Pros and Cons of Consultancy

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=95 BGCOLOR="#999999" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0c8005f0ermwup.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#EEEEEE" FACE="Comic Sans MS" ><B>The Speight Partnership Ltd</B></FONT><B> </B><B> </B><B>  </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#DDDDDD" FACE="Comic Sans MS" >|    <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Speight Partnership Ltd "><U>Home</U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="about_us.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U>About Us</U></A>   |   <A HREF="current_opportunities.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Current Career Opportunities"><U>Current Career Opportunities</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A>   |   Pros and Cons of Consultancy</div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Speight Partnership Ltd "><U><B>Up Level</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=385 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Pros and Cons of Consultancy</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Consultants' thoughts and stories ............</div> <bR> <div> <U>Example A</U></div> <bR> <div> Good points -</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Variation of work - different clients/different jobs</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">And linked with the above - experiencing different cultures and how they work - broadens the mind</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Being able to cut through the crap! Have to be aware of the politics but can normally ignore it and cut through it</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Licence to learn - need to be one step (at least) ahead of the client all the time</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Loads of money if you go all the way BUT see below</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">If it's Big 5 consulting then the brand behind you sets an expectation that you know what you are talking about</div> <bR> <div> Bad points -</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Obviously travel if you have a family</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">There are a lot of egos and people who think they are good but aren't in consulting </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">If you want to make it to the big money give up life!</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Clients tend to think you are an expert at everything just because you have been sold to them!</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Pressure!</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Example B</U></div> <bR> <div> Good Points:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Amazing breadth of work across different industries and clients: In my three years I have worked with over 15 different clients including some of the most well known brands in the world and mostly done some interesting work.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Exceptional knowledge - access to so much information, anything you may ever have wanted to find about more about...will exist somewhere within one of our databases</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Good training: Good structured training aligned with very strict career development plan</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Scope for Networking:  Great opportunity for developing a significant network both with the large number of individuals you work with, with the clients you get to know.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">No routine: It is a continuously evolving world, we reinvent ourselves all the time.</div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> Bad Points:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A lot of travelling: It is difficult to have a personal life when spending a minimum of five nights a week away from home.  We do talk about life style, we do have life style courses but when it comes to applying it, the client decides!  Many people leave consulting as a result of it.  </div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">High Workload: No doubt that if you are career minded as I am, work takes over your life - The objectives are set high and the only way you may be able to achieve them is by working long days - I work 12 hours a day on average and very often weekends.  My last holidays were spent with a computer and a mobile phone.  Not everybody does the same, but if you want to get to directorship it is difficult not to!  They know it and they use it!!!  </div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Pressure to achieve: Linked to the above to a certain extend, it is a high pressure environment where people are very competitive and all want to outdo each other - there is a bonus system based on our rating compared to others.  The higher your rating the more money you get .....but if you are not within the first 10% then forget it.....you won't get  much!  </div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Internal Politics: There is a lot of it...Watch your back.  Men dominating world:  It is harder for women despite the women only coaching sessions!  </div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Bureaucratic: Very detailed appraisals are needed every 3 months, balance scorecards and grade appraisals are done once per year, time and expenses sheets need to be filled every fortnight.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Example C</U></div> <bR> <div> Good & bad points?</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You cram a hell of a lot of experience into a few years. It also crystallises all your past experience and consolidates it.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Work your b**** off.  No time for personal life. It DOES suffer. The majority of male colleagues over 30 in the Big 5 - 6 when I was there were on their second marriages and second set of children.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Then you are either promoted or fired/made redundant when the market for your services gets too low, or your salary gets too high - your fate is in the hands of the accountant's pen. Get used to it. 'Up or out!'</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Eventually all except a few are fired. It is not a matter of merit or ability. Just a fact of life. It's no stigma.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">It sets you up for the next stage in your career. Its a big 'Done that got the experience, got the T shirt' in the eyes of future employers.