Firms around the world are starting to see the importance of managing their supply chain. The costs surrounding a firm’s chain are often the most significant costs associated with running a business, as it includes the procurement of goods as well as the sale of these goods to customers. Supply chain management therefore is the respiratory system of a business, as it regulates the flow of items into and out of the organization. By having an effective supply chain an organization can effectively control their costs which can lead to improved profit margins or lower prices for customers, which can lead to further growth in in customers.

But how should a company go about trying to improve their supply chain? One option is to turn to chain consulting as a way of improving these processes. Supply chain consulting involves hiring a consultant to implement the best practices and procedures in the industry into your organization and integrate these processes with what you currently have in place.

Many chain consultants start by analyzing the process that you currently have in place. In other words, they review the chain process in place in your organization and look for material weaknesses or flaws in the process you have in place. These consultants than review other processes that are generally thought of as being helpful to organizations dealing with significant amounts of procurement processes. These policies are then analyzed and discussed with your firm’s management in order to determine if they will add value to your organization. If so, a plan is developed to integrate these best practices into your organization and the consultant will start to integrate these processes.

As a result of these improved processes recommended by the third party consulting specialists, your firm may realize improved efficiencies and more effective controls surrounding procurement processes. This may transform your organizations strategic procurement processes and lead to lower costs for your business overall. Often, these added efficiencies result from reducing the lag time between ordering and receiving goods from suppliers, removing costs associated with approval for ordering goods, and an overall tightening of the internal controls surrounding these processes in order to prevent and detect fraud. In time, these added efficiencies can lead to significant improvements in the costs incurred in connection with your supply chain through transformed procurement processes. Try using a third party consulting firms to integrate best practice procurement policies and improve the profit of your firm as a result.

Business owners are always looking for ways to cut costs and one of the first places these decision makers look is the department that spends the most money. Typically tech and internet based businesses will devote the most money to their information technology (IT) configuration, but it is hard to justify cost cutting measures in this department because of the fear of lost capabilities. Given how much money businesses invest annually in their IT configurations, it is important that they are getting their money’s worth without making it more difficult for employees to be productive. The best way to cut costs within IT departments is to bring in an expert in IT consulting services to locate areas where the company is spending too much money. These professionals rely on years of IT configuration experience to identify areas where resources are being wasted. They might recommend that devices be consolidated or that certain processes be contracted out to managed services. The rest of this article will consider some of the other benefits, besides cost savings, that IT consulting services provide.

Objective Viewpoint

Many times the best decision is not always the easiest decision. For instance, a manager might determine that the best way to cut costs is to get rid of an employee that he or she would prefer to keep. An individual offering IT consulting services does not have any bias or personal stake when making decisions. He or she will be prepared to ask tough questions and suggest complicated decisions, whereas these thoughts might not be voiced if the IT configuration is analyzed internally.

Keeps Team Members Focused on Their Responsibilities

When a company opts to perform consulting internally, it must divert employees away from the jobs that they were hired to do. This results in a loss of productivity, and also delivers poor results since these individuals are not as qualified as individuals who offer IT consulting services are. Hiring someone full-time to evaluate IT performance and efficiency solves the skills gap but costs far more than hiring a consultant.

Years of Experience

Individuals who are able to provide IT consulting services have gained expertise thanks to years of experience. These individuals have evaluated many companies and know from experience what works and what does not. They can draw on past involvements to recommend managed services for data backup or virus protection. They also know where to look first when the company needs to cut costs from specific components of the IT configuration. These professionals can even draw on their experience to recommend machines that the company should invest in, and then provide training when employees need to learn how to use these new machines.

Hiring an individual or a company to provide IT consulting services is a great way for an organization to upgrade its IT configuration by cutting costs and relying on the experience and objective viewpoint of the consultant so that employees are not expected to complete the IT evaluation process. Typically,managed services companies also offer consulting services, which is far more convenient for the company hiring these professionals.

