As a consultant, you have the opportunity to have feet on the ground in some of the premier and fast paced engagements in the industry. You are typically brought in on a short-term basis to complete a specific objective, often leaving you heads down from project initiation to completion. Some of our most successful consultants have found that by looking up from time to time, and keeping their ears open for other activity within the client walls, they have been able to benefit by extending themselves out on the project and/or often earning referral dollars by helping B2B Workforce expand their presence. How do they do this?
Extending your own contract: Perhaps you've just gone live with the application you've been hard at work on. What's next? With the knowledge you have of the client, you could be the most qualified to help them on their next project. Stay in the loop on upcoming projects and ask the PM if and how you can be a part of that effort. Bring your recruiter up to speed on the activity going on so that we can help you continue on your current contract.
Earn Referral Dollars: You have an advantage even over our internal sales people and account managers, because you are sitting in on meetings at the client site and are more privy to upcoming engagements in real-time. By referring us more leads from the client site, you are helping to expand our Practices and your wallet, as we award you an hourly bonus of up to $3 for every hour that new project is billable (IF you bring it to our attention). Remember, B2B Workforce can perform functional or technical consulting across all service offerings and across all industries for PeopleSoft, SAP, Siebel, and Oracle. So, keep your ears to the ground for anywhere we can service the client, even if it is on a different project than you are currently working.
Know your Success Story: Once all possibilities of an extension on the project have been exhausted, you should begin preparing your "Success Story" from the project. This should be a summary that includes your objective on the B2B engagement and results (ie: measurable benefits that you contributed to the project and how the client profited. Was it in time and labor? Dollars saved?). Prepare and finalize this to give to your recruiter at the end of the project, along with your updated resume, so that they can accurately represent you to the next opportunity.
Ask for a Reference Letter: Once you are aware of your confirmed end date, go ahead and ask your Manager at the client site for a reference letter. It's okay if it is in email form. These go a long way when we are able to present these to clients of opportunities where we represent you on future engagements. Make sure you get a copy to your recruiter or to the B2B Retention Manager so they can keep this in the database.
