What Type of Consultant Can I Be?

What Type of Consultant Can I Be?

Aha! So you've decided to get out of the rat race, good for you!! Now what?

As I mentioned before in my "7 Steps" article, you do have to decide what you want to be when you grow up before you decide to become a consultant. In theory and sometimes practice, you can be a consultant in ANY discipline, as long as you are an expert whose skills can be utilized to better manage a business, a home, or a life. Essentially, your job is to provide constructive advice, but quite often in the real world, you end up doing a lot of things that a consultant's job description doesn't overtly include! For example, a consultant often becomes a mediator/negotiator between two parties who don't agree, such as in a feasibility study, which is a fancy way of saying "let's see if this product/service fits our budget and company."

I really hate some of the generic labels attached to consulting - what in the world is a business process consultant? Whatever you want him/her to be, trust me! EVERY consultant will essentially be a "business process" consultant. So when you're deciding what you want to do, stay away from adopting generic HR labels created to make job postings sound more impressive, in my opinion, and which do not always describe what it is that you will actually be DOING!

First, narrow down your field (but not too much). "Huh?" you say. Well, you do want to be an expert at something, but with the reality of our job market you also want to keep your options open enough to be able to re-train if need be. You can be a consultant in any field, but some popular fields are

* IT (Information Technology, which includes both technical (software engineering) and functional (process and implementation) specialists)
* Marketing Consultant - which is a broad field that essentially helps develop new and improved marketing strategies.
* Human Resources Consultant - includes all aspects of HR including benefits, payroll, recruitment, retention, sometimes labor relations are included here.
* Design Consultant - big big field - any design, any kind of knowledge, may include architects, graphic designers, furniture or jewelry designers, or fine arts/engineering majors with good business skills. Take your pick.
* Management Consultant - again, this is one of those generic terms. If you take a dictionary, a management consultant is defined as "adviser to business about efficient management practices" (www.dictionary.com). This is also an important category if you are a Canadian applying for a TN visa to work in the US, and also one of the most difficult to obtain specifically because it's so diffuse.
* Project Manager - a leg up on the management consultant, a good project manager is usually very hard to find. Project Managers (see my article on 7 Steps) can work in any field, and they are usually the person who does just that - organizes a large project. This means PMs are usually the "blame it on" person, but many derive great satisfaction from being able to multi-task and address many issues at once.
* Communication Consultant - believe it or not, there is actually an Association of Professional Communication Consultants (http://www.consultingsuccess.org/), and they are probably the best resource on what they actually do. The consultants I am aware of, work in a variety of fields that have to do with writing, journalism, publishing, and web-oriented media.
* Alternative Technologies/Environmental Consultants - a very fast growing field of those of us interested in a greener world%u2026or at least A world in the future. This may include experts in alternative energy/fuel sources, green building design, etc.
* Manufacturing Consultant - again, a very general grouping for a very large field - this might include any number of technologists, engineers, industrial designers, etc. who have a set of skills necessary in a business venture.

Some real world examples:

An IT or HR consultant can specialize in a particular type of software, an example would be PeopleSoft or SAP, which both are utilized in HR to deal with payroll, benefits, recruitment, and other HR specialties. A marketing consultant can often be someone who is not necessarily a marketing specialist but rather someone with niche knowledge. What does that mean? Well let's say you are a teenage behaviour specialist (a psychologist or sociologist) and you can offer a company behavioural research data that will help them streamline their marketing process. You're probably going to get hired if you can convince them that your knowledge has some value to both the company and the consumer.

Second, narrow it down further until you identify the skill set you want to address. For example, think about your past employment, volunteer work or any other organizational involvement - were there processes that didn't work? Did you have constructive, specific ideas on improving them? Were that this specific you ever asked or told by an employer issue could use expert involvement? Read blogs, newspaper articles in business papers and magazines, trade publications, and talk to people around you who are involved in a discipline you're interested in. Check out government publications on fast growing areas (many abound), and decide on what you want to be doing in 10 years. Most of all, don't choose something you don't like or have no idea how to do - some people are really good at pretending they're experts, but that will last only until you come across a real expert, and you don't want to take that hit to your reputation.

Third, scan employment websites, newspaper ads to see what the consulting positions you are interested in pays, and what kind of fields your skills seem most utilized. Don't be afraid of alternative fields - 10 years ago no one cared about alternative energy sources and now those environmental type jobs are booming.

The bottom line is this - you could probably be a "Sewing Machine Utilization Consultant" if you really wanted to, and could sell yourself and what you can do for someone well. The point is you need to do some research, see what the companies out there look for, and make sure htat you have a SPECIFIC skill to offer. Wishy washy "I am a consultant" statements mean nothing and tell the person you want to hire you nothing about what you can DO for the company. The bottom line is almost always monetary, and so be prepared to explain how your particular brand of consultancy can benefit them aka. make them more money, or make the money-making process more streamlined or save them lots of money - you get the point. Also remember that a wedding planner is, essentially, a consultant as well, so learn to think and define yourself outside the box.