Long hours and travel are often cited by the consultants I speak to as the main motivation behind wanting to move from external consulting to an internal strategy role. I decided to speak to Chris Bonfield (EM, Group Advisory at CBA) who has worked on both sides of the table to offer some insights into how the roles differ.
Travel
When you are operating as an external consultant the amount of travel can be excessive, but as Chris comments this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. For those at an early stage of their career travel can make you a stronger proposition when you go to market later in your career. Chris also recalls the friendships that are built during this period and the social aspects can be very appealing.
The amount of travel when you work in-house is undoubtedly going to be hugely different, often with none required at all. Chris noted that the additional advantage of this was that, “as an internal consultant is that it is much easier to get time with my stakeholders because we are in the same building and working for the same organisation”.
Stakeholder Relationships
When you’re external - there are two different interests, both profit incentives but for different organisations. However, when working internally you only need to be concerned with the corporate agenda. Chris commented that, “When you’re inside the organisation then you’re effectively part of the same team and working to the same goals, so you can build those relationships much deeper and much quicker than you can as an external consultant…”
Timing
External consulting offers the best education you can get in terms of methodologies and a consulting framework but when you reach Manager or Senior Manager level you have to make a decision as to which career path you want to take - do you really want to be a Partner in a consulting firm?
“The main advantage of being an internal consultant is the opportunities it will open in your career to be a GM with a P&L of a channel, product, operations etc… this is why people switch in the end.”
Chris believes that after 5/6 years consulting experience you will be a good all-rounder with a better range of skills that is more useful to a business in an internal role. From a recruitment perspective, we see the number of opportunities for in-house strategy roles reduce as consultants get more senior, emphasising the need to make a decision on the direction of your career at this stage.
Have you reached your career crossroad yet? If so, which path will you follow; reaching the consulting summit as a smooth talking, jet setting Partner or will you put your strategy skills to a more practical use as a market renowned Exec Director in an ASX company? Ultimately, do you want to serve a client or be the client…?
If you are a consultant considering where to take your career feel free to contact Morgan McKinley in confidence to discuss the path that could be right for you.
Tags: Career advice, consultant, external consulting, internal consulting, recruitment, stakeholder relationships, strategy skills, work travel
08
"The dreaded 'O' word"
It is the dreaded “O” word that no one seems to want to say, dare I mention it? OK, here goes…outsourcing. Not best-sourcing, strategic alliances or channel partnerships just good, old fashioned, outsourcing. Whether you are a fan or a critic it is undeniable that the majority of the largest Australian employers are already engaged with, or are in the process of partnering with managed service providers to outsource at least a portion of their IT functions. AMP’s announcement this morning regarding its official decision to move AXA “onto its fully outsourced managed infrastructure under a new five-year, $220 million contract with outsourcer CSC” is just one of many outsourcing announcements that we have read over the last few years.
In the eyes of many, the result of these moves has been a loss of jobs for many IT (and other disciplines) jobs. So what can you do about it? My advice is to have a look at the other side, yes, the “O”ther side – the outsourcers themselves.
As the management of internal IT systems moves to the outsourcing companies the need for exceptional talent to fill those needs increases. A few tips to help you prepare and ensure you rise to the top of the list of applications if you are considering a career move from client side to vendor:
- Get exposure to as many varied environments as you can. This can be achieved via project work or contracting to broaden your portfolio of skills. This is a big plus for outsourcing firms as they have a varied client base so having experience with a number of different environments ensures that you can be deployed to more than one client and therefore will reduce your risk of being sat on the bench (not making the outsourcing company money).
- Have a Service Delivery Management approach. Whether internally within a client or within an outsourced provider the role of an SDM is critical in ensuring that the relationship between IT and the business is as productive as possible. To get this experience, consider putting your hand up to act as the liaison between your IT team and the business the next time you are working on a project.
- Ensure you understand the importance of SLA’s. This one is fairly obvious but challenge yourself to re-think the impact of non-delivery. How would you and your team react if not meeting an SLA meant a financial penalty for your employer? How would you feel if that great bonus you are working towards is now at risk because of a missed SLA?
As the old saying goes – if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!
Tags: AMP, AXA, IT jobs, IT systems, outsourcing
07
Networking for grown-ups
I often get asked if LinkedIn is just Facebook for professionals. My answer is always the same - it depends on how you use it! Like any piece of technology, especially databases which is in essence what LinkedIn is, it is only as powerful as the information that the user inputs. So, the question that I would challenge any LinkedIn user, novice or expert, to ask of themselves when assessing if LinkedIn is working for them is what is the quality of my profile?
A few tips:
- Ensure that you have a photo, a professional one (especially if you are looking for work), not one of you snowboarding. Unless of course you would like a job as a snowboarding instructor!