Businesses recognize that information technology (IT) resources play a critical role in their success. In fact, business owners invest massive sums of money into IT equipment to make sure that employees can complete their work in an efficient manner. Business leaders often bring in outside professionals for help in getting the most out of their IT configuration because they realize how valuable these components are to their organizations. These outside professionals tend to be IT consulting groups, which are organizations that focus on advising businesses of the best way to use their IT equipment to meet business objectives. These professionals provide an objective viewpoint that allows them to help companies realizes the full potential of their IT assets, resources, and investments. Professionals support these areas of expertise: cost management, project turnaround, and disaster recovery. The rest of this article will take a look at these and other services that are provided by IT consulting groups.

Cost Management

Given the high cost of running state-of-the-art IT configuration, companies are always looking for ways to lower costs. Consultants can identify areas where: machines can be consolidated to reduce energy bills, the cost of licensing software or maintaining servers can be eliminated by outsourcing, and existing configurations are valued. IT consulting groups then help the company manage its transition to a more efficient environment.

Disaster Recovery

Although organizations spend thousands and in some cases millions of dollars annually on IT components, most organizations do not have a disaster recovery plan in place for emergencies. Whether natural or induced by humans, a disaster can shut systems down and cause the company to lose the data that was recorded before an outage. When consultants come in to build a disaster recovery plan for an organization, they focus on ways to provide continuity by making sure that all aspects of the IT configuration are still functional during a disaster. The consultant plans for loss of functionality among the computing room environment, hardware, server provider connectivity, software applications, and data. Ideally the organization will have no downtime following a disaster, but if that’s not the case, a good plan will minimize downtime. Depending on the organization’s financial resources, a final solution might involve backup machines located onsite or a hosted disaster recovery hot site provided by a vendor. Many IT consulting groups even offer disaster recovery options for companies that wish to outsource this process.

Project Turnaround

Large-scale IT initiatives can be managed by an outsider in order to maximize results. IT consulting groups help with each stage of project turnaround, from the planning phase to capturing value following implementation of a new configuration.

Capability Sourcing

As mentioned when discussing disaster recovery, there are some services that organizations prefers to outsource. Consultants can develop a strategy outlining which services to outsource, and then negotiating deals with the service providers. This provides the organization with lower costs and increased flexibility.

The above-mentioned are some of the many services IT consulting groups offer to help companies improve the efficiency of their IT configuration.

Recruiters have to review hundreds of job applications in one setting. They trim down the number of applicants by first eliminating those who have committed obvious mistakes in their documents, tests and interviews. Then they select those who did well in the recruiting process. In most cases, these are the people who understand the tough competition and who have exhausted all means to attain their dream job.

One of the reasons why applicants fall short along the way is skipping research about the target firm. The facts you get from reading on the Internet, reliable people and other sources can lead you to the right path. By being updated, you become aware of job opportunities, of the firm’s working environment and of events attended by key people in the industry. Intensive understanding can guide you in writing effective resumes, in acing interviews and in making smart statements during networking events. As an old adage says, knowledge is power. You must believe that!

Another aspect where you can go amiss is your inability or disinterest to network. In management consulting, this is quite an important strategy since many are called to interview because of the recommendations you get. It may seem unfair for those who lack connections, but for recruiters, it’s quite an effective way of hiring people. Assessing applicants from scratch is costly, not to mention time-consuming. Networking, however, should be done not after sending out resumes. Establishing a circle of professionals requires time, effort and most of all, genuineness. It should start as soon as the calling for management consulting is already there.

Submitting a poorly written job application doesn’t produce any positive result, either. The cover letter and resume are documents that serve as your launching pad to your career. They must be tailored to stand out head and shoulders above the rest. To do this, include relevant information on your education and experience. Also, list quantitative achievements to have more impact on the recruiters. Stating “Utilized various campus recruitment strategies to double the population of the consulting club” has a more striking effect than “Recruited new members for the consulting club.” Remember that too much unnecessary information is dragging. The documents should be concise, comprehensive and comprehensible.

Another tool used in recruitment is pre-employment tests. Tests must not be taken for granted because the results reliably tell recruiters something about you and your capability to do the job. A high score on numerical reasoning means you can interpret information on graphs, charts and tables well. A terrible score on verbal reasoning implies you need improvement in preparing and understanding long textual reports. An excellent mark on abstract reasoning suggests you have superior innate intelligence. If you are scheduled for testing, call the firm’s Human Resources Department promptly, ask about the tests and be mentally equipped to answer them.

