My Day Job

Today’s blog post is a description of my day job, based on a reader request.  My next post will elaborate on this topic.

What is a consultant?

I am a consultant.  Generally speaking, consultants work for clients who have questions about their business and the market for their products.  Consulting is a hierarchical field.  My firm has 7 levels from the fresh-out-of-college entry level Analyst role to the top-boss title of Partner.  Each level is defined by a set of expectations and skills and one is not promoted until they can demonstrate competency in a variety of areas such as (for the junior levels) -- interviewing physicians, analyzing data in Excel and SPSS, writing a survey, managing time and communicating with teams.  Consulting is like an apprenticeship – you are constantly seeing what those above you can do and learning from them.  Usually, once you’re good at your job, you get pushed into a new role with new challenges and opportunities.  Consulting is not the type of job when you stay at a level/role for a long time after you’ve mastered it.

Who becomes a consultant?

Consultants tend to be type A overachiever personalities.  As a group, we tend to be extroverted, but that’s not always the case.  It’s probably a similar personality to those who are successful in sales – interpersonal relationships become very important, along with communication and strategic thinking and planning.  To college students, consulting represents a field that “doesn’t close any doors” meaning if you become a consultant upon graduation – as I did – you are not narrowing your options for future jobs but you are gaining valuable skills and an understanding of the business world.  Consulting lets you avoid picking an industry or specific role, it preserves – or appears to college seniors to do so – the attributes of “the generalist” compared to many career or academic options.

Who do you work for?

Because my consulting firm is specialized, we focus only on the healthcare and life science markets.  Our clients are pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, the makers of medical devices and technologies, and the manufacturers of diagnostic and life science research equipment.  We work for companies that make cutting-edge cancer treatment, catheter tubing and syringes, robots that perform surgery, machines that analyze DNA and many things in between. 

What is the office like?

My office is not the company headquarters –we have about 8 staff in the office.  On a day to day basis, everyone in my small office works on computers in cubicles.  The office – located in a high-rise office building – includes two private offices for senior staff, a few conference rooms and a kitchen stocked with shared snacks and treats.  I’m usually in the office 10-12 hours/day, Monday to Friday and usually have weekends free.