Consultant/"Jack of all" going contract

[DaveB]

Genralists dont make successfull contractors, generally. Clients hire us to do a specific job over a specific period of time and generally dont really care what else you can do.

If you have a wide range of skills on your CV then start knocking up different versions for each skill, that way you have one that matches when you want to apply for a job.

TBH you should be doing this anyway. See the job you want, then tailor your CV to match the requirements as closely as possible. Make it easy for the pimps to tick the boxes and get you in front of the client.

I frequently cut and paste sections of the job specs in the ad into my CV just to make sure the spotty herberts realise that my skill set does actually match the job requirements.

[MikeP]

Ho hum, been in that boat, found it doesn't work. Sorry to add to the 'negative' comments, but not meant to be discouraging.
Folks just aren't interested at the point of hiring what other skill you have - more so for a contract resource (remember that contractors are usually considered expendable and hired for a specific purpose).
You have to bite the bullet and pitch yourself at what the client is looking for. *Then*, when you have the gig you can demonstrate your other skills and hopefully get noticed and working on an area which you might want to specialize in (be that PM or a specific discipline) - the bottom line remains that you have to focus.
Cheers,
Mike

[XLMonkey]

...pleasure, we monkeys have to stick together. Here, have a banana

[monkey magix]

Thanks for first piece of helpful advice XLMonkey.

I am finding the same situation in Accidenture, being pulled in both directions by the project, management and techincal and falling between both... I want to use the term "jack of all" but know its a red rag to the contractor bulls.

btw, here is a list of my favourite bits of this thread.
"Unfortunately, mate, that's how it is."
"I find it hard to belive that you've worked for Accidenture for 2 years and don't know how to tailor your CV."
"Don't mean to be rude, but how does someone with 7 years experience (and on a grad programme ) get to believe they are a "jack of all"? Is this some new brainwashing technique?"

I can't wait until I can talk like this... And I thought people in Accidenture were arrogant :-)

Monkey Magix braces himself for the onslaught of insults and defensive remarks.

[XLMonkey]

Thanks for the information.

Feeling slightly depressed though as all the advice is not to go contracting...

I don't think that's quite what people were saying.....

It's just that contractors are in quite a different market to the major IT service providers (even if the work you end up doing is similar). So, what works for one, doesn't work for the other.

To answer your earlier question -- tailored CVs are a must in my opinion. I get by with 4 standard ones, each written to emphasise my experience from a different perspective. Then I also tailor the CV if the opportunity looks interesting enough.

I wouldn't discourage you from going contracting, but from what you've said, it's not obvious that it's the best thing for you.... If you are relatively early in your career, and not planning to be a technical specialist, then you might be better off getting a few more years under your belt with a major company. In the contracting market it's difficult to get good PM or systems architects roles without more experience than you have -- conversely, you would need stronger technical skills to get the technical roles. You seem to be in a bit of a halfway house, skills-wise.

If you aren't happy with Accenture, then there are plenty more fish in the sea..... either way, best of luck

[Spartacus]

Thanks for the information.

Feeling slightly depressed though as all the advice is not to go contracting...

Unfortunately, mate, that's how it is. To many clients "jack of all trades" = "knows jack all". Clients don't generally take on contractors just to make up the numbers (although it has been known) but to carry out a specific, targetted piece of work. I think working for the likes of Accidenture will have shielded you from that sort of reality where teams of bods at £2k/day each are just shipped to the client site to "do stuff", that stuff often defined by themselves.

To understand coal face freelancing, you need to put the shoe on the other foot. If you were contracting someone to fit you a new bathroom, would you go for the guy who has been fitting bathrooms in private houses for 30 years and did a good job on a bathroom exactly the same as yours in the house next door, or the guy who's done a few years "general household maintenance".

[Pondlife]

Thanks for the information.

Feeling slightly depressed though as all the advice is not to go contracting...

I find it hard to belive that you've worked for Accidenture for 2 years and don't know how to tailor your CV. Sending your 'consultant profile' to prospective clients is a sales pitch and is therefore tailored to the specific client's requirements.

