Industry Change

Society Business and Career
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As the regulars of this section already know, I belong to injineering industry. Lately, I’ve been contempulating switching careers from engineering consulting to management consulting. I think its mostly due to the fact that I recetnly finished my MBA, and at the expense of souding to clichéd, I want to broaden the horizon a bit.

My goal is to merge into consulting firms where I will work with the teams that device the business strategies, growth strategies (I am not very well versed in the lingo but I suppose you get the drift)for engineering companies since I carry injineering background. Ideal starting position is with a company along the lines of PWC or Anderson though it doesn’t have to be as big as those big 5.

Now, I need some pointers from guys who’re already in the field I am referring to. What exactly are the pros and cons that I should be considering prior to the transition? When applying for prsopectice companies, what should I keep in mind and what should I be looking out for. The names of companies which fit into my game plan will also help a bit.

I also need to play with my resume to reflect how my engineering work has indirectly developed the principles and ethics of consulting. How should I tailor my resume to make it attractive to the likes of “big 5” since its tailored to get me into engineering comapanies and not the “big 5.”

I had a nice chit chat about this with Roman. He gave out some nice pointers and it will be interesting to see how this thread will take it further.

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Whenever you hot shots are ready... I am all ears!!

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ghalib…

I am sorry, but I didn’t visit the BB for 2 days, so couldn’t catch your post earlier..

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For a li’l background, I am in PwC, and presently a Manager in the ERP systems implementation. Although presently I have enough problems of my own, for which I will write a separate post later to get the opinion of you folks, let stick to your question.

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You mentioned Big-5, but I am sure you know already (I also posted it for Fraudia earlier) that in USA, SEC has asked the Big-5 to (essentially) stop doing consultancy, and two of them (incl PwC) have already sold off their consultancy wings.

In any case, there are so many types of Management Consultancy projects undertaken by Big-5. They deal with ERP systems, Financial Systems, Operating systems, Best Practice Studies etc etc. My understanding is that they tend to stick with Operating systems or Financial Systems, and do not generally go into engineering consultancy. Based on your engineering background, which sort of projects do you think you will be suitable for?

Re: Resume. Once you are able to identify the sort of projects where you will be suitable for, then you need to modify your resume to elaborate on the related experience and education. The best route, I can recommend is (1) identify the future projects you wish to be associated with, (2) polish up your resume by looking at what the employers want. To do this go to the web-sites of kpmgcareers.com, pwcglobal.com and arthurandersen.com and search for the job opportunities in USA/Canada. Once you find out suitable job opportunities, then look for the requirements which they post and compare your resume to those requirements. These job requirements are an ideal place to polish up your resume. Like for example, what sort of projects you have done. Even insignificant parts of your work experience can be brought up, if you feel the companies are looking for that particular skill in their employees. Once you have spruced up your resume, to your satifaction, then you are ready to hit the job market.

One last tip. The resume is not a static peace of document. I am sure you already know that. In present times you can not have one resume which you pass on to each employer. Ofcourse, you need to develop a general resume for unknown employers. Otherwise, you should first research the employer where you are planning to apply (web/newspapers etc) and then modify your resume to bring up related experience.

I will just give you one example. I visited California for one week in July 2000, and I thought, lets try the job market there. My friend, with whom I was staying, said its impossible to get a job in one week, because even the first offer is not made by the employer till the 3rd or 4th interview, and I said, well, I only have one week.

I got a bit lucky and a recruiter arranged a few meetings. I had a different resume in every meeting, with different parts of my experience being moved up and down depending upon the company I was going. Interestingly, before I left California, I had three confirmed job offers, each with H-1B visa and complete relocation expenses paid for me and my family from Pakistan. One company got as far as to show me around the office, showed me my new room and asked me what sort of color scheme do I like for the redecoration! hahahaha…

This just goes to prove that to get a good job, you need

  1. Appropriate skills and education
  2. Those skills and education carefully packaged in your resume.
  3. To sell yourself in a way that the employer feels he will lose out if he lets you go

http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/smile.gif

More later…

Take care

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Don’t Blame me…
C’est La Vie :slight_smile:

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Pristine:

Thankxx dude... this was a nicely written piece. You really reinforced what I already believe in (i.e. position tailored resumes).

To sell yourself in a way that the employer feels he will lose out if he lets you go..

I think this is my weak point. I am gonna ask you to go through the trouble of writing another long piece talking about this.

Because of my present position and "nomadic" tendency, I have conducted more phone interviews than in-person interviews. I will the say the success rate is pretty much in my favor on these phone interviews but I think I really come out weak when it comes to conveying to the employer that he'll loose if he passes on me. My strategy so far has been that "I'll be useful addition to the company." I think it goes with my industry where our projects entail variuos trades and we need to coordinate with them to successfully put the final product together. Sorta like, "it will be good to have you on board" and then take it further from there.

Will await you response.....

p.s... baqi saab marr gaye kia?

