How to Break Into Freelance Consulting - Part 2

Welcome back to this exclusive 3 part article on how to break into the prestigious world of IT consulting.

In part 1 we looked at my own personal experiences as a successful network consultant, how I made the jump, and what the rewards were.  In part 2 we’re going to look at the key skills and qualities you need to possess to make a success of your career as a consultant, including the 3 biggest and most fatal consulting mistakes you must avoid:

• Undervaluing

• Overestimation

• Positioning

Skills, Qualities, Attitude

Let‘s start by talking about the key qualities and skills you need as a consultant to ensure you’re a success.

Skills

When I talk about skills you might immediately start to think about your own technical skills, but this is only half the story.  It is undeniable that technically you must be very good, but what’s the point in having all this knowledge if you’re unable to convey information to prospective customers about key issues?  As a successful consultant you must be able to approach customers on their level, if they’re a technical manager great, engage them in the finer details of the technical issues at hand, but what if they’re the Managing Director?  You need to be able to speak to the customer in a manner they easily understand, usually this will require you explaining a very technical issue in laymen’s terms, often using examples from their own field of expertise to explain the problem and solution required.

Qualities

Next let’s take a look at the key qualities you’ll need to develop so you can excel as an IT consultant.  When I mention qualities, it’s obvious that we’re talking about quality of work but more specifically we’re talking about the qualities required to not only complete the job well but exceed the customers’ expectations.  It’s essential that you either already are, or learn to be a proactive and committed individual when it comes to consulting, customers will look to you for answers and solutions and you need to be able to deliver.  In my own experience when working on a project I always try to look at the problem from the customers’ perspective, by being proactive and looking at all elements of the issue and trying to think outside the box will allow you to discover the correct solution quickly.  I know many excellent technical engineers that have failed to make it as consultants because they get too caught up in the finer details of the problem and can’t take a step back and assess the problem from different angles.

Attitude

You're attitude towards your work, customer and career is of paramount importance when you work as a consultant.  To make a success of your new exclusive career consulting you need to make sure your attitude is always at the forefront of your mind, you need to try and remain positive and focused when everything around you is failing. I can guarantee that when you are working as a consultant you will be faced with an urgent issue that you have never seen before or have no clue how to fix, the difference is that you will remain calm, focused and positive towards finding a solution and above all have great belief in your own ability to find a solution.  I've seen it happen many many times with so called experienced consultants, they're tasked with producing a required result and because they have no idea how, they start to worry and panic, self doubt sets in and they start to think "oh my god, how am I going to fix this", that is a big mistake!  I've been in the same situation dozens of times, but because of my attitude (more so than my experience) I'm able to think clearly, calmly and remain focused, I'm always confident in my own ability to fix the given problem and it hasn't let me down yet.

Avoid the 3 biggest and most fatal mistakes ALL new Consultants make

Now we've covered the key qualities and skills you need, I want to finish by showing you the 3 biggest and most fatal insider mistakes made by all new IT consultants.

Undervaluing

The first fatal mistake new IT consultants make is to undervalue themselves, their skills and their experience.  I'm not for a moment suggesting when you negotiate for your first consulting role that you greatly exaggerate what your rate should be.  If you're going for your first consulting role (contract) after getting your CCNP, don't expect to receive £450 ($900) a day, a realistic amount in today’s market is more likely to be £3-350 ($6-700). You will receive a higher day rate when you've established yourself as a good, reliable and professional consultant.  Likewise, most new consultants are keen to get experience and will undervalue themselves, it's taken a lot of hard work to get to where you are now so don't go settling for £200 ($400) a day contracts, that's a difference of £750 ($1500) a week, or £3000 ($6000) a month!  The problem is that if you decide to accept a low rate, when it comes to renewing the contract the chances are you won't be able to negotiate up (very very rare), only ever down as the customer wants to save money.  To keep track of the current market rates for contracting and permanent rates, just do a search on Jobserve (http://www.jobserve.com), of course working in a major city will always pay more than working in the countryside.

Overestimation

The second fatal mistake new IT consultants make is to overestimate their abilities when quoting or searching for consulting projects.  It is always better to say no to work as you're too busy (never admit to the prospective customer you're not confident to take on the project) rather than take the project on, make many mistakes and gain a bad reputation.  The consulting field is a niche market and quite small when compared to the amount of engineers and support people there are doing normal desktop and network support, as such any reputation you develop will precede you wherever you go, good or bad!

Positioning

Finally the third fatal mistake made by IT consultants is they fail to position themselves in their respective market correctly.  As a consultant a good majority of your work can come from referrals and repeat business, this will only happen if you position yourself with the right contact and companies.  You will inevitably have to find your first consulting role yourself (unless somebody knows you are about to go consulting) but when you are searching about for work (looking on www.jobserve.com) get used to striking a good relationship with the agencies and companies you contact.  If you make a good impression and position yourself as being a dynamic, dependable consultant they will definitely remember you for future work, even if you are suitable for the position you're enquiring about.  I personally have only dealt with 3 different agencies for the past 6 years due to the way I positioned and marketed myself, they know I do a good job and are happy to recommend me to their customers.

In Part 3 we’re going to look at how to get the most out of your new chosen career as an IT consultant and crucially, what steps do you actually need to take to find that all important first freelance consulting contract.

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.