Tips for IT Consulting?

For starters, make sure you have the right tools at all times. Try to get them neatly packed and try to keep the items small. Make a checklist of what you would need to have to do your work efficiently. Keep a flash drive of applications that you would find useful (or any application that your company prefers to be used at diff. situations)

 

What company? They put you on projects when work comes in right? Some companies let you pick projects (cities you like), but you'll wind up on bench or out of work and not getting paid if you're not proactive or in demand since your only paid if you're on project. Just curious...

 

did this along time ago. i had a blast, but i was much younger and hung out with party people at work.

 

I've considered going the consulting route but I really think it would wear on me. In a lot of cases you're being brought in to fix an issue and you have pissed off people that just want their application back online immediately. If you are doing more project based work then the stress should be lower. The travel would also drive me crazy, but some people enjoy that.

 

sign up for all of the rewards programs before you start traveling.

marriott has a better reward program than hilton imho. if you're traveling out of houston (IAH) sign up for continental/united. i got almost 90% first class upgrades once i reached platinum elite status. took about 9-12 months from what i can remember.

if you get a corporate amex, pay the yearly fee (your pocket) for the rewards program, $75 i think. you can transfer amex points to any airline program.

you will get burned out so ask for the occasional local project if you can. that will help to break up the constant traveling and keep you in the game longer.

be very good to your clients. meet and keep the important client contacts info. keep in touch with friendly "how's it going" emails periodically. when you do get burned out, and you will, you can often work for your favorite clients you worked with in the past. most of them would love to have you and you get to pick a cool place to work when you want stop traveling.

 

I work in consulting, and have traveled quite a bit for work - longest stint in any one city was 7 months (Toronto), flying home on the weekends.

A few tips:

- Always travel with a carry-on only. I have a Rimowa carry-on, it's pricey, but very well made.

- Always fly the same airline/airline alliance to maximize mileage rewards.

- For hotels, I recommend the Starwood brand. Sign up for their SPG program, and you'll have Platinum status in a couple of months. Also sign up for the American Express Starwood credit card, and charge everything to this card (flights, hotels, general expenses, etc). You'll be surprised how quickly rewards points add up when you're traveling on the company's dime. If you want to sign up for this Amex card, let me know so I can refer you and get 5,000 referral points.

 

Can't transfer to Continental after September I think it is and the transfer rate is not good at all to most airlines...there are much better options than this out there.

I have been using a card that pays 2% cash back on every purchase with no annual fee, hard to beat that IMO.

 

there are better options, except i had to use corporate amex as a requirement.

 

as for my personal routine:

- flyertalk.com has a lot of flight tips

- check your bag at the beginning of an assignment. pack exercise shoes, large bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash (most hotels' complimentary stuff sucks), nail clippers, cologne, shout wipes, pocket sewing kit, lint roller, etc. leave this bag at your hotel every weekend and pick it up when you return.

- set up remote desktop to a home computer if you store a lot of media and want to stream it or access remote files. wake-on-lan to save power.

- if you don't have a full wardrobe yet, plan on stuff that's easy to mix and match. i have one black belt, one pair black shoes, one brown belt, one pair brown shoes. each week alternates between brown and black. easy.

- always carry on only. roll clothes to minimize wrinkling and save space. i love my 4-wheeler suitcase also.

- salad is your friend. the combination of sitting for 10+ hours, working in your hotel room, drinking at happy hours, and only having take-out or sit-down dinners is a killer.

- if you are buying a new laptop bag, find a slim one or a tsa-approved butterfly design. slim will force you to reduce paper clutter, and it fits underneath the seat better.

- linkedin is corporate facebook. use it to gather recommendations from clients. use it to prove your results when doing your yearly evaluations.

- sign up for any and every affinity program you can. monitor their sites for bonus (3x and 4x points) promos.

- hilton and marriott have the lowest points-to-cash value ratio, but the most selection of hotels in the country when booking rewards. starwood has the best ratio, but has less properties that are centered in urban areas.

- figure out your firm's utilization calculation. find out when the "cut-off" dates are for utilization and plan your vacation after those cut-off dates, so you can have vacation that doesn't impact your utilization percentage.

- book travel two weeks ahead as a rule of thumb, to get low rates.

- collect deliverables and templates from everywhere you go. in between projects, if you have time, make best-of-breed updates to the templates to make a personal toolkit. if you have sensitivity agreements, cleanse all references to client names (logos, headers, footers, even File > Properties.) whip these out to senior management when they solicit ideas and you become more trusted for management, lead, and organization.

good luck!

 

What exactly are you doing? I don't see it in the description. I'm a network guy and I travel around Dallas-Fort Worth pretty extensively. I have to travel -very- light because I go into prisons. The less you take in, the better.

 

Anyone on this board work at TAC? The aldridge company?

 

You probably already know this, but if you have a personal Amex, you can transfer rewards points from your corporate to your personal card by calling their help line. Gives you other options once Continental stops doing the trade.