Job Title: Business Consultant
Location: Houston, TX
Submitted on: 15-Mar-05
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| Business Consultant |
Primarily a consultant who has never been onsite at the PDS-Dalls
corporate office. The firm has been hands-off with me since I was
interviewed with PDS via the telephone and then hired by various clients
in the IT - Hardware / Software Industry. The clients are among the
largest chip and hardware/solutions companies in the world so the
companies we work for are usually Fortune 500 companies.
The Houston PDS account manager is not very responsive to consultant
questions so most of my questions go to the Dallas office where PDS has
the corporate headquarter.
In general, HR and Recruiting seem to be professional at PDS. Attire is
business casual, and the hours are dictated by the client and or
consultant since each project is different. Once you establish a
relationship with the recruiter, the recruiter will be the one who will
keep tabs on how you are doing at the client site. If there are issues,
I normally go back to my recruiter vs. my account manager since my
account manager is not very responsive.
For the most part, your interaction with PDS is very limited if you were
recruited for a client and you do not live in Dallas. The only time PDS
ever calls you is if there is an invoicing problem with the client.
Almost everything else is flexible.
Raises are minimal even if you are a fantastic consultant and network to
create your own contracts for the company. I brought PDS into a
contract at the largest computer hardware manufacturer in Houston and I
only received a few dollars as a raise. The hourly pay is competitive
for the client but as a consultant, I would go for a consulting company
that gives you more per hour or negotiate for a higher hourly. They
claim to give you referral fees but even when I brought in a friend to
work for them, I never received a referral fee.
From what I understand, if the client wants to hire you within your
original PO, the client is charged a percentage fee but if you are in
your second or third contract with the client, there is no fee to hire
you on permanently and this seems very flexible if you are looking for
stability and enjoy your client company.
Health and Dental benefits are available from PDS as a consultant but
401Ks are not as far as I know.
In general, if you're looking for flexibility and don't like being micro-
managed, PDS is a good company to work for. The corporate culture and
hours are dictated by the client site but the main client I work for is
great about telecommuting and allowing me to work my own hours. Over
time is also dictated by the client manager. I definitely work 40+ hours
per week. The amount of work given to me by the client could easily go
over 60 hours per week. I normally work on worldwide projects so I am
in conference calls or e-mail by 5 AM and working until at least 11 PM
but normally 12 AM on Asia Pacific meetings, training, or deliverables.
Travelling is usually not allowed for consultants so this has not been
something I have been able to do.
Again, the number of hours you work and the corporate culture are
dictated by the client sites but most of the clients I have worked for
are very flexible and don't demand me to be in the office at any
specific time. My client's focus is to deliver the results which I do on
a daily basis.
If your PO is about to end, PDS will contact you to find out if you want
to be considered for any of their other project that they have
available. I receive e-mails from my recruiter all the time to find out
if I have any friends interested in various positions or projects they
have open.
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