Finding my feet after a long stint with work

[MrMarkyMark]

Ahaha, yes, that's pretty ridiculous.

Ladymuck, anything you can share about sites or agencies offering the type of projects you are experienced in (MI, business analysis, process re-engineering?)

I have seen ex Accenture and other consultants go the contracting route, all of who I used to "lead" with what they should be doing .

They have managed to carry on, but both of their 1st contracts were with the client co where they were consulting.
A little iffy with regards to IR35, IMO.

And that's my point really, in that sort of space and in Finance you are going to be up against people like me.

In addition to the skills you describe, I can also architect / develop a popular enterprise reporting suite, from server build and config to building and delivering the business reports.
That's the main skill I sell in, the other stuff is supplementary.

[Lavarella]

I very much appreciate all inputs into this and it's quite refreshing to discuss work with others.

An underlying theme seems to be that specialisation and experience are important and, clearly, I can't deny that they are paying more than one bill/mortagage/holiday for most of the professionals on this forum.

However, for what I have seen breadth of experience can be just as beneficial. The dynamics I have been working with very often entailed that the client shared their in-depth knowledge of their business and I shared my breadth of knowledge about operations, while offering my analytical skills too.

Ladymuck's LinkedIn profile (which I took the liberty to have a look at) seems to reflect this as well: her clients went from universities to airports, from banks to shipping companies.

All in all, data is data, Excel is Excel, any process can be put into a SIPOC breakdown, and if you are talking about operations, every business is different enough to require a minimal learning period (industry specific strategy work would be a different thing, for instance). Financial services can get very specific very quickly (unluckily for me), but the rest?

Or do I have to think myself very lucky that I was allowed to transition from financial services into automotive and manufacturing and then into public sector (DWP) and then a pathology lab of a hospital?

Again, not denying you guys' perspective, but rather understanding how unique and maybe bound to be short-lived (or not?!) my different one is.


And yes, I'm thinking of going back to management consulting, but I wouldn't be caught dead being an employee in the UK/London. The memory of my appraisal manager (senior consultant pushing manager at a Big4) working in excess of 70 hours a week and being on cloud number nine for a minimal raise that allowed him to afford a mortgage for a one bedroom flat in Hackney is still a bit too vivid in me...

[northernladyuk]

I very much appreciate all inputs into this and it's quite refreshing to discuss work with others.

An underlying theme seems to be that specialisation and experience are important and, clearly, I can't deny that they are paying more than one bill/mortagage/holiday for most of the professionals on this forum.

However, for what I have seen breadth of experience can be just as beneficial. The dynamics I have been working with very often entailed that the client shared their in-depth knowledge of their business and I shared my breadth of knowledge about operations, while offering my analytical skills too.

Ladymuck's LinkedIn profile (which I took the liberty to have a look at) seems to reflect this as well: her clients went from universities to airports, from banks to shipping companies.

All in all, data is data, Excel is Excel, any process can be put into a SIPOC breakdown, and if you are talking about operations, every business is different enough to require a minimal learning period (industry specific strategy work would be a different thing, for instance). Financial services can get very specific very quickly (unluckily for me), but the rest?

Or do I have to think myself very lucky that I was allowed to transition from financial services into automotive and manufacturing and then into public sector (DWP) and then a pathology lab of a hospital?

Again, not denying you guys' perspective, but rather understanding how unique and maybe bound to be short-lived (or not?!) my different one is.


And yes, I'm thinking of going back to management consulting, but I wouldn't be caught dead being an employee in the UK/London. The memory of my appraisal manager (senior consultant pushing manager at a Big4) working in excess of 70 hours a week and being on cloud number nine for a minimal raise that allowed him to afford a mortgage for a one bedroom flat in Hackney is still a bit too vivid in me...

Plenty of work in hospital laboratory IT if you have experience, not all of it PS inside IR35.