Consultant Training? Learn from the Experience of Others

One thing that makes the job of being a consultant so difficult is that there is no "entry level" consultant position. From your very first project you get dropped into the flames with a loosely-fitting helmet, a leaky water bucket, and a "good luck to ya" attitude, and sometimes they leave out the good luck. The fact is, as a consultant you are there to put out a fire or to make some kind of magic happen that no one else can produce. In that kind of environment, there is little room for incompetence or inexperience.

So how can students survive in all this? Surely the only thing worse than not knowing what you are doing is looking like you don't know what you are doing. And let me tell you, as student consultants we have giant bullseyes on our foreheads. Many times the expectation is that we are too inexperienced, and so we have an uphill battle right from the start.

Now that I've sufficiently depressed you, turn that frown upside down kiddo. Let me tell you that there are ways to combat these issues.

The first step is also the easiest and is probably the one most of you have covered already. It is to know where to look for the answers if you don't have them already. Most likely you already have websites or books you use as reference materials when it comes to looking up programming related issues. This is key. I'm a big fan of CodeGuru and Experts Exchange as they tend to have a lot of really good information, but I'm also a big fan of Google. If I'm having a really pressing issue, I quickly lose alliance to any one particular site. The point is that you are probably already pretty good at finding what you need out there in the mass of information. You have already learned how to learn. I'm not a big fan of post-graduate degrees, but I can respect that taking that much school gives you a really good idea how to learn. The same goes for consulting. If you don't already have this skill, learn how to find out what you need to know. Now I'm making the assumption that your consulting work is programming-related and you aren't being pulled in as a business process improvement consultant or anything like that. Those kinds of projects don't typically go to students, no matter how many midichlorians they possess. If any of you have examples of work you've done in this realm, I would love to hear it though! And if you are doing this kind of work, your research will be much harder. This kind of research will be more dependent on learning the organization, so talk to as many folks in the company as you can- no matter what their level too. You never know what the intern or the support center specialist may know.

One of the greatest bits of advice I've ever received for succeeding as an entrepreneur is to "know your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses". This is definitely true for consulting and is an excellent way to rub that bullseye off. All of us have our own "element"- an environment that we thrive in and in which our talent shines. Unfortunately we also all have the opposite. Take me, for example. I have never been very good at phone conversations. I believe so much of a conversation is visual and un-spoken, and when I talk to someone on the phone I always feel like I'm losing 75% of the communication, especially since I consider myself a visual learner. Combine that with less than perfect hearing from years of "Smells like Teen Spirit" at 120 decibels, a short attention span, and a phone that never seems to know what it wants ("can you hear me now?"), and you have a recipe for disaster. I suppose I could turn down the alternative music, take Ritalin, and change my phone plan, but what's the point? I'd be fighting an uphill battle and denying who I am. It's much easier for me to know that this is a weakness of mine and compensate for it. As a result, I tend to stress email communication with clients and colleagues. Not only will I be able to communicate with them in a way that's more comfortable for me, but I also have a written record of their requirements! If any issue is too in depth for email, I will gladly make the trip out to see them for an in-person meeting. Anything to avoid that blasted phone.

The last bit of advice is by far the most important: use the experience of others to guide you. There just is no substitute for someone who has already crawled through those trenches, put out that fire, whacked that mole, and other various cliches. You can learn a lot from those with experience in the information technology consulting field. So where do you find anyone who will listen to you? Join a professional or trade organization, and most importantly, stay active in it! Don't expect to be all take and no give. These are people who can truly help you, but they need your participation to truly trust you and to want to help you. I highly recommend the Independent Computer Consultants Association. Main takeaway: whatever organization you choose, get involved in it. You won't regret it.

So while there is no entry level consultant position, there are definite ways we can get training "on the job". Just use your resources, work in a way that highlights your strengths, and leverage the experience of other consultants and you'll do fine.