There are very few places where young professionals can go today to find out what it takes to hit the ground running and succeed within a large consulting firm. It’s difficult to learn the ropes while you are executing tasks and meeting deadlines. Larry Cahill, author of “Can I Borrow Your Watch? A Beginner’s Guide to Succeeding in a Professional Consulting Organization”, offers young millennial engineers and scientists practical, how-tos covering how our business works and ways to navigate typical on-the-job challenges:
- How do I “do” sales if I need to be 100% billable?
- Run a project? Where do you learn to do that?
- Why do I have to worry about financing, our firm is making money?
In this one-hour podcast, Cahill offers–through lessons learned, pet peeves, case studies, and more—the straight forward answers to the questions that young engineers and other consultants in professional services firms ask. Young professionals and the leaders who must guide them will learn:
- How billability is king and client sales is queen. Cahill talks how to navigate utilization targets and still exceed sales goals.
- Project management survival. Cahill offers how to get work done, be profitable, and successfully reach the end where clients tell you how happy they are with the outcome delivered.
- Realistic career expectation. “Sell the work, do the work, repeat the process”—Cahill covers fundamentals anyone can use to succeed.
- Where consultants stumble when it comes to financial management—managing billing, collection, and more.
About the Presenter:
Larry Cahill, CPEA, has over 40 years of professional consulting experience including working with Booz, Allen & Hamilton and Exxon Research and Engineering. His roles have included junior consultant, project manager, technical director, managing principal, vice president, and chief operating officer. Cahill has authored several books and has written over 80 journal publications.