MoneyPhile

Working as an IT consultant over the years, I’ve noticed a few factors which can keep some people on a project, and kick others off the inside track.  While it is important to show your worth, the customer also wants to be able to trust you to do the job, and know that you will deliver on deadlines. This article offers a few examples on what you can do to appear smarter and respected at the workplace.

Dressing Well & Good Hygiene
I’m not saying wear Armani suits to work everyday. That just doesn’t happen in IT, unless you work in sales. However, it does pay to look to be what you’re worth. When you go clothes shopping, don’t buy just a regular shirt. Plan an entire outfit – the color of pants, belt, and shoes you are going to wear with the shirt  -  instead of trying to match it up when you get home.
When you’re on site, wake up early to take a shower, brush your teeth, shave, and most importantly, iron your clothing. I also try to shine my shoes about once every two weeks as well. Accessorize by wearing a watch. It demonstrates that you care about punctuality, and are sophisticated. Make yourself appear just as knowledgeable, and sharp on the outside, as they hired you for, on the inside. The attention to detail matters.

Give the Right Answer, and not the Quick Answer
Often times, when a customer emails me a question, for example – how does ‘XYZ’ work when ‘ABC’ happens? It is very tempting to answer with an “off the top of the head” response, instead of doing the necessary research on the issue, before putting together a solid and accurate response. They are paying you for your advice. Therefore, it is more important to be accurate, than efficient. Tell them that it may take a day or two before you can get the answer for them. Use the extra time to fully understand what they are asking, and also the time to thoroughly answer question instead of sending a one or two line reply. It will show the customer, that you care about what they are asking, and value quality over quickness – a valuable trait.

Get to Know the Customer
I’m not saying be best friends,  hang out and watch Jersey Shore.  Stay within a professional relationship. It is important to understand what is going on at the company, and in order to do that, you must make friends with the customer. This may mean that you attend gatherings – lunches, and happy hours with the customer. While attending happy hours, do not attempt to get drunk. It may feel good to have the third gin & tonic and shoot the shit, but it defeats the purpose of getting to know your customer, and gaining information on what’s going on at the company. At happy hours, I usually have one alcoholic beverage in the beginning, to show that I’m not a lameo who can’t drink, but I make sure to have a glass of water right after it. Only when both drinks are finished, will I order another drink, and so on. At this rate, you are pacing yourself, while the customer is probably on their third or fourth drink, giving you an upper hand in knowledge exchange.

Avoid Grand Standing
At the beginning stages of a project, it may be tempting to “Reply to All” on emails (including managers, leads etc), to show that you’ve done actual work. However, doing so, will leave a bad taste in the actual people you work with (i.e. engineers, head-to-the-grindstone coders, DBA’s etc). It tells them that you are a glory hog, and only care about reputation. This is not a good thing, because these same people are the ones that hold the key to the company – knows where the technical issues are, bottlenecks, and “special” scripts. Treat all communication with the technical people at a one-to-one level as much as possible. Only copy relevant people on the email, if you believe they can add to the conversation, and not because you may get “recognition” as a hard worker.
After all, the consulting business is really word-to-mouth business. If you impress the smartest developer/technical architect/DBA with your skills, you will be recognized as a “key player”, and therefore appear very smart.

Question:  What techniques do you take part in, to demonstrate your worth at the company, and justify your pay-grade?