This is the continuation of my first post, The “Consultant Blueprint” (part 1). To refresh you, I’ve come up with 13 intangibles of consulting success throughout the years. These are critical skills to be able to learn and adopt in order to become uber marketable. You don’t have to have ALL the skills, but you need to have a fair share in order to survive. I’ll continue with the intangibles below.

Flexibility/Adaptability

Huge huge huge part of being a consultant. Flexibility on commuting length, hours worked, clients worked at, technologies worked on, etc. You also need to be able to handle new situations, people, and technologies. If you only want to have a commute less than 15 minutes or only want to work with the latest and greatest technologies and projects, find a warm comphy place as an employee somewhere in corporate america, and just stay there. Consulting changes daily, and you have to be able to adapt to different challenges.. If I had to pick one area that was the biggest factor in consulting success (besides technical knowledge), it’s this one.

Team Player

I love working with good team players. The ones that really get a charge out of mentoring and helping others. They always make a project or job more fun, and really take a lot of stress out of the every day intricacies of working for “the man”. Good team players don’t have much of an ego, they typically stay under the radar, and are usually the quiet type. They make others look good, while not always taking the credit.

Looks (grooming, etc.)

Ahh yes, superficial us. But it’s so true. I don’t care what you say, good looking, well manicured people always have an easier time. Didn’t you see that episode of 30 rock? Now, there’s a fine line here too, especially in the software development field. Beautiful people are few and far between (no offense), but make sure you’re at least dressing appropriately for your situation. Shower, shave, use deodorant, don’t over do the cologne or perfume, and don’t dress like you just woke up under a bridge. Simple grooming habits go a long way.

Interviewing skills

Face it, some people interview great, and some people loathe interviewing. It’s a skill ALL consultants need to be able to master. Ultimately, you’re a product, and you’re your own sales person. It’s definitely something people take for granted, and something that needs to be rehearsed and practiced, just like anything else. If you can’t sell yourself, it’s going to difficult being a successful consultant.

Hunger for continuing education

Not everyone needs to go home and build their own network or web app, or whatever. But, the most successful ones do. You’re not always granted the luxury of working with the latest and greatest technologies, so how else are you going to learn it? By yourself, on your own, by either taking classes or from real world experiences. If I’m looking to hire people, one of the questions I ask is “how do you keep up with technology”? If the answer is “I don’t have time”, you’re probably not my guy.

Professional connections

This is all about the old saying “it’s not what you know, but who you know”. Oh how true that is. It goes back to the relationship piece. As a consultant, you’re meeting tons of new people, especially if you’re active in the local community at user groups and conferences. Make sure you keep in touch with those connections, you never know when you might need them. Use LinkedIn HEAVILY! It’s the easiest tool to keep in touch with past colleagues and managers.

Stay tuned, my next post will be the “Consultant Blueprint” quiz.

Tags: adaptability, apprearance, consulting skills, continuing education, flexibility, interviewing skills, team player

This entry was posted by Ehren Seim on Friday, September 18th, 2009 at 6:50 am and is filed under consulting, Job Search, Recruiting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.