From Software Developer to Technical Consultant
Discussion
Hi,
I did exactly this almost 5 years ago. I'd spent 11 years working on ERP development, first for a large life assurance company then for a mid-tier accountancy and on the whole enjoyed my roles. I'd never fancied contracting as I like the relative security of a permie role... And then I was made redundant!
Luckily a friend of mine worked for a small consultancy (16 people at the time) that specialised in the same ERP software I had been a senior developer of,offered me a job and I've not looked back.
In my opinion, consulting is a "hard sell" as it can be the worst aspects of a permie role and contracting: You get the lower wage of a permie role but with the expectation that you will work where required. So why not just go contracting?
Well, the pros and cons of consulting (compared to my previous permie role) for me are:
Pros
- I have learned a huge amount since consulting. I am expected to be the expert in everything (not just want my permie employers think I should be developing) so you have to learn a lot.
- I develop on the latest versions/platforms, not the out-of-date platform of a permie employer.
- I get to push the boundaries. We like to push our software further than it was meant to go (either with functionality, rebuilding the GUI, interfaces etc) so we get to "play around" with ideas that can be used on the next sales pitch.
- The team. I'm lucky to work for a great company with some of the best experts in our area of ERP. We all have a similar "can do" attitude to work and help each other out.
- Our clients are usually very receptive to consultants working remotely (especially as it reduces the expenses charged to them!), so I get to work at home a lot.
- Travel expenses are chargeable to the client (I Used to pay around £250 a month for a travelcard to get to work, so that's quite a saving for me)
Cons
- There is always the potential for me to need to work away from home (UK only, but still...). That said, my company are very respectful of individual's desires and I've not yet done more than the odd single night away.
- Although my salary and bonus are better than I used to get, the additional benefits aren't quite at the same level yet. This is more down to the size of my company, but we are growing pretty quickly and this is being improved upon all the time
- Due to the size of my company, the opportunities for career progression are more limited that working for a 3000+ employee company, but again that is improving as we grow.
Things that I thought would be cons but aren't
- I thought I'd end up on client sites, expected to be an expert and have no one to turn to if I couldn't resolve an issue. However, as I said, I have a great team of very good peers that I can sound out about ideas or problems. We use various means of communications to great effect to ensure no-one ever feels alone, even if they are the only consultant on site
- Having only worked for 2 companies previously, the idea of constantly joining new clients was daunting at first. However, after a couple of clients I actually got a buzz out of joining a new client as "the expert", whether I was on my own or part of an implementation team my company had put in to the site.
Hope that is of some help but please feel free to ask if you would like any more info
I did exactly this almost 5 years ago. I'd spent 11 years working on ERP development, first for a large life assurance company then for a mid-tier accountancy and on the whole enjoyed my roles. I'd never fancied contracting as I like the relative security of a permie role... And then I was made redundant!
Luckily a friend of mine worked for a small consultancy (16 people at the time) that specialised in the same ERP software I had been a senior developer of,offered me a job and I've not looked back.
In my opinion, consulting is a "hard sell" as it can be the worst aspects of a permie role and contracting: You get the lower wage of a permie role but with the expectation that you will work where required. So why not just go contracting?
Well, the pros and cons of consulting (compared to my previous permie role) for me are:
Pros
- I have learned a huge amount since consulting. I am expected to be the expert in everything (not just want my permie employers think I should be developing) so you have to learn a lot.
- I develop on the latest versions/platforms, not the out-of-date platform of a permie employer.
- I get to push the boundaries. We like to push our software further than it was meant to go (either with functionality, rebuilding the GUI, interfaces etc) so we get to "play around" with ideas that can be used on the next sales pitch.
- The team. I'm lucky to work for a great company with some of the best experts in our area of ERP. We all have a similar "can do" attitude to work and help each other out.
- Our clients are usually very receptive to consultants working remotely (especially as it reduces the expenses charged to them!), so I get to work at home a lot.
