There are probably two main reasons why you might be contemplating moving
into consultancy. The first is if you have a desire to work independently,
choose your own hours and experience new and diverse challenges. The other
is as a temporary measure to gain new skills to improve your career options.
Regardless of the reasons, interim/consultancy work is likely to provide
experience and learning way beyond anything you will pick up on a training
programme. Below youll find a series of questions and answers based on
an article that originally appeared in Personnel Today (21 September 2004).
For further information and advice, please
contact
us.
Answers
1. Where do I start?
Principally, you need to have a firm understanding of why you want to make the move into consulting. Is it to widen your experience or to capitalise on particular expertise? Are you keen to vary your work or do you want to consolidate existing knowledge and experience? Carry out research, attend specialist events and talk to as many consultants as you can to work this out.
Email is now the standard so send your CV in electronic format only, as
a Word attachment as this is the standard that virtually everyone can
work with. Don't get clever, zip files are tedious and unnecessary for
a CV as are links to where your CV is on the internet. Don't send anything
that requires downloading any software from the internet.
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2. How do I know if it is right for me?
A consultant's job is to effect significant business change, and in today's fast-paced business environments that usually means within short time frames. As well as bringing new insight, you will need to be at ease with making multiple decisions on the hoof and be able to quickly take stock of ambiguous, sometimes difficult, situations and turn them around. Your clients will expect to see the results of your solutions in measurable terms. "Good consultants constantly think about the commercial needs of their clients as well as the day-to-day practicalities. So if you don't have an interest in shaping or developing companies, then you're not suited to a career in consultancy," says Parimel Patel, European talent acquisition specialist at Capital Consulting.
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3. What other considerations are there?
To prosper as a consultant, you have to be able to market your knowledge and skills. Even if you have highly sought after expertise and a solid record of achievement, if you can't back it up with a persuasive story about your ability to deliver, you will risk losing work to rivals. Use your network to drum up as much work as possible.
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4. How should I manage the project?
Fully understand the company you are working for. Study its financial reports and business strategy to pinpoint its needs and where support is lacking. Having a handle on organisational culture will inform you of how to operate smartly within the company framework. For the relationship to succeed, you need to establish that the company is strongly committed to the project. Clarify goals and put down clear benchmarks for each stage. Agree on how frequently you will communicate and start out with some short-term, achievable goals to boost the morale of those involved.
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5. What if I want to start my own consultancy?
Managing and growing a business demands a certain kind of flair as well as business management skills. Regular invoicing, payment chasing, staying abreast of self-employment regulations and professional indemnity insurance are just a few of the things you will have to become familiar with. If you lack experience, consider attending seminars or a short course to brush up your knowledge of running a business. It is highly likely at some stage you will experience difficulties with cash flow and have to shoulder a few hard knocks. So it is important to have a rainy day fund equal to at least three months' salary to see you through leaner times.
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6. What if I want to work with other consultants?
If your preferred route is to join an existing consultancy, it will be seeking proof of your analytical skills, desire to learn, self-motivation as well as your track record in implementation. "You need to have something extra to offer that a company can't easily get for itself and be able to demonstrate the value of your work," says Patel.
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7. What else do I need to know?
To remain effective, you need to ensure your knowledge and expertise is current so keep up-to-date with the latest management and HR thinking by attending key seminars and conferences. Smart consultants will also invest in extra training when necessary.
If you have chosen a period of consultancy to boost your career path, ensure it is going to equip you with skills and experience that can be leveraged in the future. Finally, if your intention is to return to an in-house HR role, don't leave it too long before moving back - four or five years should be the maximum.
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8. Where can I get more info?
Books
- How to Succeed as an Independent Consultant, Timothy RV Foster, Kogan
Page, 13.99, ISBN 0749438665
- Value-based Human resource Strategy: Developing Your HR Consultancy
Role, Tony Grundy & Laura Brown, Butterworth Heinemann, 21.99, ISBN
0750657693
- Be A Successful Consultant, Susan Nash, How To Books, 12.99, ISBN 185703807X
Website
Institute of Management Consultancy,
www.imc.co.uk
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9. If you only do five things...
1 Present a professional image
2 Learn how to analyse situations
3 Clarify goals and establish ground-rules
4 Build trust
5 Ensure your knowledge and expertise is up-to-date
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10. Experts view: Parimal Patel on becoming an HR consultant
Parimal Patel is the European talent acquisition specialist at Capital
Consulting for Dun & Bradstreet. He moved into talent acquisition consulting
following a career in investment banking and in-house HR roles at Goldman
Sachs and Barclays Global. Should you join a company or set up on your
own?
To set up on your own you must be an established expert in your field
and confident that there's a gap in the market for what you can offer.
Question yourself and your business model to be sure that this is what
you really want to do. Make sure that there is a genuine opportunity
for you and not just a gap in the market because no one wants to buy
that particular solution. What key advice would you offer any would-be
consultant?
There are a huge variety of options, so be clear about what it is that
you want to achieve. Make sure that any role you consider will allow
you to gain the knowledge and experiences that you want to develop at
this stage of your career before you take the plunge. What's your personal
strategy for attracting business?
This means identifying the needs of the companies in the sectors that
you want to target. What are they doing wrong? What could they be doing
better and how can you help? You also need to gain the attention of
the people that have the power to buy your services. This can be achieved
by demonstrating the benefits that will result if they change their
business approach with your help. What HR skills are presently most
in demand?
The majority of organisations have either been too conservative in their recruitment or made too many redundancies in recent times. With the employment market now buoyant, a key priority for HR is talent acquisition, to re-build the workforce.
Compensation and benefits, to ensure existing employees are adequately compensated and less prone to leave the organisation are also important.
Lastly, organisational development is key to ensure employees are coping with change brought about by the rapid growth that many organisations are now going through.
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