TIP-TOPics for Students
Jaime Durley, Corey Muoz, and Andi Brinley
University of Georgia
Happy 2004! We hope you had a wonderful and safe holiday season and are returning to school eager to start a new semester. We are continuing our series of empowering I-O students with information on possible career paths and TIPs on developing themselves as students, researchers, and practitioners. In our last issue, we covered careers in academia, and now were focusing on external consulting. We define external consulting as any consulting conducted through a consulting firm, where the consultants are not directly employed by the individual organizations they assist. A comprehensive overview of external consulting is difficult because jobs in this path can vary drastically from one another. In light of this, we tried to obtain general information about daily responsibilities of external consultants, and hopefully you will gain some insight into this path so that you can tailor your interests and grad school training to fit your ideal career. We will begin with a global job description of external consulting and conclude with ways to prepare you for a career in this path.
So, what exactly does an external consultant do? First and foremost, external consultants help their clients solve problems and add value to their businesses. In order to do this effectively, they must establish relationships and rapport with their clients. An external consultant who enters an organization may be perceived as an outsider who cannot be trusted. Developing a relationship with the client not only allows for smoother interactions between the client and consultant but also increases the consultants credibility and the clients willingness to heed the consultants advice.
Consultants often advise clients on how to implement and manage major organizational change. How does this process occur? Typically clients solicit assistance from consulting firms on a problem their organization faces. Consultants at the firm then draft a proposal for the organization and make a presentation to the client on how they intend to approach the problem, propose the research design, and lay down the goals of the project. If the client approves the proposal, it is executed. If necessary, the consultants develop new instruments customized to the needs of the organization and the client. Examples include new selection devices, attitude inventories, or performance instruments. These measures must be validated to be appropriate for the purposes and situations intended. Data collection using the measures can take the form of surveys, focus groups, interviews, and so forth, and the results must be analyzed and interpreted.
Action then must be taken based on the results of the data. The consultants may also need to present the results of the research to the clients. In order to prepare for the implementation of the new system after the consultants leave, they must provide feedback and train current employees and executives on how to properly use the new measures and materials. At the conclusion of the project, final deliverables are submitted, including technical reports that describe the scope of the project and its outcomes.
Aside from providing services to clients, external consultants are expected to engage in their own professional development. They may be expected to attend various conferences and network with other professionals in the field. They may also mentor junior staff members and support senior consultants in their own areas of expertise. Finally, consultants may have to solicit new business for their firm and/or assist with new marketing initiatives.
The external consultants we surveyed reported several disadvantages to working in this type of career. Most importantly, consultants are expected to maintain hectic schedules with long hours and sometimes a lot of travel. This may be stressful, and time constraints may prevent them from keeping current with the I-O literature. To be a successful consultant, one needs good time management skills and enough dedication to work beyond regular business hours. Because of the intensive time commitment required, they usually do not have time to conduct their own research, regardless of how strongly they intend to.
Another clear disadvantage is the constant pressure from clients to negotiate science and reduce the cost and time involved in the project. Clients may lack the desire to fully validate tools, and consultants may need to concede professional standards in order to meet the clients demands. Clients are concerned with their bottom-line and may not appreciate the value of research. They may not understand that rigorous methodology makes their new systems more legally defensible, preventing potential costs incurred by discrimination suits.
Consulting firms tend to be relatively flat organizations, so the opportunity to advance is limited. This may frustrate people who desire a position of authority. Also, the income level of an external consultant is usually thought to be among the highest available to I-O psychologists. However, some of our respondents suggested that although the overall income may be higher for external consultants, the benefits, stock options, and/or other forms of compensation may be lower than that of internal consultants working at larger organizations. Because this may be a biased opinion of our small survey sample and contradicts what we have heard in the past, we recommend that you consider this information when looking for a job but dont allow it to influence the overall career path you pursue. We expect compensation to vary by situation and location, and there are no hard-and-fast rules on which career path makes more money.
In light of these potential drawbacks, external consulting has many distinct advantages, especially regarding the nature of the work. Consultants have the opportunity to interact with real-world data and problems, confront challenging situations, and use their knowledge to improve the working conditions of others. Because some projects require less time and/or travel and may align with their personal research agenda, consultants do occasionally get the opportunity to pursue scientific interests if they wish. The work is stimulating, dynamic, and provides a lot of variety because every day is different. They get the opportunity to explore new methods and constantly learn new skills. They have the ability to work fairly independently and are treated as an expert who is hired by a company to give their opinion, which can be very fulfilling.
