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OCM Consultant
Hi everyone,
This summer, I started my career as a full-time consultant. I am an OCM Consultant at Cognizant. I would love to hear about your experiences in consulting.
What was a major obstacle you overcame early in your career and how?
How did you navigate highly political projects?
What advice would you give to someone starting their career in consulting?
Punya Sandhu10 yrs in Big4 Consulting, Founder - BYONDGOOD
301
06/03/20 at 10:23PM UTC
I wish more people gave deliberate thought to the kind of skills they would need before beginning any career, and especially Management Consulting. I've been a Big4 management consultant for 10 years and recently moved to industry. Here are the few skills I wish I had learned before I started my Consulting career:
- Presentation / Storyboarding
- Communication
- Structured thinking
- MS Excel/PowerPoint/Word skills
- Running meetings/conference calls
Remember that you just have the first few weeks (sometimes days if you get a project immediately) to impress your seniors and peers at the Consulting firm. And those impressions can be hard to break out of.
But the skills that you need to climb the Consulting ladder change at every level. The biggest challenge I had throughout my career was expanding my network and rebranding myself with the dynamic trends in financial services. Hope this helps!
Lisa CliffordMarketing Ninja | Cannabis & Finance Co. Owner
44
10/05/22 at 3:41AM UTC
Great advice
Julie Chatman, MBA, CISMCybersecurity Strategy & Transformation
599
05/23/20 at 4:46AM UTC
For me, the biggest challenge has been re-establishing a reputation (basically starting from scratch after being at the top of the pile @ another org for 13 years) & the culture adjustment (being a consultant is different than being a fed).
I'm overcoming it by focusing on the value I can add, not letting the uncertainty impact my self esteem and how I deliver on projects, and finding sponsors (people who can speak up for me + name me for opportunities) & mentors (people who can provide advice for navigating the environment).
cmst3Travel PFS consultant.
183
03/16/20 at 4:48PM UTC
I have been a traveling Revenue cycle manager/analyst for over 20 years and I love what I do! I do however, hate politics! lol... I am hired because a medical facility has a problem and I come in to help fix it. The staff can be helpful but sometimes down right combative in their bid to try & keep their jobs. I am often put in the middle of whether or not to keep staff, change them around, etc. My overall goal is usually to try and train (re-train) staff and help them do their jobs more efficiently so their is no turn-over. That is not always possible.
I am also in the middle between my own co. (hiring agency) wants/needs as well as those of the client (facility). I do a lot of 'dancing' & 'tightrope walking' in order to navigate who has priority.
Best of luck! Enjoy your independence!
Jackie RukaProfessionalHappyologist Thrive in your purpose.
2.72k
11/19/19 at 6:17PM UTC
I love consulting and problem solving. My best advice is to LISTEN, find out the hiccups and creative ways to fill the gap.