Another mistake you might commit is coming to an interview unprepared. In management consulting, two types of interview are employed – fit and case. The former may be easier, may not need practice. The latter, however, demands more effort for preparation. To crack the presented case, it’s a prerequisite to be familiar with a multitude of business cases and consulting frameworks. You will feel tensed and panicky once you are in front of the interviewer and you haven’t practiced resolving cases beforehand. If you prepare for it painstakingly, you can demonstrate confidence, mastery and composure under stress. And because you feel calm, logical thinking will be effortless.

During fit or case interviews, some applicants are not observant of their nonverbal behavior. As a result, recruiters frown at their fidgeting, lack of eye contact or arrogant tone of voice. Bear in mind that messages are conveyed even beyond words. If you slouch, you get across sluggishness. If you smile, you transmit optimism and sociability. If you come to the interview in casual clothes, the getup might be interpreted as a sign of disrespect to the firm’s working environment. Hence, attentiveness on how you express your ideas, dress yourself and move your body can be helpful.

For management consulting recruiters to predict a candidate’s possible performance at work, they assess their competencies, experience and education during resume screening, background check and interviews. Apart from these, they also consider their personality as this is the factor that explains how a person manages stress, deals with people and takes pressure in the workplace.

The explanation above is the reason why some firms administer personality questionnaires to applicants. Unlike verbal or numerical reasoning assessment, this type doesn’t have right or wrong answers for there is no right or wrong personality. Everyone is unique; each one possesses a unique set of patterns and characteristics that recruiters respect. However, it is undeniable that there are certain preferences, and these are usually based on the main responsibilities of the position. A shy MBA graduate who has mastered all the consulting frameworks may not be offered the job due to lack of sociability, a non-technical requirement of the position. Because of her introversion, it may be difficult for her to gather data from people and get along well with clients.

Management consultants can be described based on how they think, how they feel and how they behave. They are usually the analytical, meticulous type of people. They evaluate all angles of a situation logically to come up with effective resolutions. Commitment and motivation to finish tasks on time despite any hurdles are other traits they must possess. They must also acquite good organizational skills so they can manage their time efficiently. Their hands will be quite full, so they must have the ability to balance things out. All the time, consultants must manifest professionalism in the way they express their ideas and deal with other people.

The personality tests will try to measure if you have the aforementioned traits, and this is the reason why answering each question seriously is crucial. With your answers, you are helping yourself and the firm decide if you are truly capable of carrying out the job. When you try to answer the tests, just be who you are. It basically loses its purpose if you project another person. Anyway, if this job really suits you, your answers will speak for yourself. So like how you deal with other tests, just give it your best shot.

However, there are a few ways of improving your test scores. One of which is answering personality surveys beforehand and evaluating the results. This guides you in bringing out your strengths in a variety of situations. You have to be consistent in doing this despite the conditions presented in the question. In some items, the same situation is just stated in different ways for a reliable basis of interpretation.

A personality test will ask you to answer a long list of true or false, multiple choice or sentence completion questions. The length might tire you, and as a consequence, you might just answer them mindlessly, hastily or with a pattern. Worse, you might not finish it at all. This is obviously a worthless idea because the results might be inconsistent with the information you indicated in your job application. The conflicting data will not necessarily put you down, but it might confuse the recruiters, resulting to longer fit interviews.

As you go through the questionnaire, answer the items based on how you usually behave in the workplace. You may like to slack off at home, but you handle things industriously in the office. When you’re with friends, you may wear your heart on your sleeve but when with colleagues, you always ensure you are professional in dealing or communicating with clients. This doesn’t necessarily imply putting your best foot forward to impress the recruiter. It only means you are letting them evaluate as a potential employee, and not as a buddy.

Also, make sure you are in a good mood when you are taking the test. When you are grumpy, irritated, in a hurry or impatient in getting to the last item, the results might reflect your pessimism and disappointment. Relieve yourself from any worries, put aside any previous disagreements and concentrate on who you are. After all, a personality test is all about the real you. If your management consulting application is rejected because of a personality test, it will certainly make you frustrated. But on the other side of the coin, it might not be your best option. Perhaps there’s something else better in store for you.