- Travel expenses are chargeable to the client (I Used to pay around £250 a month for a travelcard to get to work, so that's quite a saving for me)
Cons
- There is always the potential for me to need to work away from home (UK only, but still...). That said, my company are very respectful of individual's desires and I've not yet done more than the odd single night away.
- Although my salary and bonus are better than I used to get, the additional benefits aren't quite at the same level yet. This is more down to the size of my company, but we are growing pretty quickly and this is being improved upon all the time
- Due to the size of my company, the opportunities for career progression are more limited that working for a 3000+ employee company, but again that is improving as we grow.
Things that I thought would be cons but aren't
- I thought I'd end up on client sites, expected to be an expert and have no one to turn to if I couldn't resolve an issue. However, as I said, I have a great team of very good peers that I can sound out about ideas or problems. We use various means of communications to great effect to ensure no-one ever feels alone, even if they are the only consultant on site
- Having only worked for 2 companies previously, the idea of constantly joining new clients was daunting at first. However, after a couple of clients I actually got a buzz out of joining a new client as "the expert", whether I was on my own or part of an implementation team my company had put in to the site.
Hope that is of some help but please feel free to ask if you would like any more info
Hopefully not a problem to jump in on this thread(!) but I found your reply very illuminating as a permie...
Couple of additional queries if I could?
How long do you tend to work on projects for? (Or is this a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" query?) Perhaps to rephrase - do you tend to be given entire projects to oversee from start to finish that you consult on or you may be given small specific tasks to complete contractor-style.
With contracting, you're somewhat expected to handle your own life. Holidays is on your dime. Training is on your dime. Everything except your actual work is on your dime! (well, I realise sometimes this varies). How does this sort of stuff work when consulting?
Ta!
Couple of additional queries if I could?
How long do you tend to work on projects for? (Or is this a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" query?) Perhaps to rephrase - do you tend to be given entire projects to oversee from start to finish that you consult on or you may be given small specific tasks to complete contractor-style.
With contracting, you're somewhat expected to handle your own life. Holidays is on your dime. Training is on your dime. Everything except your actual work is on your dime! (well, I realise sometimes this varies). How does this sort of stuff work when consulting?
Ta!
Mrdini said:
Hopefully not a problem to jump in on this thread(!) but I found your reply very illuminating as a permie...
Couple of additional queries if I could?
How long do you tend to work on projects for? (Or is this a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" query?) Perhaps to rephrase - do you tend to be given entire projects to oversee from start to finish that you consult on or you may be given small specific tasks to complete contractor-style.
With contracting, you're somewhat expected to handle your own life. Holidays is on your dime. Training is on your dime. Everything except your actual work is on your dime! (well, I realise sometimes this varies). How does this sort of stuff work when consulting?
Ta!
1. Depends on the size of the consultancy company you work for, the project/task they are given and your experience/seniority in the company. I've done everything from a specific small task to being on a project from inception to go-live and live support.Couple of additional queries if I could?
How long do you tend to work on projects for? (Or is this a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" query?) Perhaps to rephrase - do you tend to be given entire projects to oversee from start to finish that you consult on or you may be given small specific tasks to complete contractor-style.
With contracting, you're somewhat expected to handle your own life. Holidays is on your dime. Training is on your dime. Everything except your actual work is on your dime! (well, I realise sometimes this varies). How does this sort of stuff work when consulting?
Ta!
2. If you're employed by a consultancy it's the same as being a permie - you get holiday, sick, training (yeah, right - only if it can be charged to the client), travel expenses.
I used to be a technical consultant for PwC then IBM and am now a contractor as at the time IBM had no technical consultancy career path (and massive bureaucracy overheads!).
ewenm said:
1. Depends on the size of the consultancy company you work for, the project/task they are given and your experience/seniority in the company. I've done everything from a specific small task to being on a project from inception to go-live and live support.
