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Product Development vs Consulting

5 points by Kinit 16y ago

I have 2 job offers one with a consulting firm and the other with a product development firm. The product development firm pays me 10K less than the consulting firm. But consulting opportunity involves 100% travel. Which one would you pick? Why?

pierrefar 16y ago
If it were only a trade off between money vs travel, then it's down to whether you want/can travel 100% of the time. Personally, I don't want to be on the road all the time but would love traveling a bit. But I suspect this is not the only trade-off you need to be thinking about. Which one brings you more career development or puts on the path you want to be on? Which company has people you would enjoy working with more? Which one has a better culture? Even on the money front, would working for the product dev firm be a short term lost revenue but in 1-2 years you would be earning a lot more?
- Kinit 16y ago
  Thank You. I have been a senior developer for quite some time now. I want to get an MBA and move into a lead and then to a software development manager role. Who is more valuable - a development lead/manager in a product development firm or a development lead/manager in a consulting firm?
gexla 16y ago
I can't say from the details you have given me, but if I were to start a business I would much prefer starting one doing product development rather than consulting. Consulting is a hard business model which doesn't scale very well because you can only sell one hour of your time once. When that hour is gone, it's gone forever. One hour of product development time can be sold as many times as the market can bear. Those hours can be sold while you are sleeping. Meanwhile, the travelling consultant is being run ragged. I know which business model I prefer, but not sure if that translates to which company I would rather work for. Given all the extra time travelling (and lifestyle restrictions / hardships which go with travelling,) it's possible the product development firm actually pays more for your time.
tworats 16y ago
100% travel is pretty tough, but if you're up for it you'll have the opportunity to spend time with a multitude of clients who are willing to pay money to have their problems solved. You'll make many contacts, and if you're any good you'll likely get plenty of job offers from the clients. It'll be a nice way to move your career forward. The travel will be fun, but you'll have little opportunity to build a home life or deep personal relationships. You can take a product development job anytime, but consulting and 100% travel are only doable for a brief window in your life (typically when you don't have a wife/husband and kids). If you're ok with the travel, give the consulting gig a try. You can always go back to civilian life later.
- Kinit 16y ago
  Thank You
codeslush 16y ago
Like others have stated, depends on your willingness/ability to travel. I will say that the 10k more for consulting is actually probably significantly higher than that when you calculate a few other items into the equation: 1. Food - if you are on the road, you're gonna get paid decently to eat! You may get a per diem, or allowed to expense "at cost." This is a HUGE cost savings for most people and you'll be eating very good. You will get sick of nice restaurants! 2. Miles and Points: You travel like crazy, you get points like crazy. You won't be buying any airline tickets for personal travel for a long time and you will be staying in nice hotels for free with all those points. Get a credit card that rewards with points, and you'll be getting points for all those meals you expense too. Oh, and rental cars and ... you get the point. 3. You get to see a wide variety of people and tech challenges. This is good. Think of it as "technical culture" -- much like world travelers, but for tech systems. This list could go on for a while, but those are the major advantages. Don't be fooled though! Disadvantages are many. It's hard living this kind of life. It gets old and I think it ages people prematurely. Don't let it factor down to a money thing. Let if factor down to what you really want.

5 points by Kinit 16y ago

pierrefar 16y ago

If it were only a trade off between money vs travel, then it's down to whether you want/can travel 100% of the time. Personally, I don't want to be on the road all the time but would love traveling a bit. But I suspect this is not the only trade-off you need to be thinking about. Which one brings you more career development or puts on the path you want to be on? Which company has people you would enjoy working with more? Which one has a better culture? Even on the money front, would working for the product dev firm be a short term lost revenue but in 1-2 years you would be earning a lot more?

Kinit 16y ago
Thank You. I have been a senior developer for quite some time now. I want to get an MBA and move into a lead and then to a software development manager role. Who is more valuable - a development lead/manager in a product development firm or a development lead/manager in a consulting firm?

gexla 16y ago

I can't say from the details you have given me, but if I were to start a business I would much prefer starting one doing product development rather than consulting. Consulting is a hard business model which doesn't scale very well because you can only sell one hour of your time once. When that hour is gone, it's gone forever. One hour of product development time can be sold as many times as the market can bear. Those hours can be sold while you are sleeping. Meanwhile, the travelling consultant is being run ragged. I know which business model I prefer, but not sure if that translates to which company I would rather work for. Given all the extra time travelling (and lifestyle restrictions / hardships which go with travelling,) it's possible the product development firm actually pays more for your time.

tworats 16y ago

100% travel is pretty tough, but if you're up for it you'll have the opportunity to spend time with a multitude of clients who are willing to pay money to have their problems solved. You'll make many contacts, and if you're any good you'll likely get plenty of job offers from the clients. It'll be a nice way to move your career forward. The travel will be fun, but you'll have little opportunity to build a home life or deep personal relationships. You can take a product development job anytime, but consulting and 100% travel are only doable for a brief window in your life (typically when you don't have a wife/husband and kids). If you're ok with the travel, give the consulting gig a try. You can always go back to civilian life later.

Kinit 16y ago
Thank You

codeslush 16y ago

Like others have stated, depends on your willingness/ability to travel. I will say that the 10k more for consulting is actually probably significantly higher than that when you calculate a few other items into the equation: 1. Food - if you are on the road, you're gonna get paid decently to eat! You may get a per diem, or allowed to expense "at cost." This is a HUGE cost savings for most people and you'll be eating very good. You will get sick of nice restaurants! 2. Miles and Points: You travel like crazy, you get points like crazy. You won't be buying any airline tickets for personal travel for a long time and you will be staying in nice hotels for free with all those points. Get a credit card that rewards with points, and you'll be getting points for all those meals you expense too. Oh, and rental cars and ... you get the point. 3. You get to see a wide variety of people and tech challenges. This is good. Think of it as "technical culture" -- much like world travelers, but for tech systems. This list could go on for a while, but those are the major advantages. Don't be fooled though! Disadvantages are many. It's hard living this kind of life. It gets old and I think it ages people prematurely. Don't let it factor down to a money thing. Let if factor down to what you really want.