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How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

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Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#61

Post by rdtsc »

mgkimsal wrote: post #52
ethbro wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The weird thing with consulting (in my experience) is that a customer almost never knows how capable they are of effectively using a consultant's time and output. "Okay, we signed a one month consulting engagement, starting Tuesday." Consultant(s) show up on Tuesday, no db's or credentials have been set up, everyone seems surprised they're there. It consistently amazed me how much consultant time companies waste. Whe…

Spot on. I've been in some situations where I've been 'hired', but the people I have to work with didn't know, or didn't want me there, or were generally antagonistic (usually they weren't consulted at all). Client may end up paying the bill, but they're getting so little value out of what I've done it's... painful. But it's often painful just to be working at some of those companies too (whether as insider or outsid…

How does it usually work out in the end? Does that hurt you in the sense that they'll blame you anyway, or help because you got more hours in.

Not a consultant but would list or report what time was spent on and they'd see line items like "waited on having accounts set up by IT for 2 days"

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#62

Post by putnam »

mathattack wrote: post #59
putnam wrote: post #2

I have an Internet buddy in Chicago named Thomas Ptacek. [...] I decided to invite Thomas out to coffee. At the end of the conversation, Thomas said something which, no exaggeration, changed my life. Thomas: Some food for thought: If this hadn't been a coffee date, but rather a consulting engagement, I'd be writing you a check right now. Me: Three hours at $100 an hour or whatever an intermediate programmer is worth…

Yes. I've had friendly conversations turn into paid consulting work because, "Then we will pay more attention."

What do you think new freelancers and consultants get stuck on that limits their success?

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#63

Post by fiatpandas »

scrimpton wrote: post #26

This is by a wide margin the most bourgeois shit I've heard on here apart from the constant cryptocurrency posts. "Make disgusting amounts of money by doing nothing instead of your actual job!"

You’ll probably find your comment downvoted because you expressed yourself using language which isn’t kosher in the HN community, and you aren’t praising the writing of HNs most well known and well liked member, but I generally agree with your sentiment.

I felt gross and kind of disappointed while reading the article. I need more time to think deeply about why that is and communicate it in an effective way.

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#64

Post by putnam »

quakenul wrote: post #35

Can someone explain to me why when paying weekly people would not turn the discussion on slashing the rate in contrast to paying hourly? I don't see the disconnect between the two and why it shouldn't be possible to also go "My rate is 100$, we need 40 hours, you can only pay 30, okay, what do we slash?" In fact, that is what I am doing right now.

What do you do?

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#65

Post by dleslie »

kleiba wrote: post #57

To this day, I'm still not quite clear about what a consultant actually does. I mean, beyond some vague idea ("goes to some company, talks with people, gives some recommendation"). I'd really love for someone to give some example or describe in a tangible way what the work of a consultant entails, what skills one typically needs and actually employs, what a typical gig looks like from beginning to end and so on. If a…

Having been in a position where a consultant was foisted upon me by management, at several different companies, near as I can tell they are paid huge sums to restate what the team already knows and has been saying needs to be done. Only they provide it with an approach and language which management can understand.

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#67

Post by mathgeek »

kleiba wrote: post #57

To this day, I'm still not quite clear about what a consultant actually does. I mean, beyond some vague idea ("goes to some company, talks with people, gives some recommendation"). I'd really love for someone to give some example or describe in a tangible way what the work of a consultant entails, what skills one typically needs and actually employs, what a typical gig looks like from beginning to end and so on. If a…

Consulting is a bit too broad of a concept to provide a "what does a consultant actually do" definition. Anything that people will pay you to tell them or do for them without making you their direct employee is, technically speaking, consulting them.

For example: reviewing someone's database configuration and providing general recommendations for improvement is consultation, but so is directly modifying those settings for them and not actually telling them what changed. The expectations and deliverables are set by agreement between the consultant and the consultee.

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#68

Post by putnam »

fiatpandas wrote: post #63
scrimpton wrote: post #26

This is by a wide margin the most bourgeois shit I've heard on here apart from the constant cryptocurrency posts. "Make disgusting amounts of money by doing nothing instead of your actual job!"

You’ll probably find your comment downvoted because you expressed yourself using language which isn’t kosher in the HN community, and you aren’t praising the writing of HNs most well known and well liked member, but I generally agree with your sentiment. I felt gross and kind of disappointed while reading the article. I need more time to think deeply about why that is and communicate it in an effective way.

Let us know when you arrive at your conclusion

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#69

Post by mathattack »

quakenul wrote: post #35

Can someone explain to me why when paying weekly people would not turn the discussion on slashing the rate in contrast to paying hourly? I don't see the disconnect between the two and why it shouldn't be possible to also go "My rate is 100$, we need 40 hours, you can only pay 30, okay, what do we slash?" In fact, that is what I am doing right now.

Some of it is perception.

At one of the spectrum is junior offshore testers billing by the hour. On the other is McKinsey, who bills by the study. The former gets more rate pressure than the latter. Charging weekly or monthly appears more professional than hourly. (Lawyers are the exception)

Re: How I went from programming to consulting (2012)

#70

Post by lbotos »

kleiba wrote: post #57

To this day, I'm still not quite clear about what a consultant actually does. I mean, beyond some vague idea ("goes to some company, talks with people, gives some recommendation"). I'd really love for someone to give some example or describe in a tangible way what the work of a consultant entails, what skills one typically needs and actually employs, what a typical gig looks like from beginning to end and so on. If a…

Depends on what they are consulting on.

I know that places I've worked have had management consultants, who came in, worked with our teams for a few sessions, and wrote us up some recommendations as to how we could better work together.

We also hired DB Performance consultants, who came in and helped us optimize some gnarly queries and do a DB "Double check" to verify that the path we were on was good.

Another time we hired a pricing consultant, who helped us come up with a strategy to change our pricing and avoid pitfalls.

Basically, They are subject matter experts who may come in and actually be on-demand teachers in my experience.

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