Agreed. Since joining my company my projects have been:- 3 months during the middle of an implementation (being handled by a larger consultancy), working on specific tasks to get me up to speed with consulting and our products (we've built custom add ons for the ERP system we implement)
- 1 year from inception to UAT phase on a large multinational implementation being run by Accenture (offering expertise Accenture were unable to)
- 3 months specific task (performance testing/tuning a particular set of transactions for a client where the implementation partners did not have the expertise)
- 2 years basically as a contractor on a company's in-house run project
- 6 months (build - go-live) on an implementation we were running (so part of a team of my colleagues)
Currently working on an implementation we are running, started in June and will probably roll off when the project goes live early next year.
ewenm said:
2. If you're employed by a consultancy it's the same as being a permie - you get holiday, sick, training (yeah, right - only if it can be charged to the client), travel expenses.
Yep, although we are actively encouraged to use our training budget but, being a techie that tends to learn on the job, I rarely do.ewenm said:
I used to be a technical consultant for PwC then IBM and am now a contractor as at the time IBM had no technical consultancy career path (and massive bureaucracy overheads!).
Would be interested in your thoughts of working with the big consultancies as, in my experience of working with Accenture, they seem to have the manpower but not really the expertise. That of course does not stop them (over) charging the earth! The consultants always seem very stressed and target driven, and they are very defensive to any criticism!wiggy001 said:
Would be interested in your thoughts of working with the big consultancies as, in my experience of working with Accenture, they seem to have the manpower but not really the expertise. That of course does not stop them (over) charging the earth! The consultants always seem very stressed and target driven, and they are very defensive to any criticism!
Bodyshops. As in they recruit grads from the top universities, give them basic training and then throw them at project grunt work. That was my "grad-hire" experience with PwC. We were expected to work long hours (mainly for show but also because we were inexperienced so tasks took longer than they should). On the more remote projects there was a great camaraderie between consultants and very much a "work hard, play hard" culture when staying away. Some took it further than others of course - a couple of months in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2000 got pretty messy by the end for some.There's an interesting section in Matthew Syed's book "Bounce" about the difference between "talent" led working cultures and "knowledge" led cultures. Accenture/PwC definitely recruited grads on a "talent" basis which generates the defensive attitude you experienced.
For me PwC and IBM were useful in giving me the skills and experience I now use as a contractor. The bureaucracy and "long hours = hard work" attitude was something I tolerated until I was able to leave and regain a decent work-life balance. I'm working with IBM again now as a contractor but the project is fairly mature so there are only a few of the old "long hours" dinosaurs around and as a contractor I can happily plan my own time to get tasks done.
ewenm said:
Bodyshops. As in they recruit grads from the top universities, give them basic training and then throw them at project grunt work. That was my "grad-hire" experience with PwC. We were expected to work long hours (mainly for show but also because we were inexperienced so tasks took longer than they should). On the more remote projects there was a great camaraderie between consultants and very much a "work hard, play hard" culture when staying away. Some took it further than others of course - a couple of months in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2000 got pretty messy by the end for some.
There's an interesting section in Matthew Syed's book "Bounce" about the difference between "talent" led working cultures and "knowledge" led cultures. Accenture/PwC definitely recruited grads on a "talent" basis which generates the defensive attitude you experienced.
For me PwC and IBM were useful in giving me the skills and experience I now use as a contractor. The bureaucracy and "long hours = hard work" attitude was something I tolerated until I was able to leave and regain a decent work-life balance. I'm working with IBM again now as a contractor but the project is fairly mature so there are only a few of the old "long hours" dinosaurs around and as a contractor I can happily plan my own time to get tasks done.
Thanks for responding ewenm, appreciated.There's an interesting section in Matthew Syed's book "Bounce" about the difference between "talent" led working cultures and "knowledge" led cultures. Accenture/PwC definitely recruited grads on a "talent" basis which generates the defensive attitude you experienced.
For me PwC and IBM were useful in giving me the skills and experience I now use as a contractor. The bureaucracy and "long hours = hard work" attitude was something I tolerated until I was able to leave and regain a decent work-life balance. I'm working with IBM again now as a contractor but the project is fairly mature so there are only a few of the old "long hours" dinosaurs around and as a contractor I can happily plan my own time to get tasks done.
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