HTH

[monkey magix]

Thanks for the information.

Feeling slightly depressed though as all the advice is not to go contracting...

[funkyd]

My background is quite diverse and I found it to be a problem - nobody ever knew exactly what it is that I can do well.

Now I am changing and focussing on mobile / remote solutions / sharepoint / Windows Mobile / Blackberry and small business setups.

This is where I choose to apply my skills but underneath is SQL and C# etc of which there is plenty of work.

I find that saying I do a bit of everything is wearing a bit thin now that I am nearly 30 and been in it for 7 years. Hopefully focussing a bit will make me seem more attractive to the sort of people looking for my sort of skills.

[BlasterBates]

Well I'm afraid it doesn't look good, you don't have more than two years experience in anything. You don't have a good contracting profile. If I were you I'd look for the right permie job. If anything you're heading towards being a PM.

[monkey magix]

Don't mean to be rude, but how does someone with 7 years experience (and on a grad programme ) get to believe they are a "jack of all"? Is this some new brainwashing technique? "Hi Monkey, welcome to CSC, now go and run the world." I know people with more than 7 years in a single discipline, who don't even consider themselves masters of that one. I hope you haven't fallen for the corporate hype - I'm watching a CSC project go pearshaped from a safe distance at my current client (probably not a coincidence that most of the dev work is happening in India).

Maybe you have taken my "jack of all" comment the wrong way, I was trying to point out that I hadn't spent my time on the same discipline i.e not specialising and therefor a master on none. No arrogance here, just a realisation that I'm a generalist.The most I seem to spend is 9 months on one type of role and then move to the next project although they are always technical roles and I'm slowly on the path to be a solution architect. When looking at contracts I generally see that they want people with 2~3 years experience in a particular role. As I have now looking for my first contract I was just asking for some advice.

[TheMonkey]

All the youngsters think they're working on the greatest project ever undertaken, all the old-timers know exactly what's coming and can't wait for the pub to open of an evening.

So true. I'm a youngster with a slightly different attitude.

Universal theory of IT: Assume everything is a crock of tulip from day one and you'll never be disappointed!

[Mordac]

I've been working in IT for 7 years, started on a graduate consultancy program in CSC

Don't mean to be rude, but how does someone with 7 years experience (and on a grad programme ) get to believe they are a "jack of all"? Is this some new brainwashing technique? "Hi Monkey, welcome to CSC, now go and run the world." I know people with more than 7 years in a single discipline, who don't even consider themselves masters of that one. I hope you haven't fallen for the corporate hype - I'm watching a CSC project go pearshaped from a safe distance at my current client (probably not a coincidence that most of the dev work is happening in India). All the youngsters think they're working on the greatest project ever undertaken, all the old-timers know exactly what's coming and can't wait for the pub to open of an evening.

[cojak]

Generalists are usually termed 'Project Managers' and coming from a big consultancy people expect to pay top dollar only if you have at least a few years experience managing reasonably sized projects.

HTH.

PS. It helps if you're a good PM but IME this is not essential...

[monkey magix]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new here and I'd appreciate any advice you can give. I've been working in IT for 7 years, started on a graduate consultancy program in CSC for a couple of years doing Java stuff. Then worked for a small firm as a technical consultant in their own OO lanuage, now at Accenture as a technical consultant for 2 years working as a team lead/solution architect/manager (quite annoying to have so many hats to wear). As you may guess I've a broad techie back ground but nothing in which i would say i am an expert

My question is : As a jack of all trades and master of none am I going to find it hard to get a decent contract?

Consultancy firms usually pay well for generalists as they just need flexible people to get on with stuff, they bring in contractors for the specialist work.
I'm not too concerned with getting the big bucks, infact i would settle for a reasonable contract with good hours (this being a problem at my current job)

I'm looking at contracts on offer and can usually tick some of the boxes but not all of them. I am thinking of creating a few different versions of my CV to target different types of jobs. ... any advice?

Many thanks in advance.

MM