Breaking Into
the Industry

Lifestyle

On-The-Go

Consultants often push themselves to do multiple things simultaneously. There are current project deadlines, proposal work (future sales), internal committees, recruitment, and training commitments that demand a consultant's time. What does this mean for the consultant? It often leads to a life 'on-the-go' where balancing time quickly becomes a learned skill.

Client projects often require travel. Depending on the length of the project and the role that you are asked to fill, you might be committed to weekly commutes via airplane or daily commutes in your car. Travel often comes with the territory of a consultant's job.

It may take a while to settle into a pattern. Eventually every consultant figures out the most convenient way to pick up dry cleaning, where to get a haircut, how to schedule a doctor’s appointment, and where to refill prescription.

Networking with Colleagues

Consultants learn quickly that networking and building meaningful relationships is an important component of consulting. Project teams will often conduct a variety of formal and informal team-building events. Celebratory dinners are offered when major deadlines are met with success.

The networking environment is collegial. People are interested in getting to know their colleagues and their clients better. Conversation unfolds easily with four colleagues quickly grabbing a sandwich for lunch, or it may occur during the social hour following a training session. Water-cooler chit-chat reinvented itself into quick jaunts to the nearby coffee house.

Each day networking opportunities reveal itself. When I exchange information with a colleague about interests, needs, and passions, I continually build my “Go-To” list. What contact or information resource can I send do this person that will be useful? Similarly how can my colleagues support me on a project or a resource that I seek? Meaningful connections and authentic exchanges make us memorable.

Mentoring

Many consulting firms utilize mentoring as a way to partner junior consultants with senior managers to discuss career development topics. This relationship exists outside of the formal performance review where typically the junior consultant initiates the relationship by selecting a mentor. The relationship can range from being casual (with ad-hoc meetings over coffee) or structured (where outcomes and frequency of meetings are defined at the beginning).

Although the mentee can ask a wide range of questions to the mentor, the discussion typically revolves around career development. The mentor often shares the personal journey of his/her career whereby the mentee can then ask further questions.

The large consultancies encourage this type of relationship-building because they understand how important it is for each person to be guided by advisors. Even in the highest levels of leadership, many of the partners have mentors with whom they trust for advice.

Training

One of the reasons why consulting is desirable is the training opportunities. Consultancies have demonstrated their creativity in how they accommodate consultants with busy schedules. Here are a few samples of the training type and sample courses that can be available in a consultancy:

• Webinars: Industry-specific seminars, sharing of best practices and case studies.
• Classroom or training done in-person: New Hire training, promotion to manager, promotion to director.
• E-learning/ self-paced training: interviewing training, compliance training, project management. Typically there are large course catalogues that can be accessed online which can be either technical in nature or "soft-skill" based.
• Industry-specific certification: Project Management Professional certification, SAP,
• Company-specific Methodology: Software Development Life Cycle, Change Management (and many others)
• Harvard Business Online: Leadership skill training delivered through self-paced courses or by online seminars

A substantial of training also occurs on the job. Consultants may seek an opportunity to recruit a peer colleague to work on a white paper, a prototype, or a "best practice" presentation. Those opportunities also provide learning opportunities for the consultant.