Way to Go in IT Consulting

IT is shaking, expanding, and transforming. In fact, IT is the most dynamic industry where workers are forced to move around frequently. Like it or not, if you choose IT as your career, you’d better prepared to change. since you have to change anyway, IT consulting can be a great career for you. With just a little more change, — work, locations, projects, customers, you can get a big payback, — you get paid more money to gain more skills and experience more quickly which in turn bring you more money, again and again, really a good deal.  I hope this article can give you some insights of IT consulting and help you make smart career decisions.

Should you do IT

IT is a great career, it is a sunrise industry. If you are choosing career, join IT; if you are already in IT, stay and grow. Look, while the economy goes up and down, IT is expanding all the time. Plus, the impending retirement of baby boomers and an insufficient supply of skilled workers have caused a worldwide technology talent shortage that is expected to intensify over the next decade.

In an industry that continues to add jobs, companies of all sizes are having difficulty recruiting and retaining highly skilled IT candidates. Even in today’s slow economy, many companies still plan to add full-time IT staff. On top of that, some 64 million baby boomers, or more than 40% of the U.S. workforce, are quickly approaching retirement age. Meanwhile, fewer college students are choosing to major in computer science, engineering and mathematics to refill the ranks.

In short, IT is in ever higher demand.

Ride the trend

With outsourcing and offshore in headlines almost daily, many IT workers give up traditional corporate jobs and join the consulting workforce. When companies outsource IT operations to consulting firms, IT workers there will lose their jobs anyway, so why not act now? Many experienced IT professionals found it is an ideal time to consider career shift to consulting in today’s competitive environment. Whether it’s viewed as a bridge to eventual retirement or as an open-ended career change, consulting is breathing fresh air into many successful IT careers.

Outsourcing is not the only cause of job shifting to consulting. Many companies simply cannot get qualified workers thus they have to hire consulting firms to do the work. Employers are especially hard-pressed to find and retain workers with skills that can’t be obtained through a quick certification course or a couple of years on the job — such as the ability to think strategically, lead projects, manage teams and mentor less-experienced staff. In response, smart companies are turning to consultants and project professionals. You see, in-house work or consulting, you make the choice.

Who should do IT consulting

If you have experience, go consulting – Consulting means experience. There is no entry level consulting job. Only seasoned IT professionals can leverage the experience they’ve built up over the years and take a chance to explore new specialties in the fast-paced industry.

If you need money, go consulting – Consultants can continue to earn a substantial income while building a career that accommodates their changing personal needs.

If you want flexibility, go consulting – In consulting jobs, engagement lengths and work schedules can vary, providing flexibility for those with personal aspirations or obligations, such as spending more time with family or caring for aging parents.

If you like challenge, go consulting – Consulting enables IT professionals to explore new work environments, industries and technologies. Every engagement is different, and consultants can choose the types of projects they enjoy most.

Take advantages of consulting

Good things happen in consulting. First, your paycheck is bigger. How much bigger? Here’s a real life example. David worked for the State of California as a Senior Programmer Analyst with annual salary of $75,000. After 6 years he quit the State job, joined a consulting firm, and come back to work for the same State agency on the same project as a consultant. Since he had worked for the State for more than 5 years, he still has his pension. The best part is, as a consultant doing the same job, he get paid $80 per hour, that’s more than twice of his previous salary even after deducing his insurance and other expenses.

That’s not all. David get a lot of overtime hours. Because public workers are usually very nice, David is allowed to report overtime without really working much. Remind you, that’s the State of California and it’s people money. No wonder the State workers’ union is pushing regulations for outsourcing auditing. Any way, IT consultants can make 6-figure income easily.

In addition to maney, consultants take other advantages as well. Usually IT workers hate things like office politics, now they can get ride of it. Many IT consultants discover that consulting career allows them to shed some of the less enjoyable aspects of their work, such as dealing with ongoing office politics. Engagements with fixed deadlines and well-defined goals can remind IT consultants why they became passionate about IT in the first place.

For many high-level technology professionals such as CIOs and CTOs, consulting is a perfect way of transition to retirement. They enjoy the flexibility of or project-based work with high compensision.

Some concerns on consulting career

It is commonly mentioned that consulting career is not good for those who want job security and financial stability. This is not quite true. There is no longer so called “job security” any way. What you should look for is “career security”, that means you can stay on your career by move from one job to another when one job does not work. Consulting career gives you good opportunity to build skills and experience faster thus you gain better career security. In consulting career you may change companies and assignments but you never lose your career (and paycheck as well).

As for financial stability, since you can make one day’s living by half-day work, you are better off even if you only work half-time. Many IT workers worried economy down-turn, but the fact is, when the economy slows down and companies freeze hiring or even lay off workers, they often hire more consultants, — someone has to do the job. That’s why consultants can always find work in slow economy.

Talk about stability, what about insurance, retirement, etc.? While, health insurance is getting more expensive and even hard to get. This is a national issue. Many consulting firms want to help ease the financial uncertainty of consulting by providing access to health care plans and even vacation or bonus pay. You see, they want you to work. As for retirement, 401K is a standard. don’t think of pension plans, they all gone except for a few places like the State of California (the CalPeers pension is still available if you become a CA public worker by 2010).

Of course, there are concerns beyond money. Many corporate workers enjoy working on a steady position and they feel the camaraderie of familiar team members irreplaceable. Others who enjoy their hard-earned prestige may not be keen on earning the respect of a new set of colleagues on each project. In this case, don’t consult until you change your attitude.

Consulting job can be more stressful. It requires you to hit the ground running at the client company — you need to be comfortable meeting new people, able to adjust to new office cultures and excited by new challenges. If you’re not, or if you simply prefer a steady routine, consulting might not be the best option for you.

For most IT professionals, consulting is a career option worth checking. If it is not immediate move for you, it may be a future possibility. Who knows what is going to happen tomorrow.