There are some assumptions and beliefs associated with the work of an IT consultant that Nextcon’s experienced consultants encounter from time to time. These myths are being busted by Nextcon consultants who have answered these questions in various situations over the years.

Myth 1: The job of an IT consultant requires extensive training

-A minimum of a university of applied sciences background is useful in the work of an IT consultant. An IT consultant does not come as a “ready-made package”, but is a job of continuous self-development. In the work of a consultant, you also learn a lot about yourself, and auditing your own skills, for example, supports the development of your expertise.

At Nextcon, consultants have particularly liked the fact that the company offers the opportunity to develop their skills in a variety of ways. Every employee is entitled to an annual training budget, which they can use freely to develop their own expertise

With diverse and challenging projects, expertise is developing rapidly.

At Nextcon, consultants have a motivational approach, which means that we work on the projects that support their professional development and interest them the most.

Not everyone is necessarily suited to the role of an IT consultant.

The job of an IT consultant is not just about doing one thing day after day, but about being involved in many things and being able to adapt to the working environment. As an expert, you should be prepared for a lot of questions. One consultant may have several client projects going on at the same time and must be able to react quickly.

This job requires good interpersonal skills and situational awareness, which are important skills for working life in general. For this reason, it is a good idea to have a few years of work experience as an IT consultant. The consultant’s work involves a lot of observation and the ability to adapt to the client’s workplace culture and working practices. Interpreting situations is a key element of this work.

Myth 2: IT consulting is a lonely job

The job of an IT consultant is by no means a lonely one, quite the opposite. An IT consultant has many points of contact both inside and outside the organisation. Even clients become colleagues when projects are worked on in close cooperation.

All our consultants agree that it is usually the team that finds solutions to problems. Nextcon’s sparring culture and open working environment support this thinking.

While Nextcon encourages independent and entrepreneurial working, no one has to work alone. A good team spirit is always present and experts in different fields of expertise support each other.

Myth 3: an IT consultant is the same as a salesperson

It cannot be said that an IT consultant is a salesman in the true sense of the word. All consultants are business cards for the company and when the work is done well, good customer stories and references sell. A good example is our Caruna reference, which has generated enquiries for similar projects.

Nextcon has a separate sales team to contact the delegates. The consultants provide sales with tools – good customer experiences – that contribute to sales.

A good consultant will also be able to identify the potential for additional sales in their projects, i.e. to see the client’s pain points where additional external help might be needed. In such a situation, the work done well so far speaks for itself and the consultant can sell his own expertise. You can read more about the anatomy of a good IT consultant in our previous blog “Dreams and consulting jobs“.

Myth 4: An IT consultant must know how to code

This is the old perception of the job of an IT consultant and it’s not true. It is more important to be interested in the client’s business, its development and the technologies available.

In the work of an IT consultant, it is important to understand what programming means and what it can be used to develop a client’s business.

Today’s coder doesn’t need to be a super-coder, but more of an expert who understands the wide range of technologies and how to combine them for the benefit of the customer.

A career as a consultant may not be for everyone, but it is at least worth a try. Lack of experience is not a barrier for us. We are always looking for new experts to join our team in project management, quality assurance and testing, management consulting and technical consulting for our client projects!

Nextcon’s corporate culture

At Nextcon, consultants are encouraged to innovate, propose and try new things. We are definitely in favour of a culture of experimentation. Our culture is very much built on autonomous teams. The teams and their coaches have a very wide scope to decide on issues related to the working environment and well-being of team members, such as training, equipment and work ergonomics.

Especially in this era of teleworking, it is important that consultants have a good ergonomic framework for working from home. We maintain a sense of community through regular meetings, theme nights, internal training and, during the covid period, we have continued to meet online.

At Nextcon, you’ll get to develop your skills with diverse and challenging client projects and with interesting clients. We believe in people and growth. When each of our employees thrives and grows as people, we achieve our success. We invest in the development of our experts by providing extensive training opportunities and channels to showcase their expertise.

We are currently looking for a test automation expert and agile development product owner. You can also send us an open application!