Consulting, or providing advice, counsel, skills, behaviors, content or suggestions has been around since the dawn of human interaction. An individual, or organization, can utilize their experience, education, creativity, and so on to attempt to make a positive impact in another's life, organization, or whatever the case may be.
I started consulting after earning my MBA just trying use the knowledge I had learned in practice and mostly helping friends and family with new business ideas, creating business plans, and conducting market research. Individuals with a variety of ideas for businesses from indoor soccer parks to electronic publishing came to me and one by one I learned so much about these facets of our culture. I realized that in trying to guide and help those people I was learning so much that I normally would not have pursued or encountered otherwise.
After spending a decade in a corporate Customer Service management position, I saw much need for high level change for the betterment of both the employees, clients/customers, and the company. I believe consulting is right for me because it allows for constant learning, growth, and development. Watching as both yourself and your client learn, and grow is deeply gratifying. I enjoy helping people realize their dreams, but I also desire high level change implementation as seen in corporations. These are uniquely challenging with the plethora of cultural variables, time zone constrictions, laws and just general communication.
All these challenges indicate there is so much to learn from these situations. I have now worked remotely nearly a decade and can speak to many of the pros and cons and am not working remotely as a client manager with half of my team in Indian and the other half scattered across the United States. Learning and development programs, remote employment and distance learning are correlated in the sense that the skills and attributes of long-term players tend to overlap.
A culture is now emerging as the product of our digital age, digital experiences, and how we interact and grow as a result. My doctoral research has provided very preliminary findings pertaining to the correlation between distance learning graduates and remote employee advancement. Ideally, my plan is to utilize this research, and hopefully further research, and provide a pathway for new distance learning graduates to secure careers as remote employees in key corporations. Ideally, I would like to provide consulting services for corporations on methodologies for selecting, training, and retaining distance learners for remote employment positions. Mclure analyses the consultative processes in higher education and discusses how to potentially implement change. I am also interested in consulting for universities to assist graduates in career placement, how to go about finding remote employment, and what it consists of realistically.
References
McClure, K. R. (2017). Arbiters of effectiveness and efficiency: the frames and strategies of management consulting firms in US higher education reform. Journal of Higher Education Policy & Management, 39(5), 575–589. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2017.1354753
Weiss, A. (2011). The consulting bible: Everything you need to know to create and
expand a seven-figure consulting practice. Wiley.