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I posted a thread regarding IT consultant in a forum and got a reply. Hope it would be any helpful for those who want to dive into this field.
Any input regarding this topic is welcome
My Post:
I am just wondering what should be expected for the future development after working as a developer (say, C#.Net developer) for a couple of years? I am just a graduate developer.
It seems to me that consualt is one possible option. But what skills and knowledge are required in order to step into this area and what consulants do in their job? Please, any input is welcome.
Reply:
Consultant is a pretty broad term, but I think it's someone who researches and presents different solutions to business problems, and is involved to some degree with the implementation and roll-out of that solution. For smaller or niche jobs, the consultant may actually be the only person involved in the solution research / documentation / implementation.
The main thing I feel you need to be a decent consultant is experience - both broad AND deep. This means having direct experience with - say - a number of different database systems, different languages and environments. Ideally, you should have excellent communication skills, and the ability to deal well with non-technical users. You should probably also have some experience and understanding of internal company politics and finances, just so as to better be able to communicate with your client.
This is probably too idealistic. Some companies take developers such as yourself and hire them out as 'consultants' for $800 a day (of which you might see $250). The lack of real meaning behind the word means there's all sorts of consultants, some of which are excellent, most of which are ok and a few that are atrociously incompetent.
If you have been working for 2 years, I'd be guessing you've worked on maybe 1-3 major projects? And have experience limited to maybe one or two databases, and one or two languages. You may or may not have any basic accounting knowledge - IMHO, this *always* helps as many solutions involve business finances in some way, and if they don't you *still* need to know how your solution might affect business practices that are already in place.
I guess I work as a 'consultant' - I've got 12 years development experience, knowledge of MSSQL, Oracle, MySQL (and also MS Access, Paradox and DBF); knowledge of Delphi (Pascal), C, C++, C#, VB, Assembly. I work (now) only for smaller businesses, by myself or with one other developer and am never short of work. Really, the more you know, the better off you will be, and learning new languages will (should anyway) help you with the languages you already know. So much stuff is free to play around with at home these days (MSSQL, Oracle, MySQL, + every language and environment under the sun), there is no excuse for not learning some stuff outside of work.
Dunno if that helps - I hope so. *Now* I feel that after two years I didn't really know anything, but in fact I knew way more than when I finished Uni. That was really when I didn't now anything. Now I know enough to get by, and to get myself out of most jams. :^)
Question:
Yeah, very comprehensive and helpful.
I actually just worked for 2 months, but wondering what goals I should set for myself?
another thing is the company asked me if I want to work as developer or consultant? they provide both options to me. I think I need to have proficient technical skills first before considering consultant. Is this correct? Thanks for further replies, guys!
Reply to this:
Hopefully someone else will chip in ... but given the choice, being pushed towards a 'consultant' position might be best, if only because those sort of positions tend to have a higher/broader view of systems (-> more experience with different projects and technologies), whereas developers tend to have a narrower (but deeper) view of things. Either way, after two months, there is plenty of time to move between all sorts of roles; that you are thinking about things at this stage is a good sign.
Can you perhaps talk to HR about it? Generally companies are very happy to discuss things with people who are serious about making the right choice, as people like this get seen as people who are more likely to stay with the company than move on to broaden their horizons.
Question:
:| :) Thanks again for your reply. :) really appreciate it.
Do you think little experience in dev will prevent me from doing a good job as a consultant? As you mentioned in last thread, consultant needs both broad AND in-depth knowledge and experience.
My concern is if it is too early to consider being a consultant given that I don't have experience with dev(two months:) so far). If I choose to continue working as a developer, is it all right to transit to consulatnt later on?
Reply:
:| :) No worries - but you should seek other advice too. I've only got one opinion. :^)
When I mentioned knowing a lot more about languages and systems to be a consultant, that was really meant from the point of view of being self-employed or a contractor; if you don't have this sort of depth / breadth then you'd have a hard time finding work (IMHO) or a hard time doing the jobs you do get. However, if you are working in a 'consultant' role within the 'protection' of the company, it's different - you've got the resources of the company to support you, and hence why - perhaps - in your case it would be seriously worth considering. Really, though, it's best to find out more info from your company about what *they* mean by 'consultant' or 'developer'. Some companies have very structured 'paths' for positions with different labels, whilst others do not.
[ 本帖最后由 greanbean 于 2006-11-10 09:16 编辑 ] |
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