Consulting Pre-requisite

[Guest]

Dear Folks

I am a new member here having joined after being enthused by your discussions. I have a question here folks and I will be glad to hear from you as professionals. Do you really need to have experience in the area that you want to consult in to be successful? I graduated in 2006 with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Agriculture and in 2009 with a Masters Degree in Agribusiness Management and am hungry to start my own consulting venture in Agribusiness Management. I have experience in the Local Government Sector as Contracts Manager. I am a very good communicator with good presentation skills, highly motivated intelligent guy who knows exactly what I want, but this aspect of RELEVANT experience keeps popping up in my research and I have decided to share it with you guys.

I have tried applying for jobs in financial institutions as Assistant Agribusiness Manager/Finacial Officer, etc without success. The idea was to gain exposure in the Agri area and leverage on that to pursue my dream career. The primary industry has not been forthcoming either citing my lack of direct experience. I know my stuff guys and am planning to go consulting instead.

What is your opinion on this folks? I am based in Brisbane, Australia

Thanks

[alee228]

Bonafide,

Thanks for joining the Consulting Forum!

I understand that you are interested to get people's view on whether you need relevant experience in order to be successful as a consultant.

You are probably interested in your success short term and long term. Here are my preliminary thoughts:

Short term: If you join an established strategy consulting firm at an entry level then lack of relevant industry experience will not stop you from being successful. You can learn a lot on the job, and you are being paid for your ability to learn quickly and analyse business problems.

Long term: If you want to start your own consultancy, join a firm as an experienced consultant, or ultimately become a partner in an established firm then relevant experience would be very important for your success.

Hope that helps.

[Guest]

Thanks a lot Tom, I will keep looking for entry roles with Agri-Counsulting firms. Much appreciated.

[Guest]

Hi Bonafide,

Do you mind if I ask how far are you willing to go to reach your dream career? Are there any financial constraints?

I might be interpreting this incorrectly but it seems like consulting was your fallback option because you could not get into an agri-business role in a financial institution.

I'd have to admit firstly that I do not have a lot of knowledge regarding agri-business but I have been in the banking world for over 5 years and I've seen plenty of agri-business roles being advertised and a real standout for you would be if you had the ability to relocate readily.

Other thing is, is that if "consulting" is not a fallback option, have you considered getting experience the good old fashioned way and go door knocking and cold calling to offer from free consulting work since you know your stuff. I've actually spoken to a few proprietors of small consulting firms and that's how they started out themselves.

Also I cannot put enough emphasis on networking and how important it is. If I could go back in time I'd slap myself silly for disregarding it. I've just started building my network and you cannot imagine how many doors it has opened.

This is just a bit of food for thought and I hope your job hunting goes well.

Jason

[Guest]

Thanks Jason

I am so pleased with your response and all the suggestions you made.

Consulting is not a fallback option, it is the main thing. Working for financial institutions would provide a conduit to address one of my requirements towards consulting as well as building networks in the environment I intend to target first. Those Agribusiness guys in financial institutions get in touch with many business people some of whom require services beyond what the bank offers.

Financial constraints are also an impediment in this case especially that the venture will require a lot of travelling in the beginning.

I am more than willing to relocate out of Brisbane for Agri-based roles that may prevail and set me on the way and yes I am prepared to do whatever it takes to pursue my career aspiration. The good thing about it Jason is that I am looking at the horizon beyond Australia; providing invaluable service to many businesses out there and this has always been my dream, particularly in Agribusiness.

Thanks so much for the pointers Jason and I will certainly take onboard.

Bonafide

[Guest]

Hi Bonafide,

I think everyone here is on the same boat and trying to forge a way forward in terms of their career.

Unfortunately I quit retail banking otherwise I'd have a look at our careers site and post them all in. Sort of good news though, my company is about to be taken over by ANZ so I may still be able to get some resources.

If I do and have some spare time, I'll PM you with some positions if they're around Queensland.

Good luck hunting!

[Guest]

That will be fantastic,thank you so much mate. You are right about people trying to forge their way forward. The worst thing is giving up and we are not giving up. I believe we are doing the right thing on this platform. I am beginning to have new energy levels and a stronger conviction that there are solutions out there. Every response I am getting here is adding value to my pursuit.

Thanks a lot.

[Guest]

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Director Agribusiness Research - Sydney or Melbourne locationGlobal Group: 3
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Hmm, not many and only in Syd/Melb. I swear there were so many more agri jobs for CBA and NAB. Let me know if you want more info on any one of these.

[Guest]

Thanks Jason