First Project Week

Thursday counts as official the end of my first project week, and what a week it was. There were some tough moments as I jumped into the project, especially being a bit inexperienced in the whole process, but my co-worker was instrumental in helping me get up to speed. It was a great experience overall and I learned so much that it’s hard to sum everything down into one posting, so I’ll just touch upon a couple.

Tips
There were several great tips that I came across this week that I thought I would share. One was the idea that you should have an external interview every year for a position you are interested. This doesn’t mean you are actually interested in quitting. Because the purpose of the interview is to see how well your skills that you acquired during the year matches up with potential recruiters. It allows you to assess your own strengthens and weakness along with giving you a point of view of demand in the market.
1. Complain twice and then jump on the train. I heard this tip early on, but I only found it applicable this week. There are probably many things a new hire can begin complaining about (or maybe not). This isn’t to say I had a lot to complain about Accenture. I think the opportunity that I’ve been given is great, but as always, human nature is to want more. With that said, I realized early on that it is important to voice your complaints (or what I like to call, positive disagreements) but then stop after doing it twice. Tell your manager or boss what you thing is bad, but don’t over due it. Once the discussion is over, you need to jump on board the train. This is true especially for new hires with little experience as complaining only results in the label of being a complainer. ***This isn’t to say that if you see something illegal, you shouldn’t stand up and say STOP.
2. Ask questions, learn the process, but really try to understand the concept. This was one I think many people miss and an area I’m working towards. It is important t o ask some details, but at an early stage, learning the concept is more important. Why are we doing something this way versus that? What is the over all goal? The concepts leads to the process. Understanding fundamental concepts allows you to build a strong foundation for everything you will eventually do.

Travel
1. Having never really traveled for work, I realized there are some things that maybe a few people don’t know about business travel. These includes packing, business attire,, etc. I can touch upon everything, but I think if one thing I want to mention, it is that you should bring something to do during airport down times. For me, that’s a great time to check personal email, and write this blog. You never really know when or why a plane or plan might be delayed or changed. Flexibility is key.

Eating
1. It is great to be a consultant, always on the good eating out……Well that isn’t always the case. I do enjoy eating out and not worrying about doing dishes, but I actually like cooking which now I don’t have time. Besides, restaurant food tends to be greasy to the balance of finding healthy food and not eating burgers everyday is important. I try to get as much fruit in to substitute the lack of vegetables. Bring a Nalogene bottle if you so you don’t have to use water bottles. (There was a recent article about all the wasted plastic as a result of bottle water.

Besides these two areas, there were some things that I had a problem with. One was the realization that with work, you really don’t have much down time. Time management after work is difficult especially in the beginning when one is trying to learn everything all at once. For me, getting home after work every day only resulted in more work type questions as it was a time for me to as my co0worker all the question I had accumulated during the day. (I live in corporate housing with my co-worker in a two bedroom place). Having him there really helps with getting myself acquainted with consulting work and the Accenture organization. But it also means less time for exercise. So, if anyone has any great tips about exercising in confined spaces during short times, they should let me know.