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by xttrax

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Hi all, i am a undergraduate major in Computing and stepping into career world soon. One thing that bothering me is either to start as a programmer, or some other job function which will eventually lead me to became an IT consultant like those who are working in Accenture or McKinsey. My doubt is: Do IT consultant really need to have strong technical background rather than good business ideas ? and my dilemma is : Start as programmer or any other (whatever is better...)at the age of 21?

p/s: What IT consultant do actually ?

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by timthetoolman

Hi,

Up until recently I was a consultant for one of the Big 5 (PriceWaterhouseCoopers, actually) and I used the coding path to get me there.

It took me 10 years of coding, being a webmaster and systems programmer and an opportunity to be able to make that jump.

Those consulting companies will hire you for one of two reasons... exceedingly good results from University or recognised ability from the workforce.

It doesn't matter what field that ability is in!

If you want a job whereyou code, then do that and be excellent at it, and if you want a job that is more administrative - like a network manager, then do that, but also do it well.

A consultant is a very broad title. Consultants can code, design, advise or support (butoften less support although that is changing)

In a nutshell... Be what you want to be... but do it well!

Cheers,
Tim.

by thechas

I like Tim's answer.

I do however want to add a bit as to what any consultant does.

The primary reason anyone hires a consultant is to take advantage of expertise that they do not have. (Or, do not have time to develop)

Often, this involveskick-starting a new project at the firm, or makeing vaste improvements to an existing project.

The primary value of a consultant lies in their knowledge, experiance and ability to innovate solutions.

Since it seems that your goal is to become a consultant, the questions you need to ask, are;
What topic do I want to gather the most knowledge about?
What topic will have need for an expert when I have obtained this knowledge?
What will be my target market / clientel?

IT consultants tend to be a little more (maybe a lot more) hands on then the "traditional" consultant.

The old joke about consultants can still apply:
A consultant is someone who knows 200 ways to make love; but doesn't know any women!

Chas

by xttrax

Thanks to Tim and Chas.

It seems there are a lot more to do before it bring me to where i intended to go. So before is it better to work out there, gain some experience (either technical or non-technical), somehow growth a bit older (it is not that convincing, what come out from a young guy...), if can, get a MBA (or whatever/postgraduate study) then only approach to these "branded" consulting firm...

Is there someone have experience to start their first job (fresh grad) in consulting firm ?
or any other who had eventually became IT consultant through other career development path(s) ?

Regards

by penguinsrule

First you really have to decide whether you like hardware or software - if you are even talking about programming, then I think you like software better.. :) I would really work at getting solid programming skills in various disciplines. At the same time really work on your project management skills, and leadership skills. To really be good as a consultant you really need solid business skills and solid technical skills both. It just takes a lot of effort to work at getting both.

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