A consultants colleagues and clients are also a distinct advantage to the job. Because consulting firms often hire many I-O psychologists with varying degrees of education and experience, they are surrounded by individuals with similar interests and goals, and they have the capability of interacting with some of the top people in their field. They also have the opportunity to work with a wide range of clients, from hourly employees to CEOs of organizations. Furthermore, researchers and professors may need their assistance on a research project or a topic for class. Regardless of whether they are interacting with their colleagues or clients, consultants are surrounded by many intelligent, talented people who provide invaluable learning experiencesan opportunity that is not available in many jobs today. Such advantages seem to outweigh the occasional disadvantages posed by consulting.
Developing the Student
As graduate students, were always thinking about our classes. What classes are we going to take next semester? What classes are going to be offered? What classes will provide us with the knowledge and skills that we will actually use on the job? It goes without saying that we should all have a firm background in both I and O prior to graduation. These classes provide the core foundation for our training. However, you may have many seminar options in your program on both the I and the O sideso what should you decide to take? Having a balance of both sides on your vita and being creative and taking more than the obvious classes is definitely recommended. For example, seek out more O than just an organizational development classcourses that highlight diversity issues or leadership can be extremely beneficial to an external consultant. Further, if you are planning on doing any executive coaching, take some classes in clinical assessment and counseling.
If your career goal is consulting of any kind, you should first bulk up on the quantitative and research-oriented courses. If youve taken all of the stats courses available in your department, head on over to the math department and sign up for courses in mathematical statistics or matrix algebra. These courses may further solidify your understanding of the stats courses required by your program. You may also want to broaden your knowledge of data management (e.g., Excel, restructuring complex data sets for different types of analyses), data analysis software (SPSS as well as SAS), and online survey and test development (e.g., surface level and deeper programming issues) by taking relevant courses or teaching yourself this information.
Once youve learned these basics, you need to walk on over to the business school and sign up for some coursework. All of our respondents said that having basic management knowledge is extremely advantageous to a consultant. This familiarity will result in more effective communication and interaction with your clients, many of who will have MBAs. The working experience and training of graduates from business departments might be different than that of individuals who are more research oriented. For example, MBAs are often concerned with bottom-line figures, and I-O psychologists are more focused on scientific methodology, two objectives that tend to compete with one another. Taking business courses can provide insight on the MBA perspectives of your future clients and colleagues and prevent potential miscommunication due to these potentially conflicting viewpoints.
To prepare for your career outside the classroom, reading psychology journals such as the
Journal of Applied Psychology, Psychological Methods, Personnel Psychology, and
Human Performance are essential in keeping abreast with the current research and methods utilized in the field. Division 13 of APA also puts out a journal geared towards consulting, called
Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. To help build your business knowledge, you should read some business magazines like
Forbes and Fortune. Checking out the popular press bestsellers in the business section will also give you insight into what your clients may be reading, like
Flawless Consulting by Peter Block. Keeping up with industry trends in the
Wall Street Journal and New York Times can also provide a point of informal discussion with some of your clients.
Developing the Researcher
Being an applied researcher may require different techniques than being an academic researcher. Gaining access to organizational data and studying real employees in business settings are invaluable. As a student, explore a variety of settings for your research design and recognize that a controlled college setting may not be very generalizable to a business situation. Although conducting a research project at your own university may be more convenient, dont be afraid to challenge yourself and pursue an organizational setting for data collection. This will also provide you early experiences in dealing with organizational problems and other research-related issues. Organization and management of research projects are essential skills for a future external consultant; developing them now will save you a lot of headaches later on the job.
If you are interested in becoming an external consultant, network with other consultants! Attending various conferences hosted by SIOP, Academy of Management, and the Society of Human Resource Management gives you a first-hand perspective from the trenches. Participating in local conferences such as your regional SIOP-affiliated organization or local Personnel Testing Council will put you in a smaller and more intimate environment with other consultants. These interactions may also be less intimidating to students than a larger national conference.
Developing the Practitioner
The consulting world may seem drastically different from life as a grad student or an academic, and you often hear professors speak of the gap between science and practice. Although consultants learn a lot during grad school and gain a necessary framework for understanding the basics, on-site training is essential. Grad students learn terminology, basic procedures, data analysis techniques, statistical software packages, and develop an understanding of the links between different I-O systems (e.g., the impact of recruitment on selection, how job analysis seems to underlie everything in I-O). However, grad school alone typically does not fully prepare consultants for their career. Receiving training from academics who may have no experience as practitioners ensures some degree of disconnect between school and consulting.
