My first job out of college was with the IT department of a medium-sized company. We built the software on which the company ran. It was great seeing the code we wrote solve the needs of our client base – the various departments. But like most IT departments we were overwhelmed with all we needed to do. So upper management often turned to outside consultants for advice and the best ways to proceed with technology initiatives.
When it was time for me to move to a new city, I wasn’t able to continue to work for that company. Since I was moving somewhere I had no business connections, I looked for a job with a consulting company. I thought it would be a good way to get introduced to the technology community. Eventually, I figured I would find a job in an IT department after learning about the local companies.
I never did leave “consulting” as a career, but that term is one I can’t stand: “Consultant”. That was the title on my business card. I hated it.
When I hear the word consultant, I picture smarmy snake oil salesmen in slick suits dispensing expensive advice and then vanishing. Basically they are the used-car-salesman equivalent of the business world.
Last week, Martin Zwilling, CEO of Startup Professionals posted Nobody Wants a Consultant These Days and summed up how I feel about “consultants”:
Let’s face it, consultants have a bad image. Businesses want experienced people who get their hands dirty, rather than experts who give presentations, make recommendations, and disappear. Even consultants don’t like their job, since they don’t often get to see results, and too much of their time is spent looking for the next gig.
Not seeing the results of one’s work means one can’t gauge whether the advice given was accurate or not. Without that feedback loop a consultant well never know. When the consultant interacts at the wrong level (such as senior management), the solution won’t match the problems of the people they are supposed to help. The consultant caters to the paycheck and not the business.
That’s why I’ve use terms like “independent software developer”. I am a software developer. I solve business problems. Since I started Red Bit Blue Bit, I’ve sought the types of customers with whom I could build a long-term relationship. I like to see the software I design grow. I want to see it become the favorite application of my customer’s users, and I want to make it even better.
