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It’s great to be a consultant

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Re: It’s great to be a consultant

#71

Post by dnndev »

noud wrote: post #21

I did not hear a single consultant telling me how great it is to be one, when a collective announcement by the director was made that due to financial problems not a single consultant contract would be extended this year. This would help the company to get into financial stability again, and would prevent to fire anyone in the company. I'm happy I'm not a consultant. I value job security, and therefore a financially…

I feel much more job security as a consultant than I ever did as an employee. The minute your not making money for a company your let go.

As a consultant you can have two or three clients in different sectors and diversify.

You will be sorely disappointed if you think getting paid w2 vs 1099 (in the us) gives you job security.

Job security is your drive, skill, and luck living in an area that has work for you. (If you live in the us consider yourself lucky - in tech)

Re: It’s great to be a consultant

#72

Post by Cederfjard »

franze wrote: post #14

The secret on how to become a great consultant: Take all the blame, distribute all the praise. Here is the thing, being a consultant is a thankless job, and it needs to be. If a project does not go as planned, the success does not happen. Take the blame. You are an external, it does not matter. They got you into the company to improve the state of the client, to improve them. If it does not happen, you are to blame.…

Is your experience that this is universal, though? I could easily envision organizations (based on my own experience, albeit not as a consultant in that sense) that would take your representation at face value - if things go south and you take the blame, they will blacklist and badmouth you, and vice versa they will love you if you can somehow hoard all the credit for a success. Perhaps it rarely plays out that way, but I’m skeptical that it never happens.

Re: It’s great to be a consultant

#73

Post by draw_down »

trhoad wrote: post #24
noud wrote: post #21

I did not hear a single consultant telling me how great it is to be one, when a collective announcement by the director was made that due to financial problems not a single consultant contract would be extended this year. This would help the company to get into financial stability again, and would prevent to fire anyone in the company. I'm happy I'm not a consultant. I value job security, and therefore a financially…

Very true. It doesn't matter how interesting and varied the work could be if there isn't any work.

No post body was provided.

Re: It’s great to be a consultant

#75

Post by leeter »

franze wrote: post #14

The secret on how to become a great consultant: Take all the blame, distribute all the praise. Here is the thing, being a consultant is a thankless job, and it needs to be. If a project does not go as planned, the success does not happen. Take the blame. You are an external, it does not matter. They got you into the company to improve the state of the client, to improve them. If it does not happen, you are to blame.…

This 100%, I've literally been hired onto a client to basically tell management something their internal team had been saying for ages. The challenge wasn't telling management that; but rather getting them to (politically very carefully) open their eyes to the fact they had the solution (and the people to implement) right in front of them the entire time. That was a very tricky situation as the management didn't trust their team at all. So most of our time was spent untangling that and doing a little implementation.

Re: It’s great to be a consultant

#76

Post by dnndev »

kerneloftruth wrote: post #63
noud wrote: post #21

I did not hear a single consultant telling me how great it is to be one, when a collective announcement by the director was made that due to financial problems not a single consultant contract would be extended this year. This would help the company to get into financial stability again, and would prevent to fire anyone in the company. I'm happy I'm not a consultant. I value job security, and therefore a financially…

I've been one for over 20 years, and wouldn't trade for FTE, ever. What you describe does happen, but usually it's the reverse. In financially hard times, companies often downsize their biggest expense -- employees. They can control costs easier by instead hiring consultants, to whom they owe no benefits or long term financial commitments.

Completely was the case with me. A large client cut my hours for about six months and now they are roaring to better than pre pandemic levels. Sadly they were acquired by another company during that time and a lot of people were let go due to the slow down and acquisition.

If I were an employee I mostly likely would have been let go.

Re: It’s great to be a consultant

#77

Post by andi999 »

Cederfjard wrote: post #72
franze wrote: post #14

The secret on how to become a great consultant: Take all the blame, distribute all the praise. Here is the thing, being a consultant is a thankless job, and it needs to be. If a project does not go as planned, the success does not happen. Take the blame. You are an external, it does not matter. They got you into the company to improve the state of the client, to improve them. If it does not happen, you are to blame.…

Is your experience that this is universal, though? I could easily envision organizations (based on my own experience, albeit not as a consultant in that sense) that would take your representation at face value - if things go south and you take the blame, they will blacklist and badmouth you, and vice versa they will love you if you can somehow hoard all the credit for a success. Perhaps it rarely plays out that way,…

Exactly what I was thinking. Even worse, doesnt taking the blame mean they can ask/sue for damages?

Not sure why this is controversial, but I saw agency funded projects if they fail the companies have to repay the funding. Employees are usually protected but if a consultant was on board who would take the responsibility for that failure, I would expect at least some of the companies with legal departments to try to get the money from that consultant.

Re: It’s great to be a consultant

#78

Post by mjburgess »

leeter wrote: post #75
franze wrote: post #14

The secret on how to become a great consultant: Take all the blame, distribute all the praise. Here is the thing, being a consultant is a thankless job, and it needs to be. If a project does not go as planned, the success does not happen. Take the blame. You are an external, it does not matter. They got you into the company to improve the state of the client, to improve them. If it does not happen, you are to blame.…

This 100%, I've literally been hired onto a client to basically tell management something their internal team had been saying for ages. The challenge wasn't telling management that; but rather getting them to (politically very carefully) open their eyes to the fact they had the solution (and the people to implement) right in front of them the entire time. That was a very tricky situation as the management didn't trus…

Yeah, this is pretty universally the job of a management consultancy: interview the staff, and report what they're saying.

Re: It’s great to be a consultant

#79

Post by adwn »

scrollaway wrote: post #56
stingraycharles wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you say that this approach to management, blame-culture, is unavoidable as a consultant? I’ve had a previous engagement for about 1.5y with this type of culture, and it made me miserable.

It's not unavoidable no, but it certainly makes you a better consultant. I found this out only a few years ago and franze is right on the money. I'd say it goes beyond consulting, too, and that knowing how to "take the blame and distribute the praise" is a superpower. Especially that first part. Knowing to take responsibility for things, sometimes even things that are outside your control, puts you on a different lev…

> take responsibility for things, sometimes even things that are outside your control

Although this might sometimes be a good idea for diplomatic reasons, it feels just as wrong and "bullshitty" as accepting praise for things that are outside your control. And it might lead to a loss of respect by people who see through this fake humility.

Re: It’s great to be a consultant

#80

Post by chasd00 »

I work for a very very large firm. Consulting will always be a relationship business first and everything else second. All the really valuable things I’ve worked in all start with “well I know someone in DC that has done X and I know a guy out in Seattle that has a team that does Y, let’s get a call together and talk about solving Z.
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