- Make sure all of your recent roles have at least a brief summary of what you did. Even if you are not looking for work the power of LinkedIn's networking potential will be limited if you do not provide some context.
- Take advantage of the skills and expertise section, populate it with information that you wish to be associated with from a networking perspective.
Another useful tip that goes beyond the content of your profile is to consider how you handle requests to connect. If you get a request from someone you do not know or do not want to connect with, think about simply ignoring the invite versus reporting the request as "I don't know this person". By declining a request you may cause that person to be blocked. LinkedIn is a networking website - in most cases people who are reaching out to you are looking to use the site for its intended purpose.
In summary, if you want LinkedIn to be more than a business version of Facebook all you need to do is take advantage of its format. Not sure if you are maximising LinkedIn's power? Do a Google search on the key areas you want to be known for - do you come up?
Connect with me on LinkedIn.
Tags: Australia, Facebook, job seeker, jobs in Sydney, Linkedin, Linkedin tips, Networking, profile
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The engineering and construction industry remains buoyant across Australia. Various skill sets are on demand to support ongoing projects across infrastructure and upgrades across the building, transport/rail and maritime industry. Firms are seeking only the best talent to fill each and every role and will not settle for anything less!
Companies are getting more competitive across engineering and construction firms when it come to tender process for larger projects and this in some cases is resulting in employers waiting long periods of time for the ideal employee. To support this change across the market more and more companies are working with specialist vertical recruitment professionals across the industry to assist with the hiring process.
Ensure you are giving yourself the best opportunity to portray your experience and skills in the best light;
- Consider multiple opportunities to ensure you are making the right decision!
- Always remember your key reasons for moving!
- The key is to set you apart from the competition and elaborate on the specific skills you have and are demanding in the market specific to each application.
- Research the companies you want to be part of and aim for these.
- Seek out the companies that are offering a career path suitable to you.
- Be specific on what location you want to work/live
- Be realistic and open minded about what’s on offer to you, the market and industry changes!
The industry is currently calling for those hard to find skills including project manager - large scale across the resources industry, designers/drafters - MX, 12d, revit and site engineers/project manager for the civil infrastructure industry to support utility upgrades. If you have any questions or think you have the niche demanding skills required we would love to hear from you.
For more information regarding the recruitment market, please view the Morgan McKinley Sydney Salary Guide 2012. This salary guide provides market intelligence on hiring and remuneration trends across financial services and commerce & industry in Sydney.
Until next time your resident T&E blogger.
Tags: Australia, building, construction, engineering, infrastructure, projects, transport/rail and maritime
27
Heads above the rest
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In the past year I have met with, spoken to, and had the great pleasure of assisting a number of people looking for work. Of late one of the most common comments I have heard is "…the market is really weird at the moment - I just don't get it…" To be honest, I am not sure any of us truly know where the market is heading but one thing that is certain is that we all need to adjust to the change of pace and process that we are experiencing today.
To effectively roll with the many punches that the current market is throwing there are a few key tips that I would recommend to anyone looking for work at the moment:
- Know your value proposition - What is it that you do? What, about your background is different to the next person's? What have you actually DONE?
- Tie all of your achievements, with clear and, if possible, numeric examples, to one of the following - How you made a company money, how you saved a company money or how you increased efficiencies. All of these hit on the ever important "cost reduction" strategy that most organisations are following at the moment
- Be at peace with the fact that hiring managers are being EXTREMELY picky at the moment. Sign offs are becoming harder and harder to get - in many cases the only reason a role is getting sign off is based on the very clear, and often narrow, skills required. Make sure that each and every time you apply for a role you are addressing ALL of the criteria with clear examples on your CV.
If you know what you have to offer, if you are able to clearly articulate that on your CV and you are applying for appropriate roles your chances of success will be greatly increased... and hopefully your frustration greatly decreased!
Tags: Australian jobs market, Career advice, hiring market, job search
18
Change before you have to!
I recently attended a seminar hosted by Simon Corah, founder of the Growth Mantra. It really got me thinking about the importance of change and how winning companies in this day and age are those that master reinvention.
There are lots of examples of leading, iconic brands that have floundered in the last few years, for example Blockbuster and Kodak. In this era of digitalisation, fragmentation, personalisation, mobilisation and constantly changing consumer behaviours, it seems that the winners are those businesses that are the first to reinvent themselves.
The losers miss new technology trends and are scared to make big decisions, like which part of their businesses to prioritise and which to scale back. The losers rely on history and ignore signals and market trends. They like to stay safe; they have a small market outlook and are slow to change. These are the clients that we tend to see panic hiring, trying to catch up with their competitors.
The winners, however, reinvent their business models and address business change head on. They don’t just measure themselves against their traditional competition; after all they may not know who their next big competitor is. They invest in opportunities and innovation, are quick off the mark and make it count.