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">I would not have missed it for the world - I am now in a smaller better niche consultancy. I would never go back to a regular 9-5 job. No adrenaline there!</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">So much variety and challenge and differing assignments - always different environments.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Flexibility to decide where and when you work, to some extent. Much independence.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The money is NOT as brilliant as people make out. It's good, but not that good. You can make more by climbing the management tree in a user organisation.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">No company politics - you are on the outside and are paid to ignore it - Great! You can concentrate on the work.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Example D</U></div> <bR> <div> Good points:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">pay</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">travel</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">continual learning and intellectual challenge</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">requirement to relate to people effectively AND be able to do good  technical work at the same time</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">great way to see a lot of industries and companies to work out what you really enjoy doing</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">stimulating colleagues - you'll almost certainly never have such a talented set of colleagues in another job</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Bad points</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">travel - you may not see your partner, your family or your friends all  week, and be too tired to enjoy them for half of the weekend.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">getting hooked on the pay. Money is a drug.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Work/Life balance requires real, assertive attention to manage at the best, can be highly destructive at the worst</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">few clients have concern for the personal cost to you of good service to them</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">you're only ever as good as your last job</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">it can be difficult to feel that you belong, except as a gypsy, because you're always on the move</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Example E</U></div> <bR> <div> Good points:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Variety</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Travel</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Ability to make a real change to businesses</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Fast track to future success</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Bad Points:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Variety (!) - limited chances to really focus</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Travel - living out of a suitcase</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Measurement - long term success comes from selling rather than delivering, which sometimes doesn't feel right</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Success - The best consultants let the client take the applause!</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Example F</U></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Attributes of a good consultant!</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A good sense of humour - including the ability to laugh at oneself</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Ability to work under intense pressure</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Goal orientated</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Have an opinion</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Good communication skills</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Quick learner</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Adaptable to change</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Good problem solving skills (ability to think `outside the box')</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Highly competitive</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Good Points:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Infinite variety </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Continuously learning </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Cutting through clients' politics</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Recognition</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Rewards </div> <bR> <bR> <div> Bad Points</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Impact on family life</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Client staff attitude to consultants - `over here, over sexed, over paid'</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Client expectation that you are the `expert'</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Consultancy organisation politics & egos</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Example G</U></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>LifeStyle</I></div> <bR> <div> Our practice had a lifestyle model called 5-4-3.  This meant 5 days chargeable to a client, 4 days on site and therefore 3 nights away from home. Colleagues joining from others defined their lifestyle as 7-6-5. You pays your money....</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Clients</I></div> <bR> <div> You are paid to help your clients succeed. Yet, they place the most horrendous obstacles in your way.  Many of them take pride in blocking and preventing change. One senior life assurance client - "it's my job to tell my customers why things cannot be done". My team on my last (public sector)  engagement had a special wall. After new consultant team members had been on site for a week, they were escorted to the wall so that they could bang their head on it.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Become a consultant and get listened to</I></div> <bR> <div> Most clients observe that your advice is what they had been saying for months or years anyway. However, the external person has two advantages: you are out of the command line and can therefore ignore rank; you have been elsewhere and bring an external perspective.