Do You Want To Become A Consultant?

Have you ever thought of becoming a consultant, contract worker, independent contractor, 1099 or freelancer and then dismissed the idea, because you thought it was too risky or because you were not qualified?

Think about it again because there are far more benefits and fewer risks to becoming a consultant than you may think.

Here is some advice on the risks and rewards of consulting, freelancing or independent contracting from someone who has actually done it!

What Does It Really Take To Be A Consultant?

Contrary to popular advice, you don’t need a lot of start-up capital or an advanced college degree to become a consultant.

What you really need to be a consultant (business analysis, computer programming, software testing, project management, etc.) is:

• Strong research, analysis and problem solving skills
• Marketable skills, experience, resume or career
• Lots of personal initiative and a strong sense of responsibility
• The willingness to adapt to changing times, technology, market conditions or customer needs

So, What Does It Mean To Be A Consultant?

Above all other requirements, a consultant must learn a marketable skill and stay ahead of the technology curve.

Consulting work is all about your skills. While you may be cut some slack in a full-time job, you will always be held to a higher level of performance as a consultant.

While corporate politics and / or favoritism can keep you longer on the job as a full-time employer, consultants are hired or retained based on their performance.

So, does this almost absolute dependency on skill or performance mean that consulting jobs are less secure than full-time jobs?

Absolutely not.

In the Information Technology (IT) Industry, both the consultant’s and full-time employee’s job security depends on their performance.

The difference is that full-time employees are usually given more time to correct their skill / knowledge deficiencies than freelancers or contract worker.

So, given that employers are more accommodating with full-time employees, why would anyone want to be a consultant?

1. Compensation for Consultants vs. Full-Time Employees:

   Consultants or contract workers get paid a lot more than their full-time colleagues (business analysts, computer programmers, etc). Sometimes the difference can be as much as $30,000/yr or even more!

   The significant difference in compensation helps consultants take care of themselves during periods of unemployment such as when they are in between jobs.

2. Medical Benefits for Consultants vs. Full-Time Employees:

   You may have heard that the benefits for consultants or contract workers are poor compared to that for full-time employees.

   That is not always true. Some staffing / recruiting agencies offer full-time medical or health coverage to their consultants.

   While some staffing / contracting agencies do not offer medical benefits, consultants are not at a disadvantage because they are expected to research each job offer before accepting it.

   Keep in mind that some consultants prefer to opt out of medical coverage and then bill the employer at a higher rate!

3. Educational Qualifications for Consultants vs. Full-Time Employees:

   Full-time jobs generally have more stringent educational requirements than consulting jobs.

   While some employers may require college degrees for full-time jobs, consultants have more options because they are technically not employees!

   Consultants are hired through staffing agencies who can match each educational background or qualification to the client’s needs.

   What this means is that aspiring consultants should obsess over their skills instead of their educational qualifications.

4. Skill / Experience Requirements for Consultants vs. Full-Time Employees:

   The consultant’s most important asset is his / her knowledge, skill level and experience.

   Highly skilled consultants in marketable industries (e.g. web developers) are in so much demand, that all they do is show-up at job interviews to get hired … easily!

   Some consultants are so valuable at their jobs that they retain the same jobs for several years just like their full-time counterparts.

   In recent years, the line between consultants and full-time employees has become so blurred that some organizations have found it necessary to institute policies that limit how many years a consultant can work to a specific term (e.g. 5 years).

5. Job Security for Consultants vs. Full-Time Employees:

   The consulting mindset is an important asset in today’s economy because no job is really secure and the best security is your investment or self-confidence in your own skills.

   It is okay to be a full-time employee because you have a good job offer or because you like the job and employer.

   However, staying in a full-time job because you think it’s more secure than a consulting job is ill-advised … here is why I say that:

   Your job security really depends on your performance and not on whether you are in a full-time position or a consulting job.

   So, sooner or later, if you are less than absolutely competent, you will lose your job.

