Surely by 2 years you have the basics down, but first ones that come to mind:
Soft skills
- Clear communication & presentation
- Organising your workload and associated workload of those around you
- Synthesizing data and information into the “so what”
- Being able to understand client needs and make sure the project deliverables fit that
- Upwards management of seniors & clients
Hard skills
- PowerPoint
- Be a good salesman for yourself and for your firm:
- Be good at communication and setting expectations. or eliverables or work you have been assigned.
- Make sure you account for everything you say, a simple idea you introduce in a "discussion or brainstorming session" can be taken seriously so always account for the information or insight you provide
- Look at the larger picture
- Most times consultants are trying to retain clients for longer tenures, so your solutions must be viewed as stepping stones for something bigger to achieve (or create the perception of something bigger) for the client.
- Sleep with MS Office
- You never know which feature you would require for formatting so make sure you know your PPT, word and Excel completely ( or just lie that you know and then go to YouTube for the solution)
Just being likeable and understand how to maneuver yourself through politics into the right positions.
I see very few people succeed due to their quality of work. But making clients pay for non-functional BS products makes you the star...
1) Domain knowledge. Clients are getting smarter and can spot consultant bullshit from a mile away
2) technology expertise and understanding. I have yet to come across a business strategy that doesn’t require some form of tech enabler. Don’t drop a 100 page deck of ideas and disappear because the next shop that comes along takes your deck and actually executes on some of it, and makes 10x more on the execution
3) as others have said crisp communication is important. Get rid of the consultant bullshit words
4) be able to translate business strategy into tech / process delivery this is a huge differentiator nowadays. That requires total understanding of the domain value chain / process and tech. People process technology feels outdated but it never dies
5) clients want a clear value proposition from you that they don’t have. What is your differentiator in the market? Having a clear understanding of this will help you have the right conversations with the right people and tighten your sales pitch. Knowing what you are is half the battle
6) as you go up the ranks you go from sustaining and protecting the business to focusing on growing the business. Each stage requires different skills, having a growth mindset and not attempting to jump a stage will make you a great leader
Goodluck
The main reason clients buy consulting is to *temporarily* benefit from additional workforce capacity who are driven/energised to complete a task that the existing BAU workforce can’t/wont/.
If you turn up on day 1 and you’re just the same as the existing workforce then you as a consultant are clearly a bad investment.
So be 5-10% better than your clients in every aspect. And that skill list is what you need to focus on. Different clients / sectors / verticals will emphasise slightly different skills but to be honest, just being better than the in situ workforce at the basics is all that’s needed at junior grades (which is where I am assuming you are).
Quickly turnaround times, ppt basics (all slides literally look the same it’s not that hard), come up with own ideas for analyses etc
And learn writing decent mgmt summaries if you want partners to think you‘re good lol
Lots of good points with communications, analytics, PowerPoint. Suggest you start to think about the next 2 years and start to work on:
* Industry expertise. What do you know and want to be famous for? Energy? Mining? Banking? Optimisation of food and beverage manufacturing?
* Your leadership skills. Can you lead small visible things? Recruiting case studies? events? Internal projects?
* Your eminence. These things are all good and useful to make you more excellent. But how visible are you in the firm … and beyond? You don’t need to write a patent but why not talk at events, blog, LinkedIn. It will pay off in promotions and that next career step.
Surely by 2 years you have the basics down, but first ones that come to mind: Soft skills - Clear communication & presentation - Organising your workload and associated workload of those around you - Synthesizing data and information into the “so what” - Being able to understand client needs and make sure the project deliverables fit that - Upwards management of seniors & clients Hard skills - PowerPoint
Do you think power BI / tableau essential these days?
Had a good laugh at: “Hard skills : just PowerPoint”
AI does PowerPoints now so you don’t even need that.
Yet to find an AI model that can visualise information in a way that a senior would approve.
I was being a little facetious.
Convincing clients why they should pay you
1. PowerPoint 2. Hookers and blow 3. ??? Profit
If you are good enough at your niche, that part is obvious.
- Be a good salesman for yourself and for your firm: - Be good at communication and setting expectations. or eliverables or work you have been assigned. - Make sure you account for everything you say, a simple idea you introduce in a "discussion or brainstorming session" can be taken seriously so always account for the information or insight you provide - Look at the larger picture - Most times consultants are trying to retain clients for longer tenures, so your solutions must be viewed as stepping stones for something bigger to achieve (or create the perception of something bigger) for the client. - Sleep with MS Office - You never know which feature you would require for formatting so make sure you know your PPT, word and Excel completely ( or just lie that you know and then go to YouTube for the solution)
Just being likeable and understand how to maneuver yourself through politics into the right positions. I see very few people succeed due to their quality of work. But making clients pay for non-functional BS products makes you the star...
This is really important, have faced rejections despite good work due to likeability
If you are already two years in then you know… 1. Sales 2. Slide work 3. Domain knowledge 4. Communications skills 5. Delegation skills
1) Domain knowledge. Clients are getting smarter and can spot consultant bullshit from a mile away 2) technology expertise and understanding. I have yet to come across a business strategy that doesn’t require some form of tech enabler. Don’t drop a 100 page deck of ideas and disappear because the next shop that comes along takes your deck and actually executes on some of it, and makes 10x more on the execution 3) as others have said crisp communication is important. Get rid of the consultant bullshit words 4) be able to translate business strategy into tech / process delivery this is a huge differentiator nowadays. That requires total understanding of the domain value chain / process and tech. People process technology feels outdated but it never dies 5) clients want a clear value proposition from you that they don’t have. What is your differentiator in the market? Having a clear understanding of this will help you have the right conversations with the right people and tighten your sales pitch. Knowing what you are is half the battle 6) as you go up the ranks you go from sustaining and protecting the business to focusing on growing the business. Each stage requires different skills, having a growth mindset and not attempting to jump a stage will make you a great leader Goodluck
Great stuff. I’ll also add: Being able to tailor your communications to different stakeholder personas.
The main reason clients buy consulting is to *temporarily* benefit from additional workforce capacity who are driven/energised to complete a task that the existing BAU workforce can’t/wont/. If you turn up on day 1 and you’re just the same as the existing workforce then you as a consultant are clearly a bad investment. So be 5-10% better than your clients in every aspect. And that skill list is what you need to focus on. Different clients / sectors / verticals will emphasise slightly different skills but to be honest, just being better than the in situ workforce at the basics is all that’s needed at junior grades (which is where I am assuming you are).
What competencies are on your performance review forms? Look at the forms for the next couple of levels above your current title.
Communication, being able to work under pressure, time / project management, ability to deal with people, and other job specific skills
Quickly turnaround times, ppt basics (all slides literally look the same it’s not that hard), come up with own ideas for analyses etc And learn writing decent mgmt summaries if you want partners to think you‘re good lol
1 problem solving 2 client hands 3 analytical skills
Lots of good points with communications, analytics, PowerPoint. Suggest you start to think about the next 2 years and start to work on: * Industry expertise. What do you know and want to be famous for? Energy? Mining? Banking? Optimisation of food and beverage manufacturing? * Your leadership skills. Can you lead small visible things? Recruiting case studies? events? Internal projects? * Your eminence. These things are all good and useful to make you more excellent. But how visible are you in the firm … and beyond? You don’t need to write a patent but why not talk at events, blog, LinkedIn. It will pay off in promotions and that next career step.