Consulting Or Industry?
I have been asked by many, many people whether I like to do environmental work for consulting or industry better. Although this seems like it would be an either/or answer, that is not actually true for me. The honest answer to that question is...they are very different and somewhat hard to compare. That may seem strange, considering I have spent a good portion of my career now in the environmental field, concentrating on air quality. How can they be so different, you ask? Well, that is what I will try to explain here...
What I liked about industry:
- I really enjoyed being out in the plant working with all of the workers in the factory (operators, maintenance personnel, etc.). Working as a team, we could bring so much knowledge to trouble-shooting problems. My knowledge came in the form of theory that an education in chemical engineering gave me and theirs came from having worked in the factory for 20 years or more. The combination of those two things can bring about great solutions to many different problems, including how to comply with environmental regulations or fix a piece of control equipment that isn't working. You have never really gotten to know someone until you have been out there in the factory with them at 3:00 am going through the piping of a control system for the hundreth time to try to figure out what is wrong!
- There is a fairly constant knowledge of the work that will need to be done and how steady/busy that work will be. Obviously, there will always be fires to fight at any facility, but overall there is more of a sense that you know what you are going to be doing the next day.
What I disliked about industry:
- The bureaucracy working for a big company is truly incredible. Sometimes, it seemed like a true miracle if anything actually got done.
- It can be difficult to disagree with upper management when they are the one deciding whether you should get a merit raise or not.
What I like about consulting (especially at Trinity):
- Generally speaking clients are very happy to see you coming. I actually got a hug from one once because she was so glad I was there to help her!
- I learn something new about environmental every day: a new industry, a new process, new regulations, etc.
- I learn something new about running a business every day: invoicing, sales, budgets, personnel, etc.
- I get to be a manager and a technical person at the same time!
- The people that work here are so motivated and talented. There is an energy here that I did not find in industry.
What I dislike about consulting:
- Not much actually! But truly, there are a couple of things that make consulting more stressful. Not always knowing where the next project is coming from or whether you will have enough work for the staff in your office is stressful. That being said, we have not had any problems keeping busy since I have been here! I guess what is really difficult is not always knowing what you will be working on a couple of weeks from now. Always thinking about Sales as well as projects that you are currently working on is challenging.
- Timecards and being billable. In industry environmental is an overhead function, whereas, here it is our business. Making sure that you are striving to meet your utilization target and accounting for every 15 minutes of your day is a bit hard to get used to doing.
Hopefully that provides some food for thought for anyone who is contemplating a change in career or whether to take a job in an industrial or consulting setting. For those thinking about changing careers, I would say that the biggest key is to be flexible because it is VERY different being a consultant than it was in industry. It was a really great change for me!