   However, if your skills are sharp and you lose your job due to no fault of yours (downsizing, corporate politics, etc.), you will be able to bounce back because you have the most sought-after qualification in today’s job market … your skills.

So, now you know the risks, rewards or benefits of being a consultant, what are you going to do about it?

Why not develop a consultant’s mindset?

• Stay ahead of the technology curve at any cost because your skills are your most valuable assets
• Always be learning. Study from books, blog posts, articles, video resources, seminars, discussion forums. Just get out knowledge at any cost!
• Improve your real-world, on the job performance. Performance is a better predictor of success than educational qualifications, degrees or job titles etc.
• Embrace change like a consultant. Be willing to adapt to changing times, technology, market conditions or customer needs
• Become a leader in your community. Do something to make your world a better place with what you know today.
• Become passionate and not passive about your work. Discover your passion, do the work you love and bring your passion to market!

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This post is for my readers who have unresolved questions, concerns and problems about their programming careers.

If you want to master your programming career or become a better skilled computer programmer, tell me how I can help you succeed.

Tell me who you are now and who you want to become in your computer programming career this year.

If you’ve read my e-Book, “The Street Smart Guide To High Paying Computer Programming Careers” and the bonus e-Books that come with it, tell me what more information, topics and questions you want me to cover in the next release of the e-Book.

If you haven’t read “The Street Smart Guide To High Paying Computer Programming Careers“, tell me what stops you from purchasing and reading the e-Book.

To contact me with your feedback, please use the contact form on this site:

I want to help you achieve your computer programming career goals quickly and easily this year. So, thanks in advance for your feedback on “How To Master Your Computer Programming Career This Year1“.

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Your resume drives your compensation, your marketability and the effectiveness of your job search. Without much ado, here are the rules of engagement for writing highly effective killer resumes for Information Technology jobs that gets you on the fast track to career nirvana.

One page resumes are out!

The rule of cramming your skills, experience and accomplishment on one page is dead. Include as much detail as necessary to secure an interview or a job offer. Your personal information is irrelevant!

Skip the section on your hobbies including the references to martial arts, chess, marathon, etc. Nobody really cares. Just answer the question, can you do the job?

Keywords are relevant!

Keywords are the buzzwords that describe the current skills, technologies and processes that are popular in your industry. Your resume is dead without the right keywords or buzzwords. Some hiring managers use scanners that count how often desired keywords are mentioned, so your resume is dead if you don’t employ them effectively.

Also, other recruiters who don’t use scanners look out for the jobs where you mention those keywords. Either way, your career is headed for the slow track if your resume does not use industry keywords effectively.

Beware of Cover letters

It is really a good resume that sells you if you are in contract programming. The cover letter is one more document that delays access to your resume. If you have a good relationship with your recruiter, make their jobs easier by skipping the cover letter. If you do not have a good relationship with a technical recruiter and you need a cover letter to sell you in addition to your resume, you had better not be in contract programming.

Cover letters are traditional and are necessary if you are applying for full time positions or applying directly to hiring managers, otherwise, use a a few sentences to introduce your attached resume.

Socialize your desired compensation

Have you seen those jobs where you are advised not to apply without including your desired pay? Apply without your desired pay anyway. Yes, I know you would really want a six figure income but it is much better to discuss this with the recruiter than to add it to your resume, where it really adds no value.

Besides, including your desired pay marks you as a newbie and from Negotiation 101 class we learn it puts you at a disadvantage when you finally negotiate your pay. The time to introduce your desired pay is after the recruiter or hiring manager has reviewed your resume and is all excited about interviewing or hiring you.

Keep your references to yourself

Don’t bother including your references or the ridiculous references available on demand line on your resume. Your references will be checked before or after an offer is extended to you. So, get on with your business of securing the job offer.

Include multiple ways of contacting you

The purpose of your resume is to market you, so, include as many ways of contacting you as possible. Include your email, mailing address, mobile phone, work phone, home phone and website address (tech or professional sites only) in the contact section of your resume and years from now, you will be getting calls from people who need your services.

