IT consultant

territt · 27 Sep 2009 at 17:50

Hey guys, i know some of you work in IT so i thought i would pick your brains, ive been working in it - Desktop support manly since finishing uni 3 years ago, i did a computer networking degree and i should have my ccna soon but im starting to feel like i should think more about my career and earning more money so ive been looking around and really fancy the idea of working as a IT consultant, im woundering how to get into this? ive searched for Junior IT consultant type roles but dont seem to be getting far? any ideas?

what sort of money does this pay? at the moment ive working in london City and earn about 25 plus yearly bonus, am i likely to loss money in the short term?

J.B · 27 Sep 2009 at 17:54

Good money, but I dont think at 22 ish you'd be that able to get in to it.

I work with information security consultants and the youngest is 30ish.

I would say try and move towards server managment, network design and things like that then in a few years consultancy might be more viable.

Sorry to wee on your fire.

Hamish · 27 Sep 2009 at 18:01

I'm an IT consultant, working with financial software for our clients in London. I started straight after uni at 21 so it would definitely be possible for you to get into it. IMO the best route would be to go in through a graduate scheme with someone like Deloitte, Logica, Accenture or IBM as they generally pay ok (25-30k starting salary) and they will train you up well and you will be working with other graduates. Once you've got a couple of years under your belt they pay will go up and a senior consultant could easily be earning upwards of 40k after a few years.

Hamish

palmy · 27 Sep 2009 at 18:20

If you want to be a proper IT consultant then you need a lot more experience and grounding in IT first. Like another poster suggested, trying to move across/up and work in network and server teams would be a good start. There will be a great deal you need to learn that at the moment it is not possible for you to comprehend in your current role.

There is no definitive age or experience level. Obviously you need a good deal of relevant and different experience however I've found that you either have or don't have that little extra required to be a consultant.

Some people have a natural affinity to IT and coupled with experience are great consultants, however others with lots of experience may not 'get it' and make poor consultants.

Software/Product consultants are not proper IT consultants and the term consultant is handed around far too easily, its almost as tainted as 'Engineer'.

dowie · 27 Sep 2009 at 18:21

Hamish said:
IMO the best route would be to go in through a graduate scheme with someone like Deloitte, Logica, Accenture or IBM as they generally pay ok (25-30k starting salary) and they will train you up well and you will be working with other graduates. Once you've got a couple of years under your belt they pay will go up and a senior consultant could easily be earning upwards of 40k after a few years.

or work for a financial software vendor - get to know the systems properly and then contract for say £400 - £800 a day after a few years experience - £400 a day is achievable after say 2-3 years if you have the balls to do it.

Mr^B · 27 Sep 2009 at 18:43

It depends what you mean by IT Consultant, because I don't think anyone knows what it means really.

What do you want to be doing, and how much do you want to be earning?

territt · 27 Sep 2009 at 18:44

dowie said:
or work for a financial software vendor - get to know the systems properly and then contract for say £400 - £800 a day after a few years experience - £400 a day is achievable after say 2-3 years if you have the balls to do it.

I work for a financial software vendor as the moment doing internal support so i guess i could move across in that but i really dont have any real interest in the financial markets and i dont want to be a good i dont find interesting. thanks for all the replys guys.

dangerstat · 27 Sep 2009 at 18:46

How many IT consultants does it take to change a light bulb?

462946 to advise on the business change implications of light bulb changing, 1842 to document the business process and 1 to actually change the light bulb.

Why anyone would actually want to be an IT consultant is a mystery to me :S

Bar · 27 Sep 2009 at 18:51

dangerstat said:
How many IT consultants does it take to change a light bulb?

462946 to advise on the business change implications of light bulb changing, 1842 to document the business process and 1 to actually change the light bulb.

Why anyone would actually want to be an IT consultant is a mystery to me :S

lots of money, very little effort required and virutally no accountability - sounds like an easy life to me

Dutchman · 27 Sep 2009 at 18:55

Bar said:
lots of money, very little effort required and virutally no accountability - sounds like an easy life to me

+1
I'm tired of "consultants" and managers, all they do is take the credit for the hard work the rest of us do

~J~ · 27 Sep 2009 at 18:56

The vast majority of IT Consultants I know should have 6 letters removed from the "consultants".

Don't get me wrong, there are some out there that are very good, and are actually a valuable asset when a business needs to move forward but doesn't have the inhouse knowledge and is unsure of what's available and more importantly just what tool is for what job.

But simply knowing a bit about IT doesn't make someone a consultant.

