How to Break Into Freelance Consulting - Part 1

Introduction

According to Wikipedia “A consultant is usually an expert or a professional in a specific field and has a wide knowledge of the subject matter. A consultant usually works for a consultancy firm or is self-employed, and engages with multiple and changing clients.”

In this exciting 3 part article I’m going to share with you my very own insider secrets and skills that I’ve learnt and developed over 15 years of hard work as to what makes a successful consultant.  I’m going to show you what is exactly needed to break into the lucrative world of IT consulting and how to get your CV/resume to the top of the pile, some of these tips are so effective you will have the agencies calling you with work; you’ll never have to look for a job again!

Part 1 will focus on my own experience as a consultant developed over 15 years of hard work.  Part 2 will detail what qualities you need to be successful as a consultant and part 3 will explain how to get the most out of your career as a consultant and how to actually get into consulting.

My Story

Believe it or not, I wasn’t actually born an IT consultant, I left school at 15 with few qualifications and one of my teachers told me I’d never amount to anything!  My first job in IT was working for a friend of the family helping out at a local IT company during the weekends with wiping hard drives, installing operating systems and software.  The job was very tedious and boring but it did give me sufficient experience for my CV/resume.

Let me firstly start by detailing my career to date.

Before coming to Networks Inc as the new CEO (many thanks to Paul Browning for the great opportunity) I was a working as a senior freelance network consultant on a secure government project, earning in excess of £500 a day! (Keep reading and I’ll show you how).

Up to this point I had been privileged to work for some of the best technology companies in the world, to name a few, I’ve worked as a consultant for:

• Cisco

• Hewlett Packard

• BT

• SKY

• Fujitsu

• Computacenter

• Lucent

• Getronics

• EDS

How It All Began

I started working part-time in IT when I was 15 and then got a full-time job at 17 working for my local council on Microsoft, UNIX and Cisco technologies.  At first I focused my career towards Microsoft products (I struggled to get to grips with Cisco at first), gaining my MCSE in NT4.0, a couple of years later I was presented with another opportunity to work on Cisco and networking for EDS.  This time I was more mature and ready to take on the challenge, I worked and studied hard towards my CCNA however never actually took the exam, a big mistake!  I actually find studying for exams very hard, it’s difficult to sit down for 2-3 hours every night but I knew how important the certifications were to have to improve my career, as I’m sure you do to.

I left EDS to take a Microsoft consulting job (which had lots of exposure to Cisco) and learnt a lot from this job, the crucial thing I learnt is to know you’re limits!  You can’t be expected to know everything, you’ll earn far more respect for admitting you don’t know how to do something (and show a willingness to learn) rather than saying you do and getting yourself into trouble.

 

An Easy Choice

Two years later, I was offered a fantastic opportunity to work for Cisco Systems in their TAC, the pinnacle of technical environments.  I was very fortunate as my Microsoft skills were good and I had already gained some exposure to Cisco, they knew the importance of having someone with a rounded set of skills and were happy to help develop my Cisco skills further.  Of course I jumped at the chance even though I was taking a £12,000+ pay cut and losing a company car.  I knew even back then that Cisco was the way forward if I wanted to increase my earning potential to another level.  Whilst at Cisco I studied harder than ever to pass my CCNA, but that was just the first step, I was actively encouraged to study for the CCNP, something I never dreamt of achieving.  I am positive to this day that obtaining my CCNA was pivotal to my career development but in order to become a consultant (my ultimate career goal) I needed to be at a higher level of knowledge, the CCNP is what gave me the necessary skills.  I actually went on to study for my CCIE, but to this day I still believe that you do not need a CCIE to be a successful consultant, it is better to be more rounded in your knowledge.

I get asked quite frequently on courses I teach how I personally studied for my Cisco certifications.  I’m proud (and sad) to say that I did all of my CCNA and CCNP studying myself through sheer hard work and effort, I would have loved to have gone on a course but at the time all the courses around were in excess of £2500 ($5000) for each course and I needed 5 of them!  That was more than half my annual salary. (This is one of the reasons why I believe so strongly in Networks Inc)

The Rewards

After almost 3 great years at Cisco they decided to move the TAC to the Far East so it was time to move on.  I had no problems finding a job with my Cisco and Microsoft experience armed with my CCNP; I was offered several positions finally settling on a senior role working for Computacenter as a consultant earning £55,000 ($110,000) basic plus benefits.  I worked on many great projects at Computacenter, but after 2 years I decided the time had come for me to go freelance (contracting), something I’d soon learn I should have done sooner.  My first contract paid £400 ($800) a day (3 years ago), Cisco skills have and always will be in high demand, so much so that rates are high and very consistent, unlike Microsoft skills where there can be a huge difference in rates for similar jobs at differing times of the year.

My day rate was based on a number of key factors, my experience, my qualifications and my attitude.  These are all very important, especially your attitude, if you’re a positive, proactive person who does a good job you will be recommended for future work, this is key!  The more senior and experienced you become in the networking arena the more your reputation will precede you.  As I mentioned earlier, when I stopped full-time consulting to move to Networks Inc I was earning in excess of £500 ($1000) a day, if I worked weekends my rates were £900 ($1800) a day!  (So much for not amounting to anything, I was earning more in 3 months than my teacher earned in a year).

In Part 2 we’ll look at what skills and qualities you need and what your attitude should be like to make it as a successful consultant.  I'm also going to share with you the biggest and most fatal 3 mistakes made by new IT consultants which I've personally seen and discovered over my 15 year career.

About Stuart Juggins

Stuart Juggins is the CEO of Networks Inc Ltd, who have been teaching Cisco courses in the UK since 2002. Customers include BT, Shell, British Army, Jaguar, Ford and many many more. Stuart lives in Luton, Bedfordshire with his wife and son. Stuart is available for personal one-to-one coaching and mentoring to help ensure you pass your Cisco exams on your very first attempt.