Many of the consultants we surveyed cited the internship as the most important learning experience and realistic job preview of consulting. Internships are immensely valuable in bridging the gap between graduate school and consulting. Specifically, internships give students an introduction to how organizations work, from the inner workings of an organization to organizational politics and other special issues that organizations face. Furthermore, internships allow the opportunity to work on a variety of projects, which should give students an idea of their real-world likes and dislikes as well as receive a depth of experience by working on projects from start to finish.
Once on the job, on-site training is key to learning how to actually be a consultant. Such experiential learning includes how to interact with clients and other people who may not have the same technical knowledge as you but are still crucial to the success of the project. You also begin to understand the importance of clients believing in your services (i.e., buy-in) and other issues that make clients anxious but are completely unrelated to what books and professors teach in grad school. On-site experience also provides you with the opportunity to solve applied problems that are not typically discussed in the classroom, such as messy or missing data and/or rating errors. You learn how to be flexible and creative in your approach to on-site problems.
So the next logical question isWhat is the best way to land an internship? Well, once again we are here to save the day! It seems that most of this advice falls into two categories: networking or a shotgun approach. Most of us understand the importance of networking with others in the field, but dont forget to network with older graduate students in your program. These people should be fairly easy to contact and should know positions that would be good for you or at least point you in the right direction. Alternatively, some of our respondents suggested a shotgun approach of applying for a wide range of internships. This is usually recommended if you have limited experience in a given area; you may consider applying for more internships in order to increase your chances of success in obtaining one. A shotgun approach is beneficial in certain situations because it can help you gain insight into the types of internships out there, and it can give you interviewing experience that could benefit you later in your professional career.
Career Connections
An additional issue faced by external consultants is transitioning from one path to another. Many of our experts stated that there are distinct differences between external and internal consulting, and transitioning between the two may be difficult because of the differences in job demands. For instance, external consultants usually focus on one client at a time while internal consultants satisfy many different individuals within an organization. On the other hand, external consultants usually encounter a wider variety of experiences while internal consultants face many of the same issues and individuals from day to day.
Another type of transition that an external consultant may make is to the path of an academic (Durley, Muoz, & Brinley, 2003). A consultant who wishes to transition to a faculty position must have maintained some sort of a research program while consulting. Accomplishing this on top of your regular job duties as a consultant can be extremely challenging. Although there is no best way to realize such a transition, there are differences in expectations and culture of the two positions that must be considered. The academic lifestyle of publish and perish is distinctly different from the client focus of the consulting world. These differences in focus may pose difficulties for those only familiar with one or the other.
However, just as an academic can have consulting projects on the side, a consultant can also serve as an adjunct professor aside from their regular job duties. This can help consultants maintain a foot in the door of the academic world and keep up-to-date with new trends in the scientific literature. Also, it can help them preserve their academic skills of teaching and research.
In conclusion, our respondents stressed the importance of diversifying and developing strengths in multiple areas. Demonstrating that you have the ability to develop competencies in many areas and have the potential to work on a variety of projects eventually enables you to offer more services to a wider audience. Furthermore, just because you may have done well in your classes or research does not necessarily mean you know how to consult. However, there will be many people within a given organization who have a lot more experience than you and who can really help you in your career if you are willing and eager to learn!
We would like to thank our excellent panel of experts for providing us with their tremendous insight and wisdom:
Greg Barnett (Hogan Assessment Centers), Chad Van Iddekinge (Human Resources Research Organization),
David Nadler (Mercer Delta Consulting, LLC. ), Michael Najar (APA),
Sunjeev Prakash (Personnel Psychology Centre), Dan Putka (Human Resources Research Organization),
John Reed (Bernard Haldane Associates), Shana Simon (Applied Psychological Techniques), and
Nathan Sloan (HumanR, Inc.). If you would like more information on any of these topics, please feel free to contact us: Corey Muoz
(cmunoz@uga.edu), Andi Brinley (amtbrinley@aol.com), and Jaime Durley
(jdurley@uga.edu).
References
Block, P. (2001). Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Understanding Your Expertise.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
Durley, J., Muoz, C., & Brinley, A. (2003). TIP-TOPics. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist,
41(2), 147153.
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