你準備辭職當顧問 Escape the corporate grind and be a consultant

If you are looking to escape the corporate nine-to-five, going solo and setting yourself up as a consultant could seem an appealing alternative. After all, everyone seems in on it, from social media to café and pet consultants. Last year, the number of management consultants in the UK jumped by 12 per cent to about 38,000. But although the job title suggests experience and gravitas, the truth is anyone can call themselves a consultant.

如果你想擺脫公司朝九晚五的束縛，選擇單幹並讓自己成爲一名顧問看起來是一種有吸引力的選擇。畢竟，每個人似乎都在當顧問，從社交媒體顧問，到咖啡館顧問及寵物顧問。去年，英國管理顧問的數量猛增了12%，至約3.8萬名。雖然這項工作需要經驗和嚴肅的派頭，但事實是任何人都可以自稱顧問。

“With the exception of certain specific, regulated disciplines, there are usually no minimum qualifications,” explains Samir Parikh, author of The Consultant’s Handbook and chief executive of SPConsulting. Because of that, you will need to prove your credentials in a way even cynical clients appreciate.

《顧問手冊》(The Consultant’s Handbook)一書作者、SPConsulting首席執行官薩米爾•帕裏克(Samir Parikh)解釋說：“除了某些特定的監管規則，通常沒有最低的資格要求。”因此，你需要以一種甚至連最挑剔的客戶都能欣賞的方式證明自己。

“If you want to make a go of it, the most important thing is to figure out your proposition. Is it based on expertise, experience or both?” says Mr Parikh.

“如果你想幹好顧問的工作，最重要的是要找到自己的定位。它是基於專業知識、經驗還是兩者兼而有之？”帕裏克說。

It pays to build your experience in the right way. Mr Parikh gives the example of a senior manager at a European airline who, a few years off retirement and plotting his move into consultancy, asked for a six-month stint at the company’s headquarters to make influential contacts and demonstrate that he could work with people from different departments.

以正確的方式積累自己的經驗會讓你受益。帕裏克列舉了一家歐洲航空公司的一名高級經理的例子：此人在還差幾年要退休的時候計劃進入諮詢行業，就要求到公司總部工作6個月，以便與有影響力的人物進行接觸，並證明他可以與來自不同部門的人合作。

Or you could join a large consultancy firm as an associate consultant, which can be a good way to find potential future clients for when you eventually strike out on your own, says Mr Parikh. Another approach is to mine your existing professional network.

或者，你可以加入一家大型諮詢公司，擔任助理顧問，這是爲你最終自己做顧問時找到潛在未來客戶的好辦法，帕裏克說。另一種方法是挖掘你現有的職業社交網絡。

There are two pitfalls novice consultants repeatedly fall into.

新入行的顧問會不斷地掉入兩個陷阱。

“The first is that some people are better at selling themselves than delivering the work,” says Mr Parikh. “They go into selling mode and you’ll see clients roll their eyes.” The second pitfall is that they do not listen to clients. “Consultancy isn’t done in a vacuum,” he says.

“第一，比起完成工作，有些人更擅長推銷自己，”帕裏克說，“當他們進入推銷模式時，你會看到客戶報以白眼。”第二個陷阱是他們不去傾聽客戶。“諮詢不是在真空中完成的，”他說。

Although anyone can think they could be a consultant, the truth is not everyone can do it. Personality counts for a lot.

雖然任何人都可以自認爲能成爲一名顧問，但事實上，並非每個人都能做到。性格具有很大的影響。

“One of the skills is to be able to get on with a whole range of different people and personalities from top managers to people on the factory floor. You need to be able to adapt your approach.”

“其中一項技能是，能夠與各種不同身份、不同性格的人——從高層管理者到車間工人——友好相處。你需要能夠調整自己的方式。”

Mr Parikh says that it is inevitable that you will meet resistance, and knowing how to handle it could make the difference between success and failure.

帕裏克說，遇到阻力是不可避免的，而知道如何應對是成敗的關鍵。

He recalls a consultancy project he worked on in Frankfurt, implementing a workflow system in a large company. His meeting with the head of HR was initially disastrous.

他回憶起自己在法蘭克福負責過的一個諮詢項目：爲一家大型公司實施一套工作流程系統。他與人力資源部負責人最初的會面是災難性的。

Mr Parikh says: “‘Oh yes, you must be the consultant,’ she said to me, brusquely. ‘We don’t need your workflow system.’ The woman was ready for a fight.”

帕裏克說：“‘噢，是的，你一定是那個顧問，’她直率地對我說。‘我們不需要你的工作流程系統。’這個女人已經準備好幹一仗了。”

He turned it around by putting himself in her shoes. “I’ve been here for two days, you have been here for eight years. Clearly you are the better judge,” he told her, before asking her what her most pressing issues were. He listened, and thanked her. “She became one of the [scheme’s] greatest supporters.”

他通過換位思考扭轉了局面。“我只在這裏待了兩天，而你已經在這裏八年了。顯然，你能做更好的判斷，”他對她說，然後問她，自己感到最緊迫的問題是什麼。他傾聽着，並感謝她。“她成了（該計劃的）最大支持者之一。”