There’s a lot of perks in becoming a consultant: travel, meeting people & networking, and the joy of sharing what you know through coaching & mentoring. What will it take for you to become a consultant? EXPERTISE. You need to be an expert on specific fields of your interest. Thus, if you are currently at the lowest step in your career, don’t despair. Make sure that you are really at the threshold of what you really want to do until you mature on that position.
Specialize, you have to learn the ins and outs of your trade and treat it as an investment to your future. You cannot share what you don’t have, and you cannot save if you don’t know how to swim. Learn your personal strengths, harness it and make sure that you fully understand and know how to use the process.
Consultancy is very similar to a doctor’s profession. You are expected to have the answers to questions, specifically to the fields of your expertise. Prior to coaching & mentoring, you would have to fully understand what needs to be solved. Therefore, you have to learn how to diagnose the needs of your clients. As an HR consultant, I start by identifying the different areas in the HR Department, the processes, the functions and the skills required from the HR personnel. I also have to understand the market trend or what is happening in other industries related to my field of expertise. Then I go back to my client and make an assessment, benchmarking them with the best practices on the HR trade.
I have mentioned the need to understanding the market trend or what the best practices are. Becoming a consultant, you need to continuously learn and study. Learning never stops. Age and maturity is not a limitation for a consultant. The more you age, the more the perception of maturity and your clients would think that you have gained enough number of years of experience on your field.
So if you want to go into that direction – becoming a consultant, then those I have mentioned are your investments. It would take a lot of patience, time, effort and interest. If your heart is in what you are doing, then it will not feel that long of a wait.
