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How to become a consultant - employed, independent or contractEveryone in business should have to have a spell as a consultant at some point. It would certainly make those on the client side realise exactly how much better their companies could be run, that a good consultant can do more than look at your watch and tell you the time, and to realise what frustrating customers they sometimes make! That said it is a lot of fun, you get to meet some interesting people, and if you like problem solving and steep challenges there are always plenty to take on. You might want to go into consulting at any point in your career and, if redundancy has curtailed a job you enjoyed, it is a very common option for business professionals to consider becoming freelance or independent consultants in e.g. IT, HR, Project Management, Marketing, PR or Management Consultancy. Many of the most interesting boutique consulting practices have begun because talented individuals have broken away from bigger firms or have been made redundant when billings have looked dangerously low. The consulting business always needs new talent and there is quite a lot of competition for the best people. You'll find our top tips here, more detailed information can be found in our popular book "Rebuilding your life after redundancy". To become a successful consultant 3 things are really important 1. You do need to be really good at something i.e. have real expertise in an industry, sector or a business discipline and have good interpersonal skills or you won't get any initial clients, repeat business or referrals. You need to be able to apply that expertise and knowledge in a setting other than your previous employer whether you have come from the public or private sector. Additionally, you must be able to think in a structured and objective manner, be good at problem solving, have the ability to write proposals that clients will be prepared to read and act upon, and be able to manage your team and your project. Whether you apply for a position in a consulting practice, or set up on your own, you must think about where you already fit or where you'd like to go if someone is willing to train you. Are you Big Four material? Would you fit in the financial consultancy sector? IT? Outsourcing? Engineering? Marketing? HR? Do you have any kind of unique skill, knowledge, contacts, experience or a suitable qualification? 2. You have to be exceptionally good at selling and marketing - selling yourself, selling your ideas, selling your pricing, selling your methodologies. You may be good at what you do but how are you going to get the work? Selling in this context is hard for newcomers especially if you have either no experience or you have only sold to a captive internal audience in your previous role. You have to have the courage to ask for the order, learn how to close and be comfortable networking and looking for business. If you have no idea what we're talking about, get yourself on a course or work for a firm that will provide the right training because you won't survive otherwise. 3. You have to be good at building relationships with clients and understand your accountability to them or you won't get any business the first time or any time after that. How to get into consulting
Setting up your home office Actually, if you decide to work for a decent sized consulting firm they will probably encourage or expect you to be working from home sometimes. They will probably pay for your equipment, some offer an allowance for your home office, as you'll probably either hot desk at their offices or at your clients premises. To set up on your own, however, you will need as modest or as deluxe a set of resources you want to fund - these are all detailed in our book "Rebuilding your life after redundancy" . How much should I charge?
If consultancy isn't for you, you might also want to consider careers in interim management instead. Useful resources
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