The COVID-19 pandemic has had an immeasurable impact on the world of work and industries. While the start of the pandemic saw a decrease in employment, business is picking back up and many companies are having a more difficult time filling roles–the consulting world included. According to Matthew Boyles for Bloomberg, “the shortage of consultants is notable as those firms are perenially among the most sought-after employers thanks to challenging, globe-spanning work.”

The consulting world, especially technology consulting, continues to be a new and exciting world. This global pandemic has only made innovation faster and forced organizations across the board to digitize in order to keep up with the world’s changing needs and consumer/user expectations. Gartner projects global technology spending will total $4.2 trillion in 2021–and technology consultants will be a part of this growth.

Technology consulting is challenging. It exposes you to different people, companies, industries, organizational structures, technical environments, tools, processes, and projects with continued regularity—and with high expectations for your performance.

In consulting, you are the expert. The client will be looking to you for guidance, which will push you to grow in ways you haven’t before. For technology professionals who are used to how one organization operates—especially a large organization with a structured hierarchy and slow-moving controls for how decisions are made and implemented—it can be a little like baptism by fire. But the rewards are considerable.

Keep reading to see why technology consulting is a compelling choice, some of the risks and challenges involved, and some choices you’ll have to make in pursuing a consulting career.

What Makes Technology Consulting Appealing?

Consulting takes a certain type of personality. You must be highly skilled and a go-getter, but also customer-focused and flexible. Consultants can see technology-related problems from both the business and technology angles, and have the knowledge to solve those challenges, but able to work collaboratively with others to create the best approach.

In this way, consulting is a world of self-discovery where you can make a large impact. With every new client comes a set of challenges that help you to grow both as a technology professional and a person. For workers looking to realize their value and be catalysts for growth, consulting is an attractive career trajectory.

The technology sector continues to grow every year, evolving with the changing needs of people, organizations, small businesses, governments, and more. Technology consulting is changing every day and can expose you to amazing new projects that are changing the digital landscape as we know it.

Especially in a post-pandemic world, IT has become an integral part of the world’s infrastructure from work to schools to telehealth. People’s behaviors have changed and will continue to adapt to the new habits we’ve created.

The Challenges of Becoming a Consultant

Of course, moving into consulting has its challenges. The variety, impact, and excitement of being a consultant is balanced by the reality of the responsibilities. For someone new to consulting, at first you might think, “What did I just get myself into?” There are genuine reasons for thinking this way:

• You’re suddenly working for multiple companies. If you’re new to consulting, you probably worked at one company for years where you established relationships and knew the ins-and-outs. Now you’re working for two new companies: the new client company and your consulting firm. The growing pains of being a new employee are multiplied, but they won’t last long once you get to know your client and fellow consultants.
• You need to keep up with technology. Everyone wants to keep their skills polished, but as a consultant, you can’t get complacent in technology because your client is depending on you to guide them. You must continually hone your knowledge and expertise in order to give the best direction.
• You have more responsibility. As a new consultant, it can feel like there’s more weight on your shoulders. You’re the advisor and often also the implementer, team leader, and cheer squad. But don’t doubt yourself—you also got this consulting job for your experience and expertise, which will guide you more than you know.
• You deal with more unknowns. You might not know your next project or its length, and you’ll be dealing with new people and new personalities on a regular basis. You also may not know the company and its technology. That domain knowledge can be critical to making good decisions, so you will have to be skilled at learning quickly and moving fast. You may also be asked to do things you’re not well-versed in. In those situations, you’ll have to learn fast. Fortunately, you should also be able to lean on the expertise of others in your consulting organization.

A healthy dose of situational awareness, flexibility, and confidence will help you deal with the challenges of being a consultant. Because no two businesses are alike, your clients will expect you to bring a different perspective as well as insights, ideas, and processes—in many cases, that’s why they engaged a consultant in the first place.

Something that can help you deal with these new challenges: confidence. Clients want you to have the answers because they don’t have them. Sometimes that means having to disagree with the client and reminding them why they sought expert advice. It can also mean setting (and sometimes resetting) expectations.

The important thing to remember: as a consultant, you are there to consult. The best consultants are the ones who deliver value by giving sound advice politely and confidently without being pushy. Clients don’t appreciate when consultants browbeat them or try to run the business without understanding it well enough to know what will be successful.

Clients respond positively to consultants who listen actively, ask clarifying questions, and act as advisors—providing honest, knowledgeable guidance backed by research and experience—but allowing the client to make and own the final decision.

Things to Keep in Mind When You’re New

When you begin your first consulting engagement, you might experience strong emotions, ranging from exhilaration to terror. You might even have thoughts like “maybe I shouldn’t have left my old company” or “what if I’m not ready for this?” Relax. This is normal. Here’s some advice:

• Relationships are key. When starting a new engagement, find out who the biggest influencers are and start building relationships with them. The influencers don’t need to be managers or executives. Influencers can be respected employees anywhere in the organization and who know how things really work in the office environment.
• Keep an open mind and be prepared for anything. It’s common in consulting for the solution the client needs to be different than the solution they originally wanted. You’re often called in to alleviate a pain point, but you might have to tackle the root of the problem instead of the symptom–and you never know what else the client might ask for.
• Pay attention to how you articulate solutions. Part of consulting is being able to understand what people are trying to do, figure out where they’re stuck, and help them to get unstuck.
• Keep a running to-do list. A to-do list helps you to keep track of what you’ve discussed or promised to deliver and acts as a record for what you’ve accomplished and how you’ve added value. When you meet with your client, use your checklist to refer to previous conversations and ensure a common understanding of what is being asked of you and what’s already been accomplished.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, but you should have an entire consulting company behind you. You are never alone. The best way to solve the transitioning issue is to keep your head up and ask for help.
• Get to know your fellow consultants. Obviously, the more people you know, the more help you’ll have. The best way to get to know your consultant peers is to attend team meetings, team activities, and company functions. Attend in-person whenever possible as face time makes a difference when it comes to building relationships (COVID-permitting, of course).

One final note of advice: interpersonal skills and relationship-building are highly important for a consultant. When you work with a client company, you might encounter workers or managers who are wary of consultants. You might even meet folks who feel like you’re there to point out their failures or replace them.

To ease their worries, remind the people you work with that they own certain things; that your job is to look at the bigger picture and set them up for success after the engagement is complete; and that you need their help to do that.

Joining a Consulting Firm

If you’re ready for new challenges and opportunities, becoming a technology consultant can be a great career decision. If you decide to take the leap, you’ll need to choose a consulting firm. The options are numerous, but we recommend looking for a consulting company with a broad client portfolio and strong relationships in your local market, an experienced team you can learn from, and a history of project successes.

If you’re looking for a reputable and rapidly-growing technology consulting company where you can make an impact not just with clients but also on the consulting company itself, look no further than AIM Consulting. AIM Consulting has been recognized as a best place to work year after year with opportunities that have continued to expand, despite the pandemic. When you join a consulting firm like AIM, you’ll have a company that matches you to great projects, offers benefits, and provides a great working environment with peers you can learn from and grow with!

Want to learn more? Get in touch here!

About the Author

Sharon Ching

Sharon is a Sr. Consultant of Delivery Leadership at AIM. She is a proven IT professional with over a decade of experience leading complex technology initiatives. She possesses practical knowledge and experience in product development, software development, and program management. Sharon frequently leads large cross-functional teams as she is an expert in establishing collaborative relationships that influences teams toward action. She understands every situation is different and is not prescriptive in her approach but leads by example and is always ready to roll up her sleeves and help where needed.