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So you want to be a consultant?

twintechs.com

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Re: So you want to be a consultant?

#21

Post by mindcrime »

atiffany wrote: post #14
mindcrime wrote: post #8

I don't want to get too caught up in quibbling over definitions, but I do feel like there's a point worth making here: There is a difference between a "consultant" and a "contractor", and I think it's worth being aware of. It may or may not matter to any given individual, but to some it will. And to be fair, some of this is subjective, but here's the way I've observed it over the years... First of all, what do I mean…

I'm not sure if I see your point as it relates to the article. Are you saying that you think I should be describing another path apart from the ones I have listed? I get that the difference between the level of services you're describing for a "consultant" vs. a "contractor," but I think that has more to do with the capacity of the individual contractor/consultant than the label itself.

No, not making any comment about the content of the article... it's a great article. This is just more generally addressed to people who are thinking about going into "consulting" or "freelancing" or "contracting" or whatever one wants to call it. I just want to point out that people should be aware that just because they refer to themselves as a "consultant" doesn't mean that they will necessarily be treated as such.

And again, a lot of people may not care about the distinction. For someone who is used to sitting in a cube 8-6 as a W2 employee at Initech, they won't be any worse off if they're sitting in a cube from 8-6 as a C2C freelancer. But for people who think that going freelance is the route to more respect, more freedom, and less of that "cog in the machine" feeling, then I advocate spending some time thinking about how to make that leap to "consultant who gets paid for sharing insights" as opposed to being just another (apparently fungible) nameless, faceless coder.

Re: So you want to be a consultant?

#22

Post by kurtmansperger »

doctorcroc wrote: post #11
atiffany wrote: post #2

I am the author of this article, and I'm happy to answer any questions about tech consulting right here.

Just a question on #1. What are the opportunities for a new grad going into one of these companies like Accenture, Deloitte or IBM? Do you just take a spot as a cog in the machine, or do you actually get valuable consulting/client experience?

I have interned at PWC and Deloitte and then after graduation, I worked at Deloitte for 5 years. I found that I was able to do valuable work right after joining and even as an intern. As an intern at PWC I did ethical hacking and had a good deal of oversight, but was able to own writing up documentation and participated in client calls. For a later project that summer, I had direct client contact and was seen as a strong contributor to the team. At Deloitte, my experience was similar as an intern but with slightly more ownership. Once joining Deloitte after graduation, I was holding one on one meetings and design sessions on a regular basis with the client about 4 months in. Initially, my project was more focused on data analysis and while I did have interactions with the client, they were limited as I did not need to interact with them much. Experience will certainly vary from person to person as the responsibility given to someone will change by project and also with how well management knows you, at least earlier in your career. After about a year or two, it is not uncommon to be owning an entire piece of the project and it goes up from there. They probably wouldn't hire you if they didn't feel they could put you in front of a client early on.

Re: So you want to be a consultant?

#23

Post by EC1 »

philbarr wrote: post #10
atiffany wrote: post #2

I am the author of this article, and I'm happy to answer any questions about tech consulting right here.

For options #2 and #3, how do you go about getting your very first client? I can imagine the dialogue when you've done a few projects and you've got a portfolio and perhaps references, but how do you get the very first person when you're just "some bloke who thinks he knows how to write software." ?

Cold call. Cold talk. Networking events. Developer meetups. It's honestly so easy. Handout business cards, have a decent site with a portfolio + some sort of automated contact form, maybe even an automated quote generator. Have one buddy do all the networking and bring you clients, you do the work, make money, reinvest in remote employees, keep doing this, get an office, hire some in person staff and boom, you have a consultancy.

Re: So you want to be a consultant?

#24

Post by tommyo »

atiffany wrote: post #14
mindcrime wrote: post #8

I don't want to get too caught up in quibbling over definitions, but I do feel like there's a point worth making here: There is a difference between a "consultant" and a "contractor", and I think it's worth being aware of. It may or may not matter to any given individual, but to some it will. And to be fair, some of this is subjective, but here's the way I've observed it over the years... First of all, what do I mean…

I'm not sure if I see your point as it relates to the article. Are you saying that you think I should be describing another path apart from the ones I have listed? I get that the difference between the level of services you're describing for a "consultant" vs. a "contractor," but I think that has more to do with the capacity of the individual contractor/consultant than the label itself.

