5 reasons to work in IT consulting

by Sérgio Viana, Partner and DX & UX Lead @Xpand IT

For those who are in the IT field or want to be, there are plenty of options when it comes to take a next step for your career, whether you’re just graduating from university or any other kind of academic education, or you’re changing jobs. There are also plenty of questions to ask yourself: should you be part of a consulting company or a company that is creating a product? Is it better to be part of a team that works for several clients and technologies or choose one client and one technology? What should lead my search for a new challenge: technological specialization or something broader? Or would it be better to work for a start-up, so common in today’s perspective, or maybe a more solid company, with already given proof of its value in the market?

Truth is, nowadays, any of these paths is possible and has its advantages and disadvantages. And it’s completely normal that every person has a different opinion and can choose what’s best for themselves when it comes to making a decision. For those who are a part of this field, there are plenty of options, sometimes so many that it’s hard to choose! However, and knowing that my opinion is totally biased, there is clearly an option that seems more interesting than the other: Consulting! Are you surprised?

Consulting has always attracted a lot of people for different reasons. The way we at Xpand IT face it is what makes us different from a lot of company, because it is influenced by our DNA: close proximity to technology, specialization, proximity and a trust relationship that we develop with our clients throughout everything we build together, amongst other things.

• Broad projects: one of the biggest advantages in consulting is that we are always subject to challenges coming from different industries. This diversity of realities is a strong pro, since we gain experience in various levels. That is, you and your development team can be doing a telecommunication project right now and, in a few weeks, another one connected to retail, or banking, insurance companies, and so on.
• Technology diversity: the fact that you’re involved in different challenges concerning different realities means that, inevitably, you will deal with different technologies and approaches. In our case, what makes us different is that Xpand IT, since the beginning, has focused on the technologies we believe in, making us experts and using them to create better solutions for our clients. We don’t have projects with all technologies because we don’t want to, and we focus on building solutions with what we believe is best.
• Focus on innovation: this is a very important one. The constant search for new technologies and approaches in consulting companies has the main goal of delivering the best result possible for the challenges of today and of our future, whatever the field of knowledge. From our first day onward, we believe in technology that can be used to build excelling solutions that match the client’s challenges, thus creating true processes of digital transformation. We are always on the market for new trends in the different fields we work with.
• Different ways of working: we assume different roles according to the reality of each client we work with and it’s always a challenge. Delivering the best result possible is always the main goal, even when that demands trying to do something that wasn’t ours to, but that allows us to work in a more relevant way. Developing software solutions for a client is a lot more than that: the whole process helps us can create relevant, trusting relationships, for the present and the future, allowing for more long-term collaboration.
• International visibility: nowadays, there isn’t one consulting company that doesn’t have international projects and that allows for rich experiences for the teams involved in those projects. The specialization in a broader range of technologies allows us to create close relationships with partners from around the world, which results in coming up with approaches together amongst other initiatives that make it their services in Portugal a safer bet.

There a few more motives for you to work in a IT consulting company. One of them is mobility and space for growth. Xpand IT has a structure that is open to progression and change. That is for example: you can start as a developer or engineer, but the type of challenges and projects that you develop can guide your career’s future, leading you to another technological unit or if you’ll have to choose a technical or management position, and in a medium to long-term, that enriches a development team.

Our main focus has always been technological specialization that materializes into products, tools and approaches that we believe to bring value and use in the challenges that are proposed to us. This position allows us to work closely with different maturity level clients, helping them taking advantage of everything that will be used to build a solution — those clients being, sometimes, other technological companies. Our special focus in some fields make us a trusting partner for different types of organizations with very different goals and challenges, and that allows a highly challenging and interesting level of growth for us as a company, and for the people that are our teams.

There would be a lot more to say about consulting companies and Xpand IT, a lot more than I can say in one simple article. And we will always be on this side if you want to ask us why it is different working for us — besides our laidback, agile and collaborative work culture, we believe that we have challenges that can be a great next step for someone who wants to create technological solutions that make a difference in clients in Portugal and around the world. However, for now and if everything is according to plan, may the reasons above be of help in order for you to know the advantages of joining us in this journey!