Working as an IT consultant in Chicago definitely is a different work experience then your typical 9 to 5 job. The biggest difference is the 9 to 5 portion of it, meaning there are no strict guidelines on where to be each and every day. Some days the work may start early whereas other it may not start until later in the afternoon. Some days you might go into the city – other days you may work from home. Sometimes you have to work in the evenings and other times over a weekend.
For the full time IT consultants of Prometheum Technologies, we typical wind up putting in a 40 hour week like any other desk job, but how those hours are made is definitely more unconventional. It is probably split down the middle where we are actually helping a client with their IT needs and where we are just working on administrative and research tasks or sitting in a traffic jam. We like to say for every billable hour there is another hour of administration that needs to be done, this can mean actually logging the tasks done, updating various client information on databases, or even just putting together the logistics for a successful meeting.
Overall a typical IT consulting week consist of visiting probably 6 – 8 different clients with varying degrees complex issues while joggling the scheduling of the following weeks appointments.
After experience both types of work environment, the main difference for me is that the on-demand nature of IT consulting allow your work flow to seem more readily important. In other words, the fact that there are various businesses depending on your expertise to resolve issues immediately, you definitely feel the palpable on-the-spot pressure. This I believe overall can seem stressful, but it is also a nice setup for a good challenge.
In an office desk job there are numerous occasions where you feel there isn’t much that needs to be done at certain times – or down time. As a consultant it is those times where you can just relax at home and take care of other personal issues. There is a sort of flexibility that allows you to work only when it is really needed.
Are there drawbacks to working as a consultant? Absolutely!
The main drawback is the amazing responsibility of so many different businesses’ network. If there is a down server or down email system, the pressure is very high for you to resolve it – now. It isn’t that traditional jobs are void of pressure it is more that the multiple number of clients you have, you have more chances of high pressure situations.
Overall IT consulting definitely has a maverick style of working. In most cases it seems to be a more natural style of work, where you can move about and work when you are needed and relax when there are down times.