We all often get asked what we do for a living. Many have pretty self explanatory answers: I'm a doctor, I see to it that the ailments the patient is suffering from are identified and a cure prescribed for them, or, I'm a Software Engineer, I develop applications for clients based in India or abroad through coding logic and creating a meaningful solution for them to optimize their processes etc.
I often get asked the same question myself, more so because I've been out of touch with friends and family having been out of the county for sometime until recently. I tend to end up confusing people telling them what I do till the point that I get blank stares and half minded nods. I thought I'll give you guys a gist of what I do and what it means to do what I do!
A Consultant is one who very much like a doctor, seeks to identify the ailment a business or a process within it faces through understanding the symptoms the patient (company) is showing, and by using standard consulting tools and techniques, best practices, strategic inputs and tactics through information collated/research and analysis from peers, industry standards and latest technology/commercial trends, provides a solution to the ailment identified. Now, in the case of a doctor and patient relationship, the patient invariably goes in for the advice given by the doctor, or in rare cases goes in for a second opinion. In the Management Consulting field, the consultant presents to the company, his/their take on the ailment and the possible solutions with a defined path to reach that solution. It is totally up to the discretion of the company to follow that advice or not. Also a point to note is that most consulting firms do not commission hand-holding, but there are a few which do for projects. It is unlikely that the company will go to another consultant to get advice, as in this industry advice does not come cheap. A relatively new area of business in India in itself, Management Consulting has been on the growth path since the early years of this millennium. Though, we all have read the Mahabharata and can conclude that the first Consultant was Lord Krishna who gave some pretty decent advice to Arjun!
Consultants operate institutionally, individually or collaboratively. The larger firms work across industries and across horizontals such as Management/Strategy, Finance, Technology, Human Resource etc. while the smaller firms tend to stick to specific industry or horizontals. A consultant is usually at the top of his game in the area of expertise but tends to have working knowledge and information about most of what business revolves around as more the access to latest trends, better the formulation of solutions and strategies. Examples from one industry could at the end of the day be relevant to another.
Coming back again to my role, I have been working for the last few years on a variety of assignments which educated me on basics of those specific industries/sectors and horizontals. Being an Industrial Engineer (a whole new blog post is required for this one!) by qualification and a Masters in International Business, I've worked in this short span as an Industrial Engineer for a Steels and Power major, a Management Consultant for a Swedish Engineering firm, an Auditor for an American Inventory Specialist firm, in Operations for a Swedish firm parallel to the Indian Consulate, and currently as an Associate for a Boutique Investment Banking firm with projects in Education, Recruitment, Training, e-Commerce, Electronics and Engineering Innovations among others. Very recently started freelancing as a Consultant, an entrepreneurial venture which is being worked on (watch this space), and preparing to give some guest lectures in Management institutes as well!
It is an exciting domain of work, very challenging as you have to be a step ahead and foresee challenges faced and possible solutions for the same. One has to have a flair for isolating weak points, creative enough to identify and install/displace potential revenue churners/burners into/from the system and improve productivity while at it.
That was enough Consulting 101 for one day, loads more to add, one post at a time!
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