thriving also addresses career possibilities after being a consultant.