Advice please: importance of employer 'brand'.

**craig1** · 6 October 2011, 14:42

Big names with big reputations always help on your CV as both a permie and contractor. A couple of years at a big name can give you the connections and name-dropping to get into plenty of other companies.

That said, soul-less places that might suck you into the death spiral of long-term permie

**lupinwhite1** · 28 May 2012, 08:07

Thank you for your reply. Apologies for not acknowledging it -- I was incognito due to personal circumstances and have only just got my life back in order. Many thanks for the advice.

**cojak** · 28 May 2012, 08:32

If you have a wobbly private life it might be a good time to go permie, at least until the economic situation has stabilised.

**GB9** · 29 May 2012, 07:22

Originally posted by lupinwhite1 View Post

Hi All,

Would having an IBM or deloitte on my CV be beneficial as a contractor in the long-run, or does it not really matter?

Thoughts? Many thanks...

Any CVs I get that have Deloitte or PWC etc. on them usually go straight in the bin. I've worked with lots of them and invariably they aren't skilled in what they claim to be. My current client has a few in now and basically anyone who has been on the bench has been directed towards us and is now learning on the job to the detriment of the project.

Better off being good at what you do and being able to demonstrate it.

**nomadd** · 29 May 2012, 08:02

Originally posted by craig1 View Post

Big names with big reputations always help on your CV as both a permie and contractor. A couple of years at a big name can give you the connections and name-dropping to get into plenty of other companies.

That said, soul-less places that might suck you into the death spiral of long-term permie

This^

And...

OP: I've worked for two of the big consultancies as a contractor; one contract went fine, the other one was a nightmare. What you will find is a lot of "attitude" and "managerial posturing" in these companies, which isn't very helpful when it comes to simply getting the job done. Having a couple of these names on your cv isn't going to do it any harm (especially if it's just smaller company names on it at present), but don't expect it to be some form a great door-opener either. Much better to get a few "real" big companies on the cv. Having said that, you'll probably find that the big consultancies will just body-shop you onto a big customer site anyway, and in that case you can put down both names on your cv (that's what I've done on mine.)

**bobspud** · 29 May 2012, 08:09

Originally posted by GB9 View Post

My current client has a few in now and basically anyone who has been on the bench has been directed towards us and is now learning on the job to the detriment of the project.

The old consultancies used to talk about buying T shaped skills. That meant that the consultant has a seriously strong core of expertise in the middle but has a wide range of understanding so that they don't feel exposed and out of their depth, when moved to the left or right of their skill sets. This principal has served me well over the years and meant that when I got bought in as a Unix TDA then farmed off as a VMware expert I had enough understanding to spend a week training myself up with some books and looked better than the rest of the room when I stepped infront of the client. I could do that because I took 15 years experience, planing NFS and SAN layouts for Solaris machines and HA apps and moved them to VMware... Unfortunately the talent pool is looking more and more like a minus sign and without that core knowledge its hard to jump around the skills and as you rightly say many of the junior consultants are a little out of their depth for most of the time.

Lupin What you need to ask yourself is: Do you have a deep understanding of a core skill? I mean living breathing understanding not just turning up for work. If you do then you might learn something from a year or two in a big shop. six months will look lame and you couldn't make the grade. If you can get through 2 years it shows you can deliver a few projects, and in the meantime will show you stuff like how to write technical documents properly. How projects really run. How to build a proposal. How to derive requirements...

If you don't have a good core skill you will end up spending most of your time trying to learn technologies on the job and miss the valuable soft stuff.

**lupinwhite1** · 29 May 2012, 08:37

Originally posted by nomadd View Post

This^

And...

OP: I've worked for two of the big consultancies...What you will find is a lot of "attitude" and "managerial posturing" in these companies, which isn't very helpful when it comes to simply getting the job done. Having a couple of these names on your cv isn't going to do it any harm (especially if it's just smaller company names on it at present), but don't expect it to be some form a great door-opener either. Much better to get a few "real" big companies on the cv. Having said that, you'll probably find that the big consultancies will just body-shop you onto a big customer site anyway, and in that case you can put down both names on your cv (that's what I've done on mine.)

Couldn't agree more. Since I started this thread I've already registered myself as limited and am in the interview process for a few opportunities. The next step will (hopefully) be securing a gig and getting an accountant. I appreciate all the helpful advice. I know the climate doesn't look great but I'm not for staying permie at the moment...the "wobbly" circumstances were a bereavement.

Advice please: importance of employer 'brand'.