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Steal my watch</I>...</div> <bR> <div> .... and tell me the time. The old chestnut about the consultant's trick of the trade is absolutely true! It's just that many clients either can't tell the time themselves, or swear that it can't be that time already.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>The rewards of consultancy</I></div> <bR> <div> All clients, especially in the public sector, view management consultants in similar terms to World War II US troops - overpaid and over here (not sure about the over-sexed). Of particular interest are the cars most of us drive.  At a client some years ago, there was distinct staff unrest as all the visitor spaces were taken up by BMWs, Mercedes etc.  One of my colleagues, who has family money, deliberately drove his Porsche 911 Carrera to Scotland to get the reaction, even though our company car scheme does not extend that far.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Airmiles</I></div> <bR> <div> One of the side benefits of being a consultant is that the airlines and hotel chains treat you as if you are a VIP. Most of us have so many airmiles and hotel points that we could never use them.  I took my family (6 of us) to Majorca entirely on air miles in 1999 after flying the world with Hewlett-Packard.  I still have all the hotel points and a large number of miles in Qualiflyer, the now completely useless Swiss-Air, Sabena combo.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Deskilling or what?</I></div> <bR> <div> Most consultants come into the business for a three year period and leave feeling that their core business skills have been eroded, particularly in technology fields.  Your inter-personal skills come on in leaps and bounds, but you are not often at the leading edge (WITH SOME NOTABLE EXCEPTIONS).  Be ready to become a facilitator, manager, diplomat, trouble-shooter...and forget about learning new technical skills.</div> <bR> <div> Do you recognise your kids? Is your house too noisy during the week? Bored with routine? Become a consultant.</div> <bR> <div> Do you value job security? Do you like going home of an evening? Do you have an extensive home social life? Are you in the PTA? Consultancy will mean changing all of this.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Example H</U></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Perhaps you can use career in the sense of to hurtle out of control</div> <bR> <div> Good points:-</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Variety</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Generally interesting work</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Travel</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You meet new people and sack them</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Pay is generally good</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You learn a lot, I think one year of consulting is worth five years of line management</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">It is an interesting combination of theory and practicality</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">It stretches (and occasionally breaks) people</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You feel a member of the elite</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You see lots of other organisations and realise that yours isn't really that bad.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Bad points:-</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Very political environment (this may change as partnerships become less common but I won't hold my breath)</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Partners vs. Pond -Life syndrome</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Travel (I am on first name terms with staff of the Holiday Inn at Victoria)</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">No Home life (certainly if you live out of London)</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Stress</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Example I</U></div> <bR> <div> Good points</div> <bR> <div> <I>The variety of assignments</I>. I can be an IT project manager for a year and then leading the business side of a process redesign project on the next assignment.  You can specialise if you want to but I prefer to be more flexible.</div> <bR> <div> <I>Constant learning</I>.  I soak up knowledge like a sponge and get bored when I am not learning. I love learning about new industries and learning new techniques from colleagues and clients.</div> <bR> <div> <I>Working with talented colleagues</I>. I have learnt so much from them, for example from how they have delivered their assignments.  You do not have to work with them all the time to learn from them</div> <bR> <div> <I>Responsibility and independence</I>.  When I am the only consultant on a client site, or am responsible for a consulting team on a client site, I feel like my own boss.  Although I am working for the client, I am the final decision-maker as far as the consulting team input goes and I have a large degree of freedom to set the approach.  I need to keep the partner informed, usually monthly, and to refer commercially sensitive decisions back to him/her, but otherwise the buck stops with me.  I love the responsibility</div> <bR> <div> <I>People listen to you because your are a consultant</I>.  Often you are brought in to provide independent advice  </div> <bR> <div> <I>The security of being paid your salary</I> - whether the firm has found client work for you or not - much less risky than being self employed/contracting</div> <bR> <div> You are paid a premium for the inconvenience of working away from home so often</div> <bR> <div> <I>Organisations can have messy internal politics</I>.  This does not get on top of me because I always know that I can walk away at the end of the assignment.  This helps me stay sane.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Bad Points</div> <bR> <div> <I>Working away from home 5 days a week</I>.  It really impacts my social life.  I have found that I need to plan to maximise my use of the weekends and to ensure that I keep in touch with my friends so that they are still there when the assignment ends.  This cannot be an easy lifestyle for people with children unless one parent works locally and takes responsibility for care during the week</div> <bR> <div> <I>Living in hotels is extremely tedious</I>.  Hotel food gets very boring after a while.  I recommend getting a flat for long term assignments - you have so much more freedom</div> <bR> <div> <I>Being sent on a new assignment at 1-3 day's notice</I>.  