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I am alive but you wouldnt want the opinion of a “Just turned 20” would you??

SHHH…back to topic

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ghalib yaar… it is difficult to pin-point factors which make employers lap after you, instead of the other way round. Basically it all depends on your skill sets and their requirements.

Unfortunately, I can only talk abt my own experiences, and not of best practices around the world

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One thing, which I found works consistently is when you ask employers questions. Ok, lets take it this way. Do this. When you are alone in your room (or bathroom), pretend you are the CEO of a big engineering consultancy firm and you have to interview a candidate. What will you ask, and what will you be looking for? What will you like to talk about with him?

Let me give you a hint: You’d not only want to ask questions, you will also want questions asked of you so you can boast abt the company. And frankly, not many ppl relish to keep on asking questions.

Now take it this way. If you are in a meeting (phone - person - whatever), the sooner you turn the table, the better the employer feels as it makes the ground even. Pick out the interesting points abt the company and share similar experiences of your own. This turns an interview from a general Tell-Me-What-You-Are to a more enjoyable Lets-Talk-About-This. This is the most critical point of the meeting. When the employer feels you will bring into the company the experiences which will enrich the human resource potenetial of the company, that is the point where you have to be most careful. Don’t start being too anxious and don’t act indifferent. You act interested and at the same time, maintain a position that although you find the company a nice place to work, however, you are still not entirely sure if this is the ideal place you wanna work. From here you have to start tightening the screw.

Look at my punch line:

"For me, any place I work in, it must score high on each of the following three counts:

  1. Job description
  2. Work environment
  3. Compensation

If any of them is lacking, that makes it difficult. For example, if I don’t like the work I am doing, that makes for an awwwwefully long workday. If the work environment is not condusive, you and me know how frustrating it can be. And ofcourse, we all know its a competetive marketplace. I am sure such a great company as yours, will want to retain all its outstanding employees. Its just a shame that companies let trained ppl go, just for a few bucks. I have seen it happen and it makes me feel terrible."

This is the punchline which compels the interviewer to leap to the defence of his company and start assuring you that these three things are infact what his company is based on too.

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In my particular case, I had the added advantage that I am presently in the top firm of my profession, so all the ppl who interviewed me, needed to work a bit extra to convince me that their company is still a nice place for me. Ofcourse, not everyone can be in such a bargaining position.

ghalib… this is a vast topic. It basically all boils down to what are your skill sets and how these can be most suitably marketed by you. I am shooting blindly so won’t know whether I am connecting to your own situation or not?

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(Sorry, system triplicated the reply. So I deleted the two)

[This message has been edited by Pristine (edited November 14, 2000).]

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[This message has been edited by Pristine (edited November 14, 2000).]

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Pristine,

Thankx again for that nicely written piece. Believe it or not, I’ve read it over a few times. I find some of pointers quite appealing and that little paragraph about “3 counts” is very clever. I will need to play with the wording and the way it comes out in my case but the concept will remain the same. Your posts actually boosted the confidence about some of the “acts” I’ve previously done during an interview that you consider part of your interview strategy also.

I still got mah resume to daaktaar…

http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by ghalib (edited November 15, 2000).]

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Who-me,

Haven't you learned anything from this thread kiddo? Don't sell yourself short!! If you've gotta piece of advice or input, jump in buddy. We all would like to hear what you've gotta say..

This is not the political, world or religion forum where the idiots will tear you apart for having difference of opinion. Fortunately, we get a bit more stable and sane crowd in this section... if we don't agree with you, we just offer another perspective and let you decide on your own...

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Pristine,

hahahha.. I just hit my interviewer with your line ( you know, that 3 things a company must score on!!!). I was searching for the moment during the course of the interview and finally found that moment when asked about seriousness of my intentions of accepting an offer, if made.

Just wanted to let you know that all that writing you did earlier didn;t goto waste..

http://www3.pak.org/gupshup/smilies/smile.gif

p.s. I was indirectly offered at the end of the interview…

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Pristine,
I would be completing my MBA/MIS in May. Is it good time to start searching for jobs. Hows California at the moment. I am in Saint Louis.

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Degas- yes it is. With MBA’s people start looking at the end of their first year.

Ghalib - how are you ? so did you accept the indirect offer? I recently had a “talk” with my Boss too. Must be the air or something

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. Let me know how your stuff goes? and did you get my email or not? jaab to dey diya karo na yaar.

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ghalib… oh great…

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I am sooo glad for you. I hope you get the job on the conditions which you like.

Degas… I am not in California right now, so wouldn’t know for sure. When I was there very briefly, in July this year, the job market was exploding… Demand every where. Why don’t you check out the online version of San Jose Mercury News (I think it is Careerpath.com). Check it out via a search engine. They provide all the jobs there.

Getting a job in Silicon Valley is not a problem. Its to get one in the right company at the right conditions which is important.

You can start straight away, b4 May.