Everyone has different beliefs about the life of an IT consultant, it is usually presented as a fast-paced, high-reward career path, offering exposure to different industries, challenging projects, and rapid growth. While this can all be true, there is also side: tight deadlines, demanding clients, and the challenge of balancing technical excellence with business priorities. What I’m going to share with you today is my perspective based on my journey and might differ depending on the company and teams, even from the perception of the colleagues I’m working with.
Pros
1. Diversity of projects and clients
One of the aspects I initially found exciting was the variety of projects. I had the chance to work on cloud architectures and on several enterprise applications learning everyday something new and exciting. This diversity helped me gain exposure to multiple domains, making me more adaptable and well-rounded. However, this is not always the case—some consultants end up working with a single client for extended periods, leading to repetitive tasks rather than diverse challenges.
2. Fast-paced Learning
The nature of consultancy often means being thrown into complex technical and business problems with little ramp-up time. While this can be stressful at first, it pushed me to learn quickly and gain expertise in new technologies, frameworks, and methodologies at a really fast pace.
3. Exposure to business strategy
Unlike roles where software engineers primarily focus on coding, consultancy required me to engage with clients to understand their business needs. This helped me develop a more strategic mindset, bridging the gap between technology and business objectives, understanding better what is the final goal that your technology will help to achieve.
4. Career Opportunities
An important aspect of a consultancy role is the possibility to grow quickly, if you show dedication and prove you capabilities you will be noticed very soon. Reaching managerial positions can be relatively straightforward if you show dedication and capabilities. In my experience, those who consistently deliver results and demonstrate leadership qualities are quickly noticed and given the opportunity to step into management roles.
Challenges
1. High pressure and unpredictable workload
Meeting deadlines is always a priority, sometimes at the cost of quality, especially when juggling multiple projects at once. While this can lead to improve and challenge yourself, learning quicker, understanding how to manage the time available, it usually means sacrificing the quality of your work. Sure, a more robust management of the resources and projects could mitigate this drawback, but is generally difficult to plan for it, being dependent upon the clients needs.
2. Technical quality vs. Getting things done
One of my biggest frustrations was that the way a solution was architected and implemented often mattered less than simply delivering something functional on time. The focus was always on meeting deadlines and staying within budget rather than on best practices, maintainability, or long-term scalability.
The real goal is always to make profit, and profit always wins the fight against project quality.
3. Sales-Driven Environment
I quickly realized that consultancy is not just about solving technical problems—it’s also about selling solutions. A significant amount of effort went into convincing clients to adopt new features or improvements, always with the underlying goal of meeting revenue targets. The pressure to achieve the yearly budget goals was intense, often influencing project decisions more than technical or strategic considerations. Sure, selling solutions to a client usually means providing solutions to a client’s problem, but it requires to be proficient both on technical and communications aspects.
4. Shifting from Technical to Soft Skills
Early in my career, my growth was very technical, but as time passed, I noticed a shift—communication, negotiation, and project management became more important. While these are valuable skills, I realized that if my goal was to become a highly specialized technical expert or a staff software engineer, this was not the best environment for me.
What I Learned Along the Way
- Communication is Key: Managing client expectations and explaining technical decisions clearly is more important than writing clean code or good solutions. A clear communication and the ability to bond with the client can open up to big opportunities, and you future will mostly depend upon it.
- Prioritization is Essential: With multiple tasks at hand, knowing what to focus on is critical to avoiding burnout and to deliver the results on time. Managing effectively your time is probably the most important thing you should learn a the beginning of your career.
- Adaptability is a Must: Every project is different, and staying flexible is the only way to keep up. Sometimes you are moved from project to project and you need to be able to contribute in very little time.
- Not Every Request Should Be a Yes: Learning to push back on unrealistic expectations is crucial for maintaining a sustainable workload, could it be while speaking with the client or with your managers. It is always better to deliver on time you current project, than failing miserably trying to impress your superiors.
Would I Recommend IT Consultancy?
From my point of view, the most important aspect of deciding whether or not consultancy could be a good fit for you is understanding what you value most. Do you enjoy having a higher vision, creating relationships, and building trust with a big focus on accountability and management? Or do you prefer focusing on the technical aspects, experimenting with new technologies, and striving to build high-quality solutions? The answer to this question can help determine whether consultancy aligns with your long-term career goals.
For those who excel at client communication, thrive under pressure, and love working on a variety of projects, consultancy can be an exciting and rewarding path. However, if you value stability, long-term ownership, and deep technical specialization, a product-based company might be a better fit.
At the end of the day, this was my experience, but I know other consultants who had vastly different journeys. Consultancy can be a great learning opportunity, but whether it’s the right path depends on what you want from your career.
Leave a Reply