Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
(male) How exactly are the consultants viewed?
Like after their consultancy has ended? [inaudible]
If you wanted to go to the government sector
perhaps, you know.
I'm pretty sure it's viewed as an asset,
but I just wanted to make sure.
If I get could get your opinions [inaudible].
(Kari Kriesel) Again, I can only speak for Accenture.
Our clients are typically clients that we've had
for five or more years.
So we don't typically go in, do a project, and leave.
We have had long-standing contracts with them
to solve ongoing business issues.
So I think people view this as positive force.
We work alongside of their employees and their executives.
We're an extension of their business,
versus an outsider coming in to [inaudible].
(male) [inaudible] my question was,
how are people viewed after the project?
Personally, I'm interested in a consulting job
for maybe a couple of years.
Right now my expertise is in strategic planning,
program management, et cetera.
And so, [inaudible] identified a skill through maybe perhaps
working in a consulting firm before going on
to governmental jobs.
So...how is that viewed
usually in consultancy firms [inaudible]?
And how is that viewed in potential employers after?
(Brian Spigursky) [inaudible] What I've learned, what I've talked about,
is that two years, three years in consulting
is like five years in the normal world,
in terms of the expertise that you gain.
So I guess I haven't heard of a bad reputation you can have
coming out of consultancy going into the private sector.
I think as a consultant you've seen a lot in two or three years
than most people have when they're in one company.
So I think it's pretty valuable to have consulting
on your resume.
(Mohammed Aaser) It turns out I think most consultants I've spoken with
really are sort of, don't know what they want to do
when they grow up, so they're starting in consulting.
Some are in subject matter areas where they're experts,
but you know, a lot of generalizing.
People don't exactly know what they want to do,
so they do consulting for a couple of years,
two to three years.
And often you'll see that most consulting firms,
individuals leave after a couple years.
Or even they leave at a very senior role too,
to find another opportunity elsewhere.
So there's always this influx of people coming in,
and there's always this group of people leaving.
So I think it's a great place to be if you're still trying to
figure out where you want to go.
And to develop those core skills that you can use elsewhere.
I think one of the things though too,
I've been doing consulting for two years.
One of the things that I've seen is that at least in the strategy
line of work, if you do a lot of strategy consulting,
and after a couple of years, and you haven't done that much
general management sort of work, like you haven't really managed
a team of people or done management P&L,
or profit and loss statement or income statement,
it may be hard at some point.
(Jeff Lori) I'll tell you one thing about the perception
that people will have of the time you spend in consulting.
The belief, and it's probably almost always true,
is that a person who has spent some time in consulting has
learned to do the customer facing work.
Which means you can count on them to have the presentation
skills, be attuned to that.
Whereas an internal person working for an organization may
or may not have that level of perspective or accessibility.
So in general the expectation will be,
"Oh, you were a consultant.
"You must have done a lot of this customer type of work."
Whether it be true business development,
or whether just do a project out at a customer site,
where you're serving the customer as well as
your own organization.
That's usually a very positive thing that they see.
Implied values, whether they're true or not.
(Mohammed Aaser) If you're interested in something in a
governmental role, there are I think some consulting firms that
have connections with a lot of governmental organizations and
do a lot of work for them.
There's a couple that come to mind.
But I would look around and see which ones have alumni that work
maybe for governmental institutions, and others
that actually specialize in a lot of work they do.
You may also get down to general work,
outside of government.
But you may also have great inroads into where you'd like
to go in the future.
(Darren Kaltved) Other questions?
Yes.
(female) With the increase in globalizing, do any of your
clients want specific knowledge about different cultures
and how culture plays a role in successful business ventures,
negotiations [inaudible]
(male) [inaudible]
(Jeff Lori) Because I'm independent,
I won't talk about the organization looking for people
with global knowledge or those types of skills.
But I will tell you no matter which team you are on today,
you will not be on a homogeneous team.
Culturally, gender, age, all those things.
So the ability to deal with the variances and the differences
between people is a skill.
Now you take that and put it on steroids and say,
well, there's language and there's all those types
of things, certainly when you start talking to the larger
organizations here, I'm sure they have a lot more
to say about that.
(Kari Kriesel) I better! [laughter]
Yeah, definitely, if you work for a global company
like Accenture, part of the solution you're providing
for the client could be utilizing our outsourced
service center in the Philippines.
So again, having a comfort level and openness
to work cross culturally.
We provide training for all of that as well.
That's a huge part of what we provide so there isn't that,
left to your own devices to figure that out.
We do value our international partnerships and want
to make sure we sustain our relationship.
(Mohammed Aaser) Harder to get a general management position.
While it might be easier to get a strategic role
in a company, right?
So it depends on the role that you want to take afterwards.
But again, it's a great place to be if you don't know exactly
what you want to do.
But over time, you should consider how you want
to build your general management expertise,
if you want--
[end]