By including multiple ways of reaching you, you increase the chance that you will be discovered by recruiters or headhunters even when one or more of your contact details become obsolete.

One resume does not fit all

Your resume is a marketing document. So, customize it for each job or position you are interested in, especially if it differs significantly from what you are doing now. Hiring managers and recruiters are only interested in exact matches or near fits between the jobs they advertise and the resumes they receive.

They literally want to see your resume mention the same skills and technologies they are advertising. So, if you want to get that interview, make sure you customize your resume for the position you are applying for.

Prove your relevance with your resume

If you are looking for a technical writing position, don’t just create a resume, showcase how relevant you are to the position you are applying for. See, recruiters and hiring managers want to hire the right person for each job, so make their jobs easier by beginning with this end in mind.

If you are applying for a business analysis position, you should know within yourself if your resume makes a good case for you or not. Your resume must prove beyond a shadow of reasonable doubt that you can get the job done!

It’s all about your experience

Recruiters and hiring managers believe that your past performance is the best predictor of your future performance. They are only interested in you, if you have successfully solved problems similar to theirs. They want to see in your resume a trail of successes, not a trial of failures or an absence of both.

So, describe not just the technology you use, but also the overall business processes, the problems you solved and the value you provided. Whatever you do, make sure you have relevant industry experience and showcase it on your resume.

Focus your resume on where you are going

Your resume should describe who you are now and who you want to be. It should make the connection between the positions you have had and the new position you want. If the credibility gap between what you have been doing and what you want is big, you will most likely be passed over.

For example, if you have been a HTML developer and you are applying for a Java or C# job, the skills gap between HTML development and Java or C# development may kill your job search, however, if you position yourself as a web developer, you stand a better chance of getting hired. Likewise if your resume only highlights HTML web development and you show up at the interview talking about C# .NET development, your interviewing managers will ask you why you don’t already have C# .NET on your resume.

Focus on your accomplishments not your responsibilities

Your accomplishments describe what you do with you’re given. Accomplishments present you as results and goal oriented. Your responsibilities describe you as a passive player who only responds by chance. Responsibilities describe you as being task or process oriented.

Hiring managers perceive the performance of responsibilities oriented candidates as being unpredictable and that of results oriented individuals as being a sure bet. So, do yourself a favor, become result oriented both on your resume and in real life.

Do not include irrelevant past jobs

You used to be a musician, a poet or a gunslinger in a past life, so what? Remove from your resume past jobs that you had to pass time or jobs you had when you were growing up or jobs that are not relevant to your job search! Let me spell it out, remove past jobs that have no skill and experience relevance to the position you are interested in.

By leaving irrelevant past jobs on your resume, you prove that you still have a lot of baggage and that you are still clinging to your past. Remember, that your resume is primarily a marketing document and not a monument to your ego.

Disclose your past employers

Include the locations (city and state only) and the company names of the past employers listed on your resume. If you do not disclose your employers, recruiters or hiring managers may start wondering about what you are hiding and then start digging into your garbage. If you have nothing to hide, make their lives easier and disclose your past employers on your resume. If you have something to hide, keep your own counsel.

List your past jobs in chronological order

Recruiters and hiring managers expect to scan your job history in a chronological order from the most recent job to the last. Present the past jobs on your resume in that order.

Is This Career Nirvana Or What?

These are some of the secrets of writing highly effective killer resumes for Information Technology careers and jobs. Use them to fast track to career nirvana, ignore them at your own peril! Either way, you have been warned

To learn more about fast tracking your computer programmer career, visit this resource.

What Is The Toughest Challenge Facing Your Career?

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ABOUT TRAINING & COACHING COURSES

• Business Analyst Boot Camp - Online, Web Based, Instructor Led, Business Analyst Video Training


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• Get Hired Fast - Online, Web Based, Resume + Job Search + Interview Video Training


• Become A Leader Coaching - Develop hands-on experience, gain domain expertise, solve industry problems, Stand Up and Be Noticed, market your career using PULL instead of PUSH techniques!

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