Consulting Firm - Had meet and greet concerning a position but not sure

I was contacted by a consulting firm to join them as an onsite engineer for one of their clients. I had an initial phone screening last week for technical skills and basic over the phone support skills, I apparently really impressed the screener because they wanted me to come in the next day for an in person interview. I had to wait until today for the initial in-person and after two hours think i really impressed her. I asked her what happens if this particular client decides to end using them for their on site services or trims back and is unable to keep me, i would be found other work to fill in the gaps but could be out of work for a time and back on the job hunt.

So has anyone worked for a consulting firm like this? i am looking for some real life experiences so i can get a better understanding of what i would in store for compared to contract or perm placement hiring.

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Comments

Essendon

I havent had any experience with a joint like this but you gotta be careful by the looks of it. It's like you are an as-needed employee, they have work they call you, if it dries up you'll be taken off. That sucks man, say if the projects dry up or something you could potentially be out of work for god knows how long. I'm sure other people will also have input into this.

tycoonbob

That sounds more like a staffing firm, not consultanting. Semantics.

I work for a consulting firm, and I am a full time W-2 employee. Enterprise environments (200 seats or larger, with the largest being over 80,000) in our region (four state area) bring us on-site for a period of time for whatever it is they need. We primarily focus on Microsoft solutions, and I'm on the engineering team where I focus on System Center, Hyper-V, Application Remediation/Re-Packaging, Storage, and Networking. We also have developers for Java, .Net, mobile platforms, SQL, and Sharepoint, and we also have a messaging team that works primarily with Exchange, O365, Lync, etc.

I love what I do. If I don't have an engagement books, I still get paid. I'm salary based, but I do get a slight commission (like a percent or two of what I bill a client). If I'm not billing, I get paid for doing Professorial Development (i.e., studying for my next certifications or learning a new technology). My employer pays for my certification exam and I get a bonus for some tests, and a salary increase for big certifications (MCITP, MCSE, CCNA, VCP, etc).

Nemowolf

tycoonbob wrote: »

That sounds more like a staffing firm, not consultanting. Semantics.

I work for a consulting firm, and I am a full time W-2 employee. Enterprise environments (200 seats or larger, with the largest being over 80,000) in our region (four state area) bring us on-site for a period of time for whatever it is they need. We primarily focus on Microsoft solutions, and I'm on the engineering team where I focus on System Center, Hyper-V, Application Remediation/Re-Packaging, Storage, and Networking. We also have developers for Java, .Net, mobile platforms, SQL, and Sharepoint, and we also have a messaging team that works primarily with Exchange, O365, Lync, etc.

I love what I do. If I don't have an engagement books, I still get paid. I'm salary based, but I do get a slight commission (like a percent or two of what I bill a client). If I'm not billing, I get paid for doing Professorial Development (i.e., studying for my next certifications or learning a new technology). My employer pays for my certification exam and I get a bonus for some tests, and a salary increase for big certifications (MCITP, MCSE, CCNA, VCP, etc).

See thats what got me. They call themselves a consulting firm but im being hired to fill the position for a client and work as an on site consultant for the client. When i asked what happens if the client suddenly decides to change paths and tells them they no longer need the service of the consulting firm, she said i would be out of a job until i could get placed at a new location. While this sounds like a stable work environment, who knows what the future holds and i am not able to make that kind of financial risk.

I got an email back that they would like me to meet with one of their directors and a VP tomorrow, but did not mention what this was for as this is not for the original position we met about. Hopefully it will lead to something more like what you have going on.

WiseWun

I'm getting a bad vibe from this firm. I would advise you to stay put or look for another gig since you can't take any financial risks.

What is drawing you into this position? Is it the money, experience, job growth/prospect?

nel

Are you sure this isnt a contracting gig as opposed to a FT position?

I "work" for a large global consultancy firm who i am contracted too. They then use me on customer sites to provide network consultancy on large projects for work they have on. Once a project is up, i need to find another one or at least other streams to keep billing the client. I havent came to a point where the work has dried up yet! from what i have heard they will either keep me a round for a short while incase they have any immediate projects to fill. This can also help with having to go through the whole recruitment process again. Otherwise i would be out of the door. It sounds like a similar setup. I am simply a contractor and that kind of risk is expected.

However, if someone asked me to sit on the bench and remain unpaid whilst they try to find me other work, i would just go straight back to the market and look for new work.

Nemowolf

WiseWun wrote: »

I'm getting a bad vibe from this firm. I would advise you to stay put or look for another gig since you can't take any financial risks.

What is drawing you into this position? Is it the money, experience, job growth/prospect?

Primarily job growth and the prospect of growth. Money would be nice but the initial position is less after you factor distance and toll.

I goofed up reading the email and showed up today for the meeting *tomorrow* whoops! So thankfully my contact had already gone for the day. I have a feeling this is going to come up tomorrow when i show up again though.

So this has turned a bit interesting as my VP pulled me aside to let me know he is aware of my very active linkedin page having added 20+ recruiters in the last two months or so. He didnt ask me if i was leaving but just told me that if i am looking that he would be waiting for me to come to him with what is going on. I hadn't expected him to even notice my linkedin page nor the emails with updates about my activity. I don't think this puts me in any particular power position to negotiate but i know they know now. Too soon to strike up a conversation with my manager to start talking retention plan?

WiseWun

Your VP is a creeper! How was his tone/emotions when he pulled you to the side? I assume you have him as a connection on LinkedIn or his else how could he have known. You can say the recruiters added me because they notice the good qualities that I posses.

On a serious note, I think it's too soon to start talking about retention plans, just hope their not actively looking to replace you. Wait for the new opportunity to develop itself. You'll have a better idea then plus you need some bargaining chips.

Nemowolf

WiseWun wrote: »

Your VP is a creeper! How was his tone/emotions when he pulled you to the side? I assume you have him as a connection on LinkedIn or his else how could he have known. You can say the recruiters added me because they notice the good qualities that I posses.

On a serious note, I think it's too soon to start talking about retention plans, just hope their not actively looking to replace you. Wait for the new opportunity to develop itself. You'll have a better idea then plus you need some bargaining chips.

Well i had my quasi interview. I could tell that i lacked some of their "basic" skills because none of the companies i have worked with have used anything but XP and they are pushing win7 into win8. They were impressed with my random range of non-help desk skills such as day to day admin of BES, AD, exchange etc. They were honest and said they would love to bring me on board but they have no open positions. I don't know if anything will come of it but hopefully it leads to an in-house position.

As for my current location. I am going to ask my boss about what he expects to see out of the team as i have been doing 90% of the training for our two new contractors which i figure should be the Tech II's responsibility. Now that we have upped the numbers, I want to throw the idea of being promoted to Tech II since im doing WAY more than my coworkers in terms of administrative and team building. Ive also withheld writing documentation for new items that have come up recently because i dont really get any credit for it. I think now is the time to start building up that stack of chips with what i bring to the company. Or am i way off base?