I hate not having time to adjust to the idea and to make plans for working from a new location</div> <bR> <div> I have made more friends at client sites than I have with colleagues at my firm simply because we are all out of the office most of the time and do not work together</div> <bR> <div> <I>Clients who think that they are perfect when you have seen that some of their competitors are much more slick</I>.  There can be a "not invented here" dislike of advice from consultants, but I have found that when my clients have got to know me and found that I am working with them and not against them, they treat me as a member of their team, rather than as a consultant</div> <bR> <div> <I>Internal processes within the consultancy firm</I>.  If firm's have their best people out on site, thought is not always given to internal processes needing to cater for people who are rarely in the office.  For example, when my modem card broke, I was furious to find that the only way I could get a replacement was to take a day off chargeable client work, a loss of revenue to the firm, to fly back to my home office in order to collect another one.  Thankfully, this process now allows the firm to send spares to consultants at the client site!</div> <bR> <div> Wondering if you are really worth the rates charged and feeling that you must work that extra mile to justify the fees</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>A typical day</U> ...</div> <bR> <div> Up early to fly from Manchester to London for meeting with client.  Meet co-presenter from my firm.  We have spoken on the phone several times, but never met face to face before today.  Long day, running a workshop, thinking on my feet - but I have workaholic tendencies and can thrive on the feeling of knowing that I have done something well.  Dinner in hotel either alone or with group of colleagues.  If with colleagues, you tend to talk work - not very relaxing.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Example J</U></div> <bR> <div> Good Points:-</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Variety & flexibility</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Can be based in North Yorkshire!</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Rewarding - can see your efforts changing and benefiting the client</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Ability to obtain the insight into many organisations - can talk convincingly on best of class and best practices, thus enabling you to challenge why some mad man is doing it this way!!</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Contact at all levels of the organisation (i.e. up to board level)</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Rare opportunity to continue to obtain sales and delivery experience</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Recognised career path - C to SC to MC to P to Director/Partner</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Allows you to put all the development training skills to good use!</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Gold card in most leading airlines!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Bad Points:-</div> <div>  </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Impacted by the bloody French air traffic control strikes!</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Need to write off Monday to Friday for 'private' social life</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Need to be prepared to 'do the doing', when you normally did the 'directing' </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Example K</U></div> <bR> <div> Good Points:-</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Variety.  No other career gives the breadth & depth of exposure to a wide range of companies, industries & cultures.  Keep your eyes and ears open and you can't help but learn.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Challenge.  In every sense of the word, the amount of work, the level of professionalism expected, the knowledge required, how to make instant decisions, how to sell ideas - all at a pace that is frightening. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Interpersonal skills.  You learn (work and classroom) how to interact at so many levels.  Self-knowledge, communication skills, negotiation skills, decision-making.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Politics.  If you can learn how to deal with it here, you can work anywhere.  Some consultants say that you can avoid the politics of the client, but you shouldn't - you just use it to the project's advantage.  Cut through the layers and stone-wallers, yes, but not at the expense of leveraging the power brokers.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Networking.  Both within the consulting firm and the clients you meet a lot of "useful" people.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Bad Points:-</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Lifestyle - hotels, travel, late nights, 6-7 day weeks, interrupted holidays, no social life.  </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Money, it really is only great if you're at the top.  You can earn more in the real world, especially when you measure hours worked and quality of life.  But I can't hide the fact that consultancy gave me the CV, interpersonal skills and experience that catapulted my career.  </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Doing.  You typically "do" a lot of the stuff (especially proposals, presentations, and business cases) that you'd normally give to others.  </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Politics - there's as much within the consultancy firm itself as anywhere. The need to be the best is staggeringly evident in many consultants, and you're everyone's friend when you're useful.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Expertise.  You are sold to the client as the expert, even when you're not, and the opportunity to learn new technical skills is low.   The only way to keep your technical skills is to learn from colleagues, and non-technicians will try to suck you dry.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <U>Anecdotes</U></div> <bR> <bR> <div> A Disaster Recovery Survey ……….. discovered that the computer centre was built on an underground 10,000-gallon emergency petrol tank from World War 2 that was still in use, to fill up the Chairman's jag! Nobody knew.  Moral of the story: talk to the caretakers, security men and commissionaires - they are real people and may be the only people who really know what's going on! Nobody befriends them and they appreciate your interest. It pays!  </div> <bR> <bR> <div> A Security Survey ………. of an area around a building society computer centre unearthed a mysterious building nearby. 'Go away sonny, this building IS secure' said the 6'6 bloke with a smile. Turned out to be an MI6 office - or some such!  </div> <bR> <bR> <div> Biggest Threat to a Datacentre?  …………. Rats eating the plastic off the comms cables.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Y2k biggest threat? ………..  Survey in the Antigua office of a major insurance company took a week - I wonder why? Essential equipment - torch - to check  serial numbers and model numbers on modems in the cellars. Also a stick! Why? To keep away the poisonous snakes as you take notes.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> What does commitment in consultancy mean?  - Flying out to the USA (Florida) on a Sunday night , presenting at a conference on the Monday morning, being driven at speed to the airport, flying over night back to the UK, arriving in time to go to the gym at a major client (UK sportswear company), before taking a shower and then running an all-day workshop</div> <bR> <bR> <div> The feeling of success? - Having dinner with the finance director of a major ladieswear retailer, telling him that there was four weeks too much stock in his warehouse and then seeing your comments on the opportunity in the next day's FT!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Life is great, much of the time!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Definition of a consultant - "scapegoat"</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Y2K tests for a nuclear plant in North Wales locked all the security gates so no one could enter or leave.  Fortunately, there was a manual over-ride!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> My client project manager allowing me to be taken apart by the MD and board of directors due to his complete silence on a key topic for the project.  After the meeting he explained that he had managed to get the end of his glasses stuck between his lower front teeth and therefore was unable to speak!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> My induction into Burger King as a consultant - two days working in their restaurant in Piccadilly serving burgers, fries etc.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Being told that my style of presentation did not show appropriate respect for my audience - the family board of a stationery company - my only crime being to tell them that my topic of discussion (project implementation methodologies) whilst being of critical importance to their project was exceedingly dry & boring.  So much for ice breakers!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Some thoughts on why consultancy is so worryingly similar to prostitution  - after all:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You spend most of your working life in a hotel room</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You get paid well but your pimp gets most of the money</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Your clients always want to know how much you charge and what they get for their money</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">You know your pimp is charging more than you’re worth but if the client is foolish enough to pay then it’s their problem</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">If a client beats you up your pimp just sends you to another client</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">When you deduct your take from your charge out rate you constantly wonder whether you would get a better deal with another pimp</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c855555500.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">And finally you wake up every morning and say to your self … ‘I am not going to be doing this all my life’</div> <bR> <bR> <div> After selecting a major IT system for a high street bank the multi-million pound implementation was held up for a month because the hard disk systems were too heavy for the company's data centre.  As an interim it was housed in an articulated lorry, this was then stolen - the system was an insurance fraud detection system!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> On my second day of joining a Big 5 firm, I was sent to the London office to help prepare a sales pitch to one of the Big 4 Retail Banks.  I'd been given a laptop but no one showed me how to log-in remotely, and I hadn't the opportunity to meet anyone in my industry group.  On arrival in London I was given a 5-minute briefing by a senior colleague on what was wanted (a PowerPoint presentation).  I was left on my own all day and the colleague finally responded to my various calls throughout the day and met me at 8pm.  His main feedback was that the presentation I'd written wasn't in the company style - to which I hadn't been introduced! </div> <bR> <bR> <div> On my first major assignment I was initially appointed for 6 weeks, and the client extended my contract several times. I ended up there for two years and managed 4 different projects within a large change programme, becoming a lead player in the client/consultant relationship.  This was a lesson in integrating into a client and leveraging relationships for the greater good of the client and chargeable work!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> One afternoon the client project manager to whom I reported asked me to help with her house move.  I spent the afternoon unplugging TVs, hi-fi, Videos etc.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> I remember having to call my wife and have my passport couriered to me so that I could go abroad that afternoon as part of a presentation team.  Since then I always carried my passport with me.  </div> <bR> <bR> <div> For a period of 3 months I commuted between my house (Sheffield) and client offices in Southampton, Cheltenham and Newcastle - visiting each one for at least one day every week, managing a process re-engineering project.  Cars, trains and planes…</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Working with a truly multinational consultant and client team on a pan-European "Discovery" project.  American sponsors and project team members from UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Belgium.  A lesson in cultural awareness and how the UK and USA are two countries separated by a common language.  In 6 months we worked out of 3 hotels, 4 different offices and 5 countries.  </div> </td> </tr></table></body>