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Hello Société Générale folks,
Looking for some honest advice. Considering an offer with SocGen B’lore for Specialist Software Engineer position with 5.5 years exp and into Tech service management. Could you please tell me a bit about following points?
- I see 25% of the compensation(5Lakhs) is Variable. Does company even pay 60% of it at the end of the year if you perform say 4/5 rating?
- What is an average annual hike that the firm gives?
- How is the work culture? Societe Generale
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I am a customer advocate/representative/experience… currently studying scrum -project management…. I would like to go for great company culture, hopefully start with them now and build my way up in the company … any advise on the companies that are seriously looking for growth within?Amazon Newco Google MetaPhase Consulting Consultant United Airlines LinkedIn Instacart TTEC Holdings Inc
LUNC- share opinions below
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Are you introverted or extroverted? There’s a lot of credence to speaking early and speaking often (eg verbal vomit). I’m more on the introverted side and it has been a little tough, but you develop the right tactics over time. However only you can decide if the work is worth playing all the politics and positioning that comes with every project, every promotion.
1.5 years. Came from tech.
That's how I felt as well starting in consulting after working in industry. In the beginning, I felt that people seem not to have in-depth knowledge or expertise in specific functions and that they BS their way through many things. I didn't understand how things were actually progressing.
With time, I learnt that what consultants are best at is how to 'problem solve', deal with difficult people, connect with the right capabilities, and work effectively in different teams in continuously new and ambiguous environments. This may initially sound like not a solid / specific skillset but the exposure and experience that consultants get through continuously working on many different projects in multiple organisations, helps develop these skills to a very valuable level as they become really good at 'getting things done'. This is why it becomes really desirable for organisations to get consultants in to support their decisions and / or get things off the ground. This is true even if consultants are not the most 'technically' knowledgeable.
In summary, yes it does get better. With time, you learn to appreciate the different skillsets that you develop as a consultant. It is also what helps prepare you for senior positions as you'll be able to manage cross functional teams for example without necessarily having in-depth knowledge in every particular function.
I hope this helps.
Rising Star
Learn to love the BS or you'll get crushed in consulting.
Pro
Be the SME you want to see in the (consulting) world. We need people like you.
Applied Intelligence health is great too
Doesn’t get better, I was also shook. What’s funny is also how little they care about any prior experience. I remember participating in a sales reorganization and mildly saying “I managed a few of these for a global company and x, y, z of our recommendations won’t work based on these reasons in my experience. Response: “crickets...nlw plz edit font size”
Also OP I left 😆
Rising Star
Is a second year Associate telling you how to increase the quarterly same store sales of a global retail conglomerate?
You’re not that wrong, except add that all their retail knowledge is from articles they found this week on google
Wooow this is exactly what I have felt all this time! I feel lonely no more 😆 I'm thinking about moving to either freelancing or tech.. consultancy is BS.. idiots everywhere that get promoted god knows how/why 😆😆😆
Could be wrong fit. Consulting is 🤡 city. I happen to work with people who I really enjoy and are always willing to take feedback, but if that wasn't the case I'd be back in industry already.
Finding the right fit is important (team, culture, firm). It’s not all like this, I promise. I have worked with many brilliant people who have deep industry expertise.
OP - I can’t agree more, that’s exactly what I felt 2.5 years back when I joined consulting after 15+ years of experience from industry and feel the same way today. Too many people know too little at my level with too much focus on marketing skills. I got great respect within the firm once I started leveraging my knowledge and improving marketing skills and network. And I spoke to several leaders and the response I got is 3 skills are important at my level and it’s ok not to be an expert at all three but you should be strong in one of them and other two you should learn to manage.
1 - Create and handle a market (Sell)
2 - Execute projects and manage teams (Delivery)
3 - Subject Matter Expertise
While the folks from industry focus on 3, people with strong consulting experience are good at 1 & 2. So my advice is if you want to strive in consulting and be on the top of the list, you should be pretty good at 1.
Homegrown staff here - and find I learn more working with colleagues who moved from industry. Was on a project with 2 homegrown Partners and 1 industry MD who used to be a CFO — MD provided much better insights that resonate with our client.
I joined a big4 from industry and felt the same way. I remember a few weeks into the job I was brought in to help with a technical RFP. The SM lead was asking the team to use methods that didn't make sense. I called them out on it but they shut me down. They then tried to ask the client clarifying questions around the topics we were debating and the client actually agreed with me.
It became apparent quickly that people were very focused on the perception of being a leader for something that "in the weeds" details were often glanced over. Unfortunately the work we deliver sometimes involve very technical things, that despite our consultant's best effort trying to copy code from internet blog posts, ended up as hot garbage. I hope the clients catch up someday.
As for me I charted my own path working mostly with groups from other practices and focused on delivery and developing my team. But when it came to promotion I had to either play the game within my practice or move to another one. Saw a good opportunity externally and jumped ship instead. I think the soft skills I learned along the way in consulting definitely helped in landing my next job.
I think it's good to think about what you want to achieve and get out of consulting and set realistic expectations. Just don't stay for too long if you are still interested in being technical, because those skills will atrophy.
It’s not easy but keep at it, take time to build your network, it takes times like everything!
Pro
What level are you? And what level are these “experts”?
You just need to find the right firm.
I came from tech industry as well. I find my practice has wide but shallow knowledge where before I had deep knowledge on a few topics. As a consultant, I don’t need to know the interworkings of an IT solution but I need to know enough to talk to the client’s IT and I need enough personal relationship skills to have the IT team be willing to teach me when the things being asked can’t work and help me brainstorm what can work. You will still have Associates to Partners who think they know. Associates need time to know their place as a learner not a thought leader. I see my practice Partners not working with the partners who through their work product have shown they are more BS than helpful.
Rising Star
That’s what happens when we promote an associate who was a report developer for two years on a SAP SCM project. Once they are promoted to senior, now they have to advise VP of IT about their SAP architecture or SVP of Supply Chain process design. All they do is repeat what they heard from other client worker bees or something they read on Google. It’s not their fault but that’s how consulting industry operates unfortunately.
Pro
Generally people who think they know more than everyone are very junior. Assuming you and they are junior. I haven’t worked with any senior folks who aren’t actual experts in their area. Maybe don’t generalize. Maybe you’re not a good fit for consulting.
I’m actually mid level but thank you for generalizing!
I joined from industry too, and struggled with being aghast at this. DM me