I am about to embark on a new career path in Consulting and I have become increasingly concerned about something, namely, do you need to be a specialist in something to survive in Consulting?
It seems to me that most of the people I have met/talked to have no real depth of knowledge about any particular field but seem to do very well nonetheless. Do I need to think about a specialism early on?
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Hi newgirl.
I'm in exactly the same boat as you (in fact, I posted something similar last night but haven't had any replies!).
I've got a choice between a specialist firm and the big4 but my worry is more about becoming TOO specialised and closing doors for later in my career.
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If you want to get ahead in Consulting, I suggest you specialise in backside kissing.
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You need to see it from a client's point of view and they will expect you to be knowledgeable in some particular area. The days of the glossy generalist consultant are over
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I'd say after a few years you need to be specializing in something, it will helpyoucome promotions in future, make you more marketable to clients within the companyand make you more marketable to employers out with it.
What you don't want is to have 5 yrs experience and no real marketable skillset as it makes you difficult to sell.
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Couldn't agree with you more. How do you intend to sell yourself to client at the higher levels senior manager, mc, asscoaite partner if you are a generalist? The days of Acn IT implementation generalists are over. You need to convince clients of your exp in the sector, thats the best way of getting ahead. Plus if you want to get back into industry, you'll never get work work for profit centres parts of the org like strategy, but rather the generric cost-centred parts like IT. Bascially you'll never get ahead to top positions being a generlaist
Sheridan Jacob III
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