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When I see young men and women consulting, I'm always curious how it's working for them. Do your consultation customers care that you are so young? I'm genuine
by 16s 14y ago
When I see young men and women consulting, I'm always curious how it's working for them. Do your consultation customers care that you are so young?
I'm genuinely curious about this. Most successful consultants (that I know) have decades of experience in a specific industry or specialty, thus they have a large amount of knowledge based on actual, real-world experience and that is why clients seek them out. They are very successful, but that success seems solely based on their years of experience and insight.
- nathanbarry 14y agoMost of my consulting comes from people I've met locally. I have a pretty good reputation from speaking at user groups and code camps, so a lot of people know me. Age hasn't really been an issue (I'm 22). When I first did freelancing I was 15 and 16, so it was much more difficult then.
- Swannie 14y agoI think the confusion comes from the term 'consulting'. In my opinion: Freelancing is not consulting. Technical problem solving (e.g. scaling db, infrastructure improvement, assisting in migrating to a more recent version of a framework, etc. borderline. Providing advice to a team of developers, and doing a little of that work is consulting. I see so many people claiming they consult, when infact they freelance. They get assigned work, as a temporary employee. Nathan sounds like he started freelancing and now he gets a bit of consulting in the mix too.
- 16s 14y agoVery well put. I agree. Freelancing is a much better word. After gaining many years of experience, then one will have the insight and ability to actually consult.
- nathanbarry 14y agoBased on that distinction (which I think is accurate) I probably do 50% consulting and 50% freelancing.