Seems the comment is trying to highlight the difference in staff augmentation consulting (what they're calling a "contractor") and strategic consulting (maybe that isn't an appropriate title, but driving business/design decisions). As someone living/working in Seattle/Bellevue as a consultant, both resource types are highly sought after, especially in larger enterprises in the area. It could be worth noting that just out of school or in a general field, it might be easier to land a staff aug gig at a larger firm than a strategic role running one's own consultant business.

Re: So you want to be a consultant?

#25

Post by tommyo »

atiffany wrote: post #15
philbarr wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For options #2 and #3, how do you go about getting your very first client? I can imagine the dialogue when you've done a few projects and you've got a portfolio and perhaps references, but how do you get the very first person when you're just "some bloke who thinks he knows how to write software." ?

A couple options: - Work as a fulltime employee doing the same type of work you want to be paid to do as a consultant. It's a legitimate way to get the kind of experience you want to sell. - Be your own first client. Build something that interests you, and sell that experience.

And one of the best resources: from industry connections that you worked with before, then have moved on to other projects. If they hear of a project need that fits your skill set, and you've been getting coffee with them at least 2 times a year, they'll probably call you first.

Re: So you want to be a consultant?

#26

Post by protomyth »

I went through a placement person for my time as a consultant. He handled the accounting, medical insurance, taxes (all withholding), and paid me 70% of the bill rate. If you went full up 1099 he passed on 90%. It was a pretty nice arrangement for me at that time in my life.

Do remember, many of the employees you deal with will think you are a member of the true oldest profession (Genesis 3:1).

Re: So you want to be a consultant?

#27

Post by stfu »

mindcrime wrote: post #17

BTW, two fun books for consultants, and would-be consultants, to read are House of Lies [1] and The Firm [2]. Both are more about "management consulting" (aka, McKinsey, Deloitte, etc.) than what most of us probably have in mind, but they are both entertaining reads in their own respective right. House of Lies is a sort of retrospective "tell all" from a former management consultant, and inspired a TV program of the…

Since we are talking about Consulting a must read is the work on professional service firms by former HBS Prof. David Maister. His website is super ugly ( http://davidmaister.com/ ) but his advice is timeless, esp. since his writing is a lot about building the long-term client-consultant relationship.

Re: So you want to be a consultant?

#28

Post by Revex »

EC1 wrote: post #23
philbarr wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For options #2 and #3, how do you go about getting your very first client? I can imagine the dialogue when you've done a few projects and you've got a portfolio and perhaps references, but how do you get the very first person when you're just "some bloke who thinks he knows how to write software." ?

Cold call. Cold talk. Networking events. Developer meetups. It's honestly so easy. Handout business cards, have a decent site with a portfolio + some sort of automated contact form, maybe even an automated quote generator. Have one buddy do all the networking and bring you clients, you do the work, make money, reinvest in remote employees, keep doing this, get an office, hire some in person staff and boom, you have a…

You make it sounds super easy. Do you have your own consultancy?

Re: So you want to be a consultant?

#29

Post by jessriedel »

mindcrime wrote: post #8

I don't want to get too caught up in quibbling over definitions, but I do feel like there's a point worth making here: There is a difference between a "consultant" and a "contractor", and I think it's worth being aware of. It may or may not matter to any given individual, but to some it will. And to be fair, some of this is subjective, but here's the way I've observed it over the years... First of all, what do I mean…

I found this comment very helpful. I'm still confused about how the nebulous term "consultant" is used generally, but at least in the (developer-specific) HN universe I understand it to mean something like "software developer who is paid as a contractor, with some claim to a specific expertise". For the record, this is not at all obvious to outsiders.

Re: So you want to be a consultant?

#30

Post by brianmwaters_hn »

jgable wrote: post #3

Question for author and others on HN: How feasible is it to have remote employees when most of your work is on embedded systems? I recently started a software consulting group with a couple of partners, and we are starting to hire. I'd like to offer remote positions, but since most of our work is on embedded systems (e.g. medical devices), I don't think this is really feasible. For any given system, there's so much p…

What about having your test hardware hooked up to a development machine, that folks can VPN into? Is that even feasible?
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