A Day in the Life of a Technology Consultant

We recently caught up with Bright Network member Zahra to chat about how her career as a technology consultant is going. She told us about her personal experience working in the industry and what a day in the life of a technology consultant is really like. Read on to learn what a technology consultant does and whether it’s the career path for you.

What does a technology consultant do?

Technology consultants provide solutions to any technological issues their clients are facing. This might be finding new ways of working with existing software or suggesting systems that the client can use. Being a great technology consultant requires being analytical, a good problem solver and happy to take on any given challenge. It’s Zahra’s job to give her clients the best solution possible to the problems they’re facing with their software.

We started by asking Zahra to reflect on her time as a technology consultant.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned since starting?

This might sound cheesy, but everyone needs everyone. No role is a small role. Every individual in the team is completely needed and necessary and valid. The most important thing I’ve learned is to have attention to detail and know that everyone is needed.

I think making yourself stand out is a good way to be recognised in the team. The best way to do that is to be yourself and know what your skills, strengths and weaknesses are. If you do have weaknesses, work on them! It makes someone stand out if they’re honest about themselves and if they own their skills and even their weaknesses.

The working conditions of a technology consultant

Technology consultants typically work for consulting companies. This means they’re employed by one company but go out to other companies and advise on the problems they’re facing. Therefore, it’s really important to build a relationship with your colleague on your team but also the clients you’re working for as they need to trust you and the recommendations you make.

We asked Zahra about her time working as a technology consultant.

What has been the highlight of working as a technology consultant?

Working on a project and seeing it from beginning to end is enlightening. It’s a great experience to build something from scratch with your team and activate it and make it go live. At the end of a project, you’ve built a major system for a company which has make the employee’s lives easier and their processes more aligned. Seeing this from beginning to end is such a great experience. It’s very satisfying.

What is the culture like in a consulting firm?

The firm is very relaxed. You deal with your career yourself, and you do exactly what you want to do. You can make your career exactly what you want it to be. This includes doing many different certifications or qualifications like business analysis training, I do lots of certifications on the software I’m working on. But if you’re someone who wants to focus on projects, you can. I love the relaxed culture.

What was one thing that you didn’t expect when working at the firm?

I didn’t expect everything to be so independent. This could be a really good thing. Of course, there is a lot of help, and you can ask your managers for help and guidance throughout your career, but the attitude is ‘if you want to do this, go and make it happen’. There are resources to do anything. For example, in my company there wasn’t a graduate podcast, so I started it! It’s still going If you want to make it happen, you can.

A typical day in the life of a digital media planner

Working in any consulting position can include long working days, especially towards the end of a project. We asked Zahra to take us through what a typical day in the life of a technology consultant is like, from the tasks she completes to the amount of client interaction she has in a day.

What is the first thing you do when you start working?

We usually have a morning call. We have a morning meeting usually at 9.30 which is a team call to talk about the current project we’re working on, how we’re going to spend the day, and what our main actions are for the day.

What would you typically do throughout the day?

We have daily tasks we need to get on with. This depends on the project we’re working on. I work with a specific type of software. This is a major CRM software that we use to create solutions for clients. The client comes to me with a problem, and I create a solution using the software.

The tasks I have include gathering requirements from the client, this is asking what they want to do and their needs for a project. There’s a lot of client interaction in this role – we’re very hands-on with the clients because we want them to be as involved as possible. This means having lots of calls from the clients to talk about the requirements they have.

As a consultant, the main thing you’re doing is interacting with people – a LOT of different people. Both senior and junior from many different areas of a company and in in different companies as well. I love this! It’s one of the reasons I became a consultant. Pre-pandemic, we actually went into offices and met with clients in person. We really focus on building a professional relationship with them. I really enjoy that because I’m an extravert and I love meeting people, and that’s where I really come to life. I think that anyone who wants to go into consulting needs to enjoy being around and working with people. Being part of a team is really important.

How you could become a technology consultant?

Being a technology consultant requires a combination of great IT and problem-solving skills. Whilst you don’t need a degree to be a consultant, having a degree in computer science, data science or computer engineering can give you a competitive edge over other candidates. It helps you learn the hard and soft skills that you need for the job. On top of the soft skills like problem solving and an analytical mind that help you with your tasks, being approachable and confident speaking with people assist you in working with multiple companies, as is required for consultants. Gaining confidence happens naturally while you’re learning on the job, so don’t worry! But if you want to brush up on your people skills, complete our Academy module on adapting your communication style.

We asked Zahra for her advice on how you can break into the technology consultant profession.

What top three tips would you give Bright Network members looking to follow in your footsteps?

Have a good understanding of what you can bring to a team. If you know you’re a great communicator but are bad at presentations, get better at presentations. Know what you bring to the table, because everyone brings something.

Have a good LinkedIn profile. This doesn’t mean updating it everyday, but interact with people, don’t be afraid to message people. Network.

Be yourself and don’t be afraid of looking silly or thinking that you’re too junior for something. Have confidence in yourself and faith that you do matter in a company, even if you’ve just started as a graduate straight out of university.

Have you been inspired by Zahra? Are you considering working life as a technology consultant? Explore the current jobs in technology consulting. To learn more, read our job profile on IT consulting which tells you the facts you need to know about the industry, including salary and skills. If you want to know even more, complete our Academy module on how to get into consulting.