Identify your "Consultant Type"

Consulting as a profession has been growing steadily with more and more firms setting their base in India. Consulting landscape has also been helped by maturing of Indian business set-up as well as growing popularity of professional courses like MBA. But joining a particular industry, sector or a profession, is just the beginning. After all, our professional career could well span over 35 years. Similarly for consulting, while problem-solving skills, analytical capability and a consistent academic record may help you join a good consulting firm but it doesn't ensure that you would enjoy your stay as well.

As I complete my first year in consulting, I have tried to come up with a framework, based on one's interest areas, to suggest what lies in consulting for him/her. I have tried to simplify it by using two major focus areas and I would once again reiterate that it doesn't talk about the capabilities that you need to excel as a consultant.

Three types of Primary Interviewees that Consultants come across

As they say, consultants are not scientists; they largely thrive on collective wisdom. And one of the major sources of this collective wisdom is “primary interview”. By primary interview, I mean the one-to-one interactions that you have with people who may be SME (subject matter experts), competitors, customers or other stakeholders. I must say that these primary interviews have been one of the most reliable sources of information for me especially with the secondary data sources being inadequate or simply unreliable.

In this post, I will discuss three types of interviewees that I have come across quite often during my exposure to consulting. Surprisingly, I have come across at least one of each type, during each of my project. I will also try to come up with recommendations that may help you ace the interview or make the most of it.

Coke opens Citra: Strategic or a shot in the dark?

I must say that I feel a bit nostalgic writing this post. I still remember, it was one my birthdays almost 2 decades ago (yeah I am getting older) when I sipped “Citra”, a new flavored soft drink for the first time. While I don’t recall tasting the clear drink in green bottle too often after that but I was surprised when I heard that Coca-Cola plans to revive Citra after 19 years. This move once again reaffirms the fact that it’s neither easy to create a brand nor easy to kill one especially in FMCG sector.

Telecom Industry: 3 cheers to 2G verdict?

So, finally the cat is out of the bag. Through a drastic as well as unprecedented judgment,   the Supreme Court has cancelled all the 122 2G licenses issued in January 2008. Some may say that the crook corporates got what they deserve, whereas others might say that it wasn't fair to paint everybody with the same brush. Let’s try to discuss the major fall outs of this landmark judgment.

Rupee Depreciation: There are lessons to be learnt

Rupee, our very own Indian currency, has witnessed a literal free fall especially in the past few weeks. The rupee slid 15.8% in 2011 and by 0.2% in the last week of 2011 to 53.065 per dollar in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. According to reports, this currency weakened the most in Asia this year. So, what has led to such weakening or should I say, depreciation of the rupee and what does it entail for the Indian economy? Let’s explore this interesting and crucial topic that has the potential to shape the future of Indian economy. After all, an appreciating currency makes a country's exports more expensive and imports cheaper in foreign markets whereas the reverse makes a country's exports cheaper i.e. more attractive and its imports more expensive in foreign markets.