To OP, good luck, but as others have said, I think it will be a good number of years before you 'should' consider yourself as a consultant.

territt · 27 Sep 2009 at 18:59

Mr^B said:
What do you want to be doing, and how much do you want to be earning?

Not really sure, i really dont want to be doing support any more, thinking more like IT project work.

Money, like anyone i want to earn as much as possible

lol, i dont really want to drop much on what im earning at the moment but i would like my pay to be heading upwards over the next 2-5 years, i dont mind doing long hours for the money, at the moment im leaving my house at 6am and not getting home till 7:30pm or later.

Mr^B · 27 Sep 2009 at 20:14

It sounds like you don't really want to be a consultant, but you do want to move away from support work into project work. That's fine, you don't need to be a consultant to move away from "support" to "implement".

In all my years, I've met ONE consultant who was worth the money. The reason? He listened to people and understood their problems and essentially empowered the team to make its own decisions, rather than dictating.

Unfortunately this type of consultant is VERY rare, but it's a good example of what a consultant *should* be.

You don't want to be a consultant, you just want to move away from support work.

Stolly · 27 Sep 2009 at 20:29

Jeez i wish the word "Consultant" would just un-invent itself. Its become totally meaningless, and i'm someone who had the word in his job title for 7 years or so.

Mr^B · 27 Sep 2009 at 21:06

Stolly said:
Jeez i wish the word "Consultant" would just un-invent itself. Its become totally meaningless, and i'm someone who had the word in his job title for 7 years or so.

How would you describe your role as a consultant then?

I started life as an IT consultant at an IT Services company. I didn't really know what it meant then...and I'm still not sure...

Stolly · 27 Sep 2009 at 21:13

Mr^B said:
How would you describe your role as a consultant then?

I started life as an IT consultant at an IT Services company. I didn't really know what it meant then...and I'm still not sure...

Yeah thats what i did. We'd work with a customer through a sales person initially to indentify the need, and propose the solution. If you got the business you'd then do a detailed design and implementation plan and then typically go on to implement the thing.

Then you'd see "Nail Consultants" "Hair Consultants" and "Recriutment Consultants" and even blooming "Consultants" flogging phone contracts from call centers.

Yeah, that word is dead to me.

In fact i start a role tomorrow called "Design and Build Analyst" for a financial services multinational and its a job title i'm more than happy with.

oli collett · 27 Sep 2009 at 21:47

dangerstat said:
Why anyone would actually want to be an IT consultant is a mystery to me :S

Half the problem with consultancy is the number of people who call themselves consultants who aren't. A consultant should be very knowledgeable in their field and should have the ideal personal skills.

I enjoy the job - fun, challenging, it can be hard work and long hours depending on clients but it's all good. You do get some types who are straight out of uni, stuck on various training courses then sent on site to be an "expert" when really they're just there to make a quick buck for their company. Other firms will get consultants on site to spend half their time working out how to make money out of the client.

So yeah, you get good and bad consultants but it's the same with any business. If you think you've got the right skills and fancy a challenge, I say go for it, but i'd be wary of working for some of the bigger IT consultancies without having a lot of experience under your belt.

Cybergangster · 27 Sep 2009 at 23:00

J.B said:
Good money, but I dont think at 22 ish you'd be that able to get in to it.

I work with information security consultants and the youngest is 30ish.

I would say try and move towards server managment, network design and things like that then in a few years consultancy might be more viable.

Sums up my thoughts exactly.

Ev0 · 27 Sep 2009 at 23:02

oli collett said:
Half the problem with consultancy is the number of people who call themselves consultants who aren't. A consultant should be very knowledgeable in their field and should have the ideal personal skills.

Exactly. To me a consultant is someone who has a very broad knowledge of the field but has specialist knowledge of his chosen area.

You need to specialise imho to be a consultant, so first thing I'd say is what do you want to be a consultant of?

dowie · 27 Sep 2009 at 23:46

surely a consultant is just someone who consults

I.e. the people working in the implementation roles are the consultants. They're not creating software and neither are they supporting it (well perhaps they are to an extent pre-go live) but mostly they are advising/consulting on how to use it/set it up. Basically having meetings with the clients, configuring the stuff to suit their business and maybe training people.

They might have come from the software vendor or they might be independent contractors or people working for 3rd party consultancy firms. Either way if the role is advising/consulting then I think 'consultant' is a fair job description and I certainly wouldn't take it to mean they are supposedly an 'expert' in any particular area unless you happen to be paying a significant amount for their time.