Previous post in the series: Becoming a DBA Consultant
Many people in our world today call themselves consultants (me included). Some are self employed, some work for different companies. But what does being DBA consultant mean? Here is a list I composed of things consultants do and don’t do:
1. A DBA Consultant doesn’t always “consult”
In many cases when I introduce myself as a DBA consultant, the client on the other side of the phone said “oh, I don’t need consultants, I need someone who can come and actually do some work”. After a few of those I understood that there is a problem with the term “consultant” as some people think of consultants as people sitting in meeting room and “consulting”. So, yes, sometimes we do this as well (like in planning meetings, etc.), but the majority of the work is actually working as a DBA.
2. Be a DBA
In most cases we are “just” DBAs. In can be a part time DBA for a company for a long term contract (either they don’t need a full time person or their team just needs some help), or a few days or weeks doing a short project, but the role is simply a DBA. For most of my professional life I had clients I visited every week (1-3 days a week) and I was their only DBA or an extra pair of hands for their DBA team. During this time I had some short term projects coming and going and even the long-term ones changed from time to time. But in most cases I did regular DBA work. There is a lot to talk about this and I will dedicate an entire post to this topic.
3. Do the Dirty Work
Sometimes you come as an external resource to a team or a company, and there are tasks that no one wants to do. Of course you can refuse to take projects like that, but if you are another resource in a DBA team for a long term contract (see 2 above), sometimes you will get projects just because somebody needs to do them. I had such a case once when I had a client (I think I was there twice a week for many months) and at some point they needed to do all kind of tasks for their BI team and nobody liked them. So the team leader approached me and asked me to take care of this. I agreed and I have to say that I didn’t understand what the fuss was all about. The people there were nice, and I soon became the “BI team DBA”. Every time they needed something they waited for me to come. I automated some tasks and quite enjoyed this time.
In a different case my company sent me to a short project that was a very repetitive and boring job. Luckily it didn’t last long and it was over. Sometimes these projects are something you need to do (as an employee because your boss asks you to, or as an independent contractor if you need the job).
4. Troubleshoot Problems
This is what most people think we do, and what most consultants want to do. You should be aware, however, that in most cases this is a relatively small part of the job. These type of projects are very interesting, very encouraging (if you manage to fix the issue), and sometimes very frustrating (if you can’t find the problem). Also, when you are self-employed, these projects are relatively short, so being able to make a full time income out of them requires a lot of marketing and administrative work (more about that in future posts).
5. Instruct and Educate
This is something that lots of consultants do. Sometimes it’s official “instruction” like speaking at conferences, instructing courses, etc. and sometimes less official by explaining things to the people you work with (DBAs, developers, etc.). You also need to present yourself well each time you meet a new client and this is why this is quite important.
6. Handling People
When you are an external resource, especially in short-term projects, you need to communicate with many other people: the manager that invited you, the DBA team, developers, system personnel. Sometimes you need to be more “political”, sometimes you need to be “cautious” and always you need to understand who stands in front of you. This is quite a big topic and I’ll write a separate post about it in the future.
7. Traveling
As sometimes you instruct courses, speak at conferences, and have remote clients, traveling is part of the job. It really depends on you and your clients. I haven’t traveled a whole lot in my career, but I did some traveling. As long as you (and your family) are good with it, it’s fun. The problem starts when you travel more than you (or your spouse/partner) want. It can also be exhausting.
8. Not Being Part of the Company
This is not really what we do, but more of a fact of life. When you are a consultant (either for a company or independent), you are not employed by your client, and you need to remember this. Sometimes it means that you don’t get holiday gifts, sometimes you won’t be invited to events, and so on. I’ve had long-term clients that treated me as an employee, but this is rare (and for example, they invited me to a company trip, but obviously didn’t pay for my time so I had to take a day off for that). In most cases, you are an outsider. And you need to take this into account.
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Becoming a Consultant series:
Upcoming post: Communication
All posts:
- Becoming a DBA Consultant
- 8 things DBA Consultants Do
- Before You Become a Consultant
- Before You Become an Independent Consultant
- Different Types of Projects for a Consultant
- Personal skills
- Workplace Politics
- The DiSC Assessment
- Meeting a New Client
- Financial Management
- Being a Salesperson