These businesses take the big stretch even though it is scary. Most importantly they know, accept and embrace the fact that change is the only constant. Corah suggests that as a minimum, businesses should address the following three things if they want to ensure that they aren’t the next market flop ...
- Don’t rely on historic data - what is driving current trends in your sector? Make sure you have deep customer knowledge.
- Invest in opportunities before your next competitor does! It may not be comfortable but it will pay off.
- Take a whole of market outlook then look at whole of business reinvention.
Tags: change management, management consultant, project management, strategy
29
Employers continue to be very selective
Three months into 2012 and the ball continues to remain in the employers' court. There is no doubt that the number of professionals seeking employment is outweighing demand. However, we continue to see great opportunities arise through restructures, succession planning and replacement hiring but it takes the perfect skill set, experience and attitude to be considered.
Budget for new hires is still restricted, even a replacement hire will often require a lengthy sign off process, not to mention a thorough internal search before an organisation can recruit externally. A new hire needs to be tactfully supported by an excellent business case and will often involve sign off from executive management. Whilst hiring managers are required to jump through the various hoops to gain sign off for external recruitment; when they get the opportunity to do so, they want to confirm they’re getting the very best talent possible in the market.
Short-lists therefore remain more competitive than ever, great opportunities are available, however employers are requesting relevant industry experience and specific skill sets. Ironically, this can lead to a candidate short market for certain positions which requires an agency to run a search assignment. So you never know, this may be the market which the perfect opportunity arises, however it’s just as likely the role will find you as it is you finding the role.
For more information regarding the recruitment market, please view the Morgan McKinley Sydney Salary Guide 2012. This salary guide provides market intelligence on hiring and remuneration trends across financial services and commerce & industry in Sydney.
Tags: hiring trends, job search, jobs in Sydney, recruitment, Sydney Salary Guide 2012
16
Sydney Salary Guide 2012
Morgan McKinley’s 2012 Salary Guide is now available. It provides market intelligence on remuneration and hiring trends across the financial services sector and commerce & industry organisations in Sydney
Download the 2012 Salary Guide now
We hope you find our Sydney Salary Guide 2012 informative. If you have any questions, feedback or would like to discuss any of the findings, please contact us directly.
Tags: hiring market Australia, hiring trends, jobs in Sydney, jobs market 2012, Morgan McKinley, Sydney Salary Guide 2012
After months of talk it is a relief for most of us to see that the Labor leadership contest is over as Julia Gillard easily won the vote yesterday, although the Australian share market doesn’t seem to reflect this; actually trading lower at lunchtime.
There has been a lot of uncertainty in all corners of the Australian market driven by a lack of business and consumer confidence which hasn’t been helped by this political uncertainty. Fingers crossed with this behind us and hiring managers back from their extended Christmas and New Year breaks, the jobs market will really start to move forward again.
We are already hearing more positive talk from the market. Hiring decisions are starting to get the green light and there are certainly a few hiring trends emerging. If you have developed skills in assisting businesses in meeting their regulatory requirements, improving business efficiencies and exploring offshoring and outsourcing opportunities as well as vendor management – you will certainly be in demand. Let’s hope March and the rest of 2012 brings a little more luck for you if you are a job seeker than for poor old Kevin.
Tags: Australian jobs market, Australian PM Gillard wins vote, hiring market, hiring trends, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Labor Party, leadership challenge
21
Should I take voluntary redundancy?
A common question I often get asked at the moment, ‘Should I take redundancy, it’s a large amount of money on offer’.
The answer will always vary depending on your personal situation. However your likelihood of getting a new role will depend on your skills, experience, and ultimately the demand for them when you are looking. Whilst you will know the first two, it’s key for your recruiter to advise you on the last one.
The money can look very attractive and I frequently hear people say, ‘good people will always get a job’. This often holds true however we have found the time it takes to secure a new role has increased in recent years, and you need to be prepared to spend at least a few months searching the market.
Prior to ‘taking the package’ on offer:
- Budget to be out of work for at least six months, if it’s less then I’m sure you’ll find a use for the money.
- Have your resume ready and up to date, with current achievements.
- Speak to your recruiter, not only for advice on the market but also so they can start a passive search for you.
- Start using your network and improve your LinkedIn page; the more information you can include about yourself and your capabilities, the better.
If you take the plunge:
- Work with your recruiter to approach the market, keep a record of your search and progress made. You might need this information in the future.
- Search both the contract and permanent market at the same time. Whilst you might really want a permanent job, the contract market is not to be ignored with a large percentage of contract roles turning into a permanent position.
- Take a short break – you’ve been working hard and you deserve it. The time to refresh will do you a world of good and improve your performance at interviews. Remember you will potentially need to explain anything over a month.
- Don’t get disheartened, it’s a challenging market and potentially will take time.
Tags: Career advice, redundancy, redundancy advice, redundancy help, voluntary redundancy
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