• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
programming forums Java Mobile Certification Databases Caching Books Engineering Micro Controllers OS Languages Paradigms IDEs Build Tools Frameworks Application Servers Open Source This Site Careers Other Pie Elite all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
Marshals:
  • Campbell Ritchie
  • Jeanne Boyarsky
  • Ron McLeod
  • Paul Clapham
  • Liutauras Vilda
Sheriffs:
  • paul wheaton
  • Rob Spoor
  • Devaka Cooray
Saloon Keepers:
  • Stephan van Hulst
  • Tim Holloway
  • Carey Brown
  • Frits Walraven
  • Tim Moores
Bartenders:
  • Mikalai Zaikin

Opinion of working at consulting firms

 
Ranch Hand
Posts: 53
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I applied for a software engineering position at a consulting firm in Northern California. For those of you who have worked or are working at consulting firms, what is it like to work for consulting firms? Should I expect to work over 40 hours per week for several weeks? Would a software engineering position require plenty of travel? If I were to work in a location that is far from home, would the company pay for a hotel? Would there be any projects where I would have to work out of state for several months?
 
Marshal
Posts: 79177
377
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
If the company send you on an assignment far away I would expect they would pay accommodation subsistence and travelling. But you should ask the company themselves.
 
Bartender
Posts: 11497
19
Android Google Web Toolkit Mac Eclipse IDE Ubuntu Java
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
In the past, whenever I had to travel for business, my employer provided for
1) Air travel
2) Hotel accomodation
3) Per diem expense (which is usually food, drink et.al)


Of course the quality/quantity/value depends mainly on how generous your employer is.
 
author
Posts: 23951
142
jQuery Eclipse IDE Firefox Browser VI Editor C++ Chrome Java Linux Windows
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Also note that there are requirements due to being a consultant too. Since, T&E have to be paid by the client, they are "regulated" by local (mainly tax related) laws, and by the contracts themselves. Some countries don't allow per-diems, and the ones that do, well, the amount may be specified by the agreed contract.

Henry
 
Alissa Horner
Ranch Hand
Posts: 53
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Maneesh Godbole wrote:In the past, whenever I had to travel for business, my employer provided for
1) Air travel
2) Hotel accomodation
3) Per diem expense (which is usually food, drink et.al)


Of course the quality/quantity/value depends mainly on how generous your employer is.



Suppose you had to travel for business and stay in that location for several months. Would you stay in a hotel for several months or would your employer find somewhere else to stay for several months? I was just wondering because staying in a hotel for several months would be expensive.
 
Campbell Ritchie
Marshal
Posts: 79177
377
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Alissa Horner wrote: . . . staying in a hotel for several months would be expensive.

Depends on the hotel. You can probably negotiate a large discount for a long stay. Maybe they will find you a flat, or ask the client who knows the local area better, to help find you accommodation.

You are going to have to phone the prospective employer, who can answer all your questions far better than we can.
 
Rancher
Posts: 2759
32
Eclipse IDE Spring Tomcat Server
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Different consulting firms have different cultures. I am sorry, we cannot talk about the specific consulting firm here because of board policy.

Generally speaking, The bigger consulting firms will usually make you work a lot, because you are like a revenue stream to them. The more you work, the more they earn. However, the advantage is that you get to learn a lot. You get to go work at world class companies for 3-6 months at a time. You get to understand how different companies work differently. Product companies that have consulting departments are better at the number of hours, because they spend time and money training you on their own product. So, they want you to stay with them for a while. However, end of the day, you are "sales", and your growth in the company is dependent on how many clients you can keep happy. You will squeak by putting 40 hours, but the guy putting 60 hrs will get the promotion. Boutique consulting firms that focus on certain verticals or technologies will treat you well, but they won;t hire you unless you have a specific skill, or knowledge of a vertical. Then there are the thousands of "body-shoppers" who basically are the IT industry's version of temp agencies. They will go where the big consulting firms can't go. The working conditions really depend on your client. Your employer will be mostly hands-off.


If I'm assuming correctly, you are asking about one of the bigger consulting companies. You should expect to work more than 40, and also expect to learn a lot of new things. It's not bad if you are young, and ready to learn.
 
Maneesh Godbole
Bartender
Posts: 11497
19
Android Google Web Toolkit Mac Eclipse IDE Ubuntu Java
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Alissa Horner wrote:
Suppose you had to travel for business and stay in that location for several months. Would you stay in a hotel for several months or would your employer find somewhere else to stay for several months? I was just wondering because staying in a hotel for several months would be expensive.



From the monetary perspective, it does not matter, as your employer will be paying for it.
However, like Campbell correctly mentioned, there are some hotels where the more you stay, the cheaper it is. Extended Stay America is one example I know from experience, where I once stayed 3 months.
 
author & internet detective
Posts: 41860
908
Eclipse IDE VI Editor Java
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
An extended stay place is better for long term assignments because it is usually set up with a kitchenette area and the like.

Also, when you travel out of the area for a long time, some employers pay for you to go back home for the weekend every so often. (if you want to)
 
Alissa Horner
Ranch Hand
Posts: 53
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Jayesh A Lalwani wrote:Different consulting firms have different cultures. I am sorry, we cannot talk about the specific consulting firm here because of board policy.

Generally speaking, The bigger consulting firms will usually make you work a lot, because you are like a revenue stream to them. The more you work, the more they earn. However, the advantage is that you get to learn a lot. You get to go work at world class companies for 3-6 months at a time. You get to understand how different companies work differently. Product companies that have consulting departments are better at the number of hours, because they spend time and money training you on their own product. So, they want you to stay with them for a while. However, end of the day, you are "sales", and your growth in the company is dependent on how many clients you can keep happy. You will squeak by putting 40 hours, but the guy putting 60 hrs will get the promotion. Boutique consulting firms that focus on certain verticals or technologies will treat you well, but they won;t hire you unless you have a specific skill, or knowledge of a vertical. Then there are the thousands of "body-shoppers" who basically are the IT industry's version of temp agencies. They will go where the big consulting firms can't go. The working conditions really depend on your client. Your employer will be mostly hands-off.


If I'm assuming correctly, you are asking about one of the bigger consulting companies. You should expect to work more than 40, and also expect to learn a lot of new things. It's not bad if you are young, and ready to learn.



Thank you for your input. This gives me a good idea of what consulting firms are like.
 
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic