25 Years in Consulting

(Career Advice for Young Professionals)

If you've been following my posts, you know that I've devoted this website, like DelsJourney before it, mostly to my travels.  Consequently, I don't talk much about my work.  But I've been so busy at work lately that I haven't traveled much these past few years, so I haven't had a lot to write about.  In this post, therefore, I decided to describe my career and the most important things I've learned.

I've worked in the field of computer mapping for several decades, probably no surprise given the name of this website.  After spending most of the past 35 years doing mapping work for a series of engineering consulting firms, I recently started my own mapping consulting firm, GeoWest.  As I've been making this transition, from employee to business owner, I've thought about my experiences in consulting and wanted to share what I've learned.  Therefore I decided to create this page and convey advice to anyone who's thinking about going into consulting or has recently started.  I wanted to help younger folks who are starting their careers, just as certain people helped me when I was younger.

But ever the historian, I first wanted to make a historical observation (as I often do).  I’m posting this page about career tips on July 4, 2026, America’s 250th birthday, during which Americans celebrate our inalienable rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  That pursuit includes having a successful career, hence this post.  On the nation's bicentennial, July 4, 1976, I celebrated America’s 200th birthday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of America, and today, exactly 50 years later, I’m celebrating America’s 250th birthday in Tigard, Oregon, the birthplace of . . .  View-Master?  (Look it up, Gen Z’ers).  But seriously, due to America's political climate, this country feels very different today than it did back in July 1976 when Americans were much more united, cohesive and amicable.  So as the old-time comedian W.C. Fields supposedly noted on his tombstone, “On the whole, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.” 

	Above:  Hard at work (?) at the engineering consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff (now WSP) in Portland in 1994.  Nice mustache, huh?

I remain hopeful about America's future, however, and am grateful to be an American.  And as we celebrate America's independence today, I hope the career tips on this webpage will elevate your personal independence by helping you make wise decisions at your workplace. 

The Field of Consulting

On this page I've described the most important things I've learned about consulting from my experience over the past several decades.  Most of these tips apply to any type of work, however.  Consulting is an exciting field but also has pitfalls, as I describe using examples from my career.

I've worked for five engineering consulting firms and two government agencies since I began my career in 1989.  Altogether I've spent about 25 years in consulting, all of it in the fields of engineering, transportation and land-use planning.  The consulting firms I've worked for plan and design cities, roads, bridges, utilities and the infrastructure that keeps the country moving. The technology has changed a lot since 1989, of course, but the basic aspects of the consulting field have not.

So what's a consulting firm and this career called consulting?  At its most basic level, a consultant could be anyone who knows more about something than you do.  A consulting firm, such as WSP or Jacobs (two of the largest engineering consulting firms with over 50,000 employees each) hires people who are skilled in a field, like engineering in this case, and contracts out its services to entities such as government agencies that need short-term assistance.  Consulting staff are like a temporary extension of the hiring entity, like an accordion that shrinks and expands. 

Most contracts I've worked on have lasted from a few months to a year, but some contracts were for only a week while others lasted for several years.  When you finish one contract, your consulting firm hopefully has another one for you to work on (the key word is "hopefully").  Government agencies often hire consulting firms because it's usually cheaper for them to contract out their work to consultants rather than hire lots of permanent employees, only to let them go when the project is finished. 

Consulting has its drawbacks, as I'll describe below, but overall I've greatly enjoyed being a consultant.  What I've especially enjoyed are the projects I've worked on.  I enjoy solving difficult problems, learning complex skills, and helping people (and the world).  Those positives have far outweighed all the negatives I've dealt with in consulting, which include coping with downturns, layoffs, mergers, internal politics, and all the turmoil and stress that's common in this field.

My Background

As I say, I started my career in 1989 (yes, when I was three years old).  I worked as an assistant transportation planner for a government agency in Eugene, Oregon, planning streets and transit systems, but I quickly moved into mapping.  I had studied computer mapping years earlier in college and have always loved maps.  In fact, my mother once told me that I was studying maps in our house long before I could read.

	Above:  My first big mapping project, in the early 1990s.  I used AutoCAD to map, for the first time, the land-use for the entire 363 mile length of the Oregon Coast Highway (U.S. 101).  It's posted on the wall.

This passion of mine, computer mapping, is also known as GIS (Geographic Information Systems).  GIS is sort of like Google Maps but instead of just looking at maps on your screen, like you do in Google Maps, GIS allows you to analyze mapped data, such as figuring out where utility lines should be built or calculating the size of a certain parcel of land.  I've spent 30 years working mostly in GIS, and mostly for consulting firms.  In fact, all I've ever wanted to do is make maps. 

After doing GIS for a slew of consulting firms and a couple government agencies, however, I recently started my own GIS consulting firm, just myself and based at my home in Tigard, near Portland.  I'll describe my new company perhaps in my next post, but for now here are some of the most important things I’ve learned over the past several decades about working in the exciting but often-volatile field of consulting, especially engineering consulting (which includes GIS).  I've written this mostly to help folks who are starting out in consulting or who are debating whether to join a consulting firm or, instead, work for the government.  

There's a big difference, by the way.  Working in government is like taking a tepid Sunday drive because, though it's safe and secure, nothing very interesting usually happens and the work is often repetitive.  Working in consulting, on the other hand, is like riding a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs.  Personally I prefer the roller coaster, but to each their own.  If you want stable work (and a pension), get a government job, but if you want to work on exciting projects, go into consulting.  And by the way, when I say "consulting" in this post I'm referring mostly to engineering consulting, but most of this applies to any kind of consulting job – or indeed, any job.

I hope you find these tips useful.  Gosh, I wish I’d known all this back in 1989 when I started!

Above:  Interstate H-3 in Hawaii, a four-lane freeway on Oahu.  I worked on this construction project for several years in the 1990s, and the freeway opened in 1998.		Above:  The twin-bore H-3 freeway tunnel during my visit in 1997.  I did mapping for this project and wrote a 417-page manual that described the major systems of this complex tunnel.

Setting the Stage

• Your Company:  I've worked for five consulting firms, ranging in size from 100 employees to about 50,000, and they've run the gamut.  One company was terrific, emphasizing teamwork and collaboration (until they were sold), while another was pretty poor with lots of chaos and poor communication.  But overall, I'd say that most consulting firms are fairly similar to work for.  Most of them have a facade of warmth and camaraderie that masks their main goal of making money, and most are quick to cut staff during work slowdowns.  In general, it's hard to find a "great" consulting firm to work for, one reason there's a lot of turnover in the field.  But don't fret, because what affects your experience in consulting more than the firm you work for are your projects, and those can be rewarding.  Even more important is your manager, so let's talk about that…
• Your Manager:  Your manager is probably the single most important person or factor that will determine your success, longevity, and attitude about your job and company.  If you have a good manager, you’ll probably have a good experience there – and if you don’t, you won’t.  While most consulting firms I've worked for have been pretty much the same, the managers have definitely not.  The ideal manager, in my opinion, is both competent and compassionate, but that’s a rare combination.  If you happen to find one of these unique folks, stick with them and don't let go.  I've had over a dozen managers in my career but only one who was excellent and I stuck with him for 10 years, first in Portland and then in Seattle (yes, I moved to Seattle just so I could keep working with him).  Other than him, I’ve had a couple good managers, several that were just OK, and two who were quite poor.  Your manager makes all the difference.
• Your Workload:  The ebb and flow of contracts has a direct impact on your workload and thus your attitude about your job.  Ideally your company will always have a little too much work, but workload usually fluctuates.  Consultants are typically salaried, not paid hourly, so you’ll earn the same whether you work 40 hours each week or 80, and if you consistently work less than 40 hours due to a lack of contracts, you’ll likely be laid off.  I once had to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week for six weeks (one week over 100 hours) to meet a deadline, but even worse is not having enough work.  Most consulting firms emphasize billability, meaning you have to work on contracts instead of fluffy overhead – which, of course, can get stressful if there are no contracts to work on.   I’ve worked at several consulting firms that claimed to treat their employees like “family," but that “family” attitude disappeared fast when the contracts started drying up and people started fighting over billable work, fearful of being cut.  One of the main responsibilities of your manager is to regulate the amount of work you have, but that doesn't always happen.
• Your Attitude:  Like I say, there's a lot of turnover in consulting.  I left two firms because I felt that my co-workers didn't have the right work ethic.  At one of those firms, I became frustrated with some of my colleagues for not contributing enough, and I left the other company because my managers didn't communicate with me.  So here's how to be successful in consulting:  Never get complacent.  Prove your worth every day, because no one owes you a job and you could lose it tomorrow.  The maxim of “under-promise and over-deliver” is true – but don't under-promise too much or you'll be seen as inefficient.  It's OK to make mistakes but always learn from them.  And never think you're essential or irreplaceable because you're not.  If you disagree with any of that, you probably shouldn't be in consulting.

Above:  My office in Seattle in the early 2000s.  I'd rejoined my Portland manager here and worked on several GIS and transportation projects.		Above:  The freeways in Florida during a visit I made to Miami in 2005 to study the state's transportation management system.

Doing Your Work

• Communicate:  In the world of consulting, having good communication skills is just as important as having good technical skills, sometimes more.  Generally the most effective ways to communicate, listed in order, are:  1). In person, 2). Video meeting, 3). By phone, and lastly, 4). Messages, such as emails and chats, though it depends on what you're communicating.  Don’t be lazy and rely on messages when a meeting would work better.  Before you end each day, make sure you've responded to every message you received that day.  I resigned from one consulting firm because their senior managers didn’t do that and I had to continually send them follow-up emails.  Sometimes they ignored my messages entirely.  Ignoring messages is unacceptable, unprofessional and disrespectful, so don’t do it.
• Work Only To Your Peak:  You should always work hard at your job, of course – but not too hard.  Many times I’ve found myself working so hard or focusing so much on a task (especially during deadlines) that I started making mistakes.  It’s important to recognize that inflection point within yourself and to back off before you reach it, to maximize your productivity.  I call this “working to your peak.”  Envision your productivity like a bell-shaped curve.  Your goal is to work hard enough to reach the peak of the curve without going over, like in “The Price is Right.”  If you continue pushing yourself beyond that peak by working even faster or harder, your productivity will start to decline as you begin making mistakes, losing perspective, or alienating your co-workers.  Your peak can vary each day and with each project, but always strive to work only to your peak.
• Document Your Work:  When you learn something important, write it down.  I’ve written countless “readme” files to myself describing things I’ve learned, and often in the weeks and months afterwards, I reread them to refresh my memory.  For more complex topics, record a screen video of yourself to watch later.  I use OBS (a free video recording app) and a microphone.  After I’ve learned something complex, like a complicated mapping technique or how to update a certain website, I’ve made 30- or 45-minute tutorial screen recordings using OBS, talking into the microphone and telling and showing myself, on the screen, how to do it.  These video recordings have been invaluable.  Use OBS to record web meetings, too, but always tell the attendees beforehand that you’re recording it.
• Keep an Open Mind:  I've worked on dozens of projects that I initially thought were going to be boring but turned out to be interesting, even fascinating, so don't shut out projects right away.  And sometimes the skills you learn by chance will benefit you unexpectedly later on.  Early in my career, my company experienced a major work slowdown and I was on the verge of being laid off.  The office had just won a bridge project, though, so I shifted from GIS to AutoCAD and taught myself how to draft.  Initially I didn't like the work and wanted to get back to GIS, but after several months I became proficient in AutoCAD and came to enjoy it.  Having those drafting skills benefited me at every place I subsequently worked, so think of situations like that as opportunities for your career, not barriers.
• Organize Your Files:  You'll work with thousands of files as an engineering consultant, so you need a good file management system.  The main purpose of file management is for you or someone else to be able to quickly find the right file or folder later.  When naming files, add the date to the end (like “. . . 2026-07-04.docx”) to help with version control.  To store files and folders, I recommend a simple but effective system I call “Created, Received and Sent.”  The Created folder is your working area for that project, while the Received and Sent folders are permanent repositories of the project files you've received or sent.  Make subfolders called "Created," "Received" and "Sent" for every application folder in your project (such as "Word" and "Excel").  I’ve used this intuitive system for many years, both at home and in the office, to store thousands of files and have never misplaced a single one.
• Meet Your Deadlines:  As a consultant, you'll deal constantly with the all-important triad of Scope, Schedule and Budget.  Meeting your deadlines is imperative because your work is often part of a chain of deliverables, and not finishing your work on time will negatively affect others downstream.  The best way to meet a deadline is to prioritize your work.  You do this by first determining what the minimum requirement is for the task, and then meeting that requirement.  If there’s time and budget left after you meet the minimum requirement, then go back and enhance or improve your product.  This approach will ensure that if something unexpected comes up during your project (which it often does), at least you’ll be able to submit a minimally acceptable product, and on time.  This approach isn’t always feasible but use it whenever possible.  An alternative approach, and something I often made the mistake of doing when I was younger, is to focus on only one or two subtasks.  Sure, I did an excellent job on those subtasks but often didn’t spend enough time on the rest of the project.  Consequently, I usually had to scramble to finish the remaining subtasks and sometimes missed my deadlines.  Learn from me:  don't miss your deadlines.
• Back Up Your Work:  File backups are absolutely critical.  I was an IT manager at a large engineering office many years ago and made sure that every file was stored in at least two places at all times, something I still do.  Hard drives fail (it's happened to me many times) and people accidentally delete files (also happened to me), so make sure your company’s backup system works.  Test it and if IT can’t recover your deleted file promptly, set up your own backup system on your computer to supplement the network’s backup.  I’ve used Acronis backup software on both my home and office computers for many years and swear by it.   After you’ve set up your backup processes, Acronis runs automatically each day making backups onto an external drive.  Acronis has saved me numerous times and I highly recommend it.

Above:  The bustling streets of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.).  I spent three years creating hundreds of maps for Abu Dhabi's comprehensive land-use plan.		Above:  My mapping buddy, Mohammed.  He worked for a government agency in Abu Dhabi and always had a smile.

Above:  Colleagues in my company's office in Abu Dhabi.  The guy in white, Haneef, was a servant, serving the engineers coffee and tea all day.  Many offices in the Middle East have servants.		Above:  I flew around the world during one of my trips to Abu Dhabi and stopped here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to check it out.  During my 24 hours here I explored much of the city.

Working with Others

• Your Colleagues:  I've made some good friends through my work in consulting, but I've also learned to be careful about whom to trust.  Over the years I’ve been burned by several colleagues who I thought were my friends, so after many painful experiences, I've learned to separate "work friends" from real friends.  Unlike true friends, your co-workers don’t have your best interest at heart no matter how close you might feel to them on the job.  Sure, everyone at work is friendly and happy when the contracts are flowing, but that can change fast.  When work gets scarce, you learn who your friends are (and aren't).  Don’t trust anyone who’s above you until they’ve earned it, and the higher they are, the less you should trust them.  Keep senior managers and corporate staff at a distance because they usually have their own agendas and often view those under them as easily replaceable, so beware.  Speaking of that...
• HR is Not Your Friend:  Your co-workers aren't your friends and neither is HR.  Human Resources is there to protect the company, not you.  Don’t ever assume HR will help you because they won’t unless it’s in the company’s interest.  Their main role is to implement the company’s policies and legal requirements regarding employees, not to help you if you need it.
• The Customer isn't Always Right:  Have the courage to tell your client when they're wrong.  I worked on a large project with a government agency once, through my consulting firm, and I quickly realized their ideas were a big mistake.  I told my manager that it was going to be a waste of taxpayer money (over $2 million), but he figured it was job security for him and his staff for another year.  Sure enough, it was a waste of $2 million.  It was a year's worth of work for me, too, but I still regret not going straight to the client with my concerns.  Consulting firms don't always do things because they're right.  They sometimes (often? usually?) do things just to make money.  There's that word again.
• Keeping Your Cool:  Consulting work can be stressful given the constant deadlines and the pressure to maintain your billability, but never send an email when you’re angry (especially to a group) because you’ll always regret it.  If you’re agitated, step away from the keyboard and cool off.  And if you need to criticize someone (hopefully constructively), do it with them one-on-one and never in public.  Praise colleagues in public but correct them in private.  No one likes to be publicly humiliated and the person who’s criticized won’t ever forget how you treated them.

Above:  I moved to Doha, Qatar, in 2013 and worked at the Central Planning Office for three years.  This is the CPO's GIS team.  From left to right:  Indu, me, Peter, Oumer and Shree.		Above:  A dhow on Doha's waterfront.  I learned to speak and read a little Arabic in Qatar.  I also learned to never go outside in the blistering summer heat.  But overall, I really loved Qatar.

Job Transitions

• Manage Your Finances:  Consulting jobs are lucrative but tenuous, and they rarely come with pensions, so save, save, save – and put at least 10% of your salary into a 401(k) or IRA.  Contribute up to the 401(k) match, at a minimum, if your company offers one because it’s free money.  Save up your PTO so you can cash it out if you lose your job (varies with state laws) and always have at least six months of living expenses on hand.  Apply for credit cards (have at least three) and, if you have a house, get a HELOC (not a home equity loan) so you can tap into it during a financial emergency.  Do these things while you're still employed because you won’t be able to obtain any credit after you lose your job.  And of course, never use your emergency funds for something frivolous, like taking a vacation. 
• Create a Portfolio:  Build a portfolio of your work at your current firm to show to prospective employers during your next job hunt.  Make copies or screenshots of your work and store the files on your personal computer, not on the company’s computer because it might be instantly locked the moment you lose your job.  At some companies you can’t copy files to an external drive.  If so, use Google Drive to transfer your portfolio files to your personal computer (don’t use email attachments because those can be tracked).  Of course, don’t do this if it violates a specific company policy, and obviously don’t use anything you created at your job for commercial purposes elsewhere, because it's unethical if not illegal.  But in most cases, you can legally display samples of your previous work in a portfolio that you use for a job search.
• Facing Unemployment:  Yes, the party will eventually end.  There’s no such thing as a “permanent job” with consulting firms because they live and die by contracts, so unemployment is a given.  If you’re in consulting, you will become unemployed at some point, so start preparing for it now, emotionally, financially and every other way.  I’ve been laid off so many times in my consulting career due to company downturns or mergers that it doesn’t faze me anymore.  Check now with your state to see how much you’ll receive in unemployment benefits if you get laid off.  Typically it’s around 60% of your job income and it usually lasts for six months.  Remember that you’ll receive unemployment benefits only if you’re laid off, not if you quit.  Also, keep up with your contacts so they can (hopefully) help when you become unemployed and are looking for a new job.  Don't expect to receive any warning or advance notice if you're laid off – and yet companies expect you to provide them with two weeks notice if you decide to leave.  I've never understood that asymmetry.

Above:  My engineering consulting firm in Qatar designed Doha's new transit system.  We're visiting a Metro construction project on the outskirts of Doha.  It's fascinating how they build this.		Above:  While they were building subways, I was making maps.  I created this map for a new shuttle system in Doha.  Over 10,000 copies of this map were printed and distributed to the public.

Conclusion

• My Best Advice:  A guy named Dale Carnegie wrote a best-selling book in the 1930s called “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”  I read it many years ago and found it very helpful.  The two best pieces of advice in his book are:  1). Always try to see things from the other person’s point of view, and 2). Never criticize, condemn or complain.  Well, I have criticized a bit in this post, but I still think those are excellent tips!  Now I'll add my own favorite piece of advice here:  "Always have a Plan B," because life in consulting can change fast, just like riding that roller coaster.

I've worked on over 100 projects in my consulting career and most of them were interesting, even engrossing, and all of them were vastly different from each other.  That's a big difference compared to working in the public sector, because government work tends to be repetitive.  I remember every one of those projects, many of them now decades ago, and I'm very grateful for having the opportunity to work on them, learn new skills and hopefully make the world a better place.

Despite the inherent volatility of consulting, the stress of unrelenting deadlines and the lack of job security, I'm really glad I chose the career path I did and have no regrets.  It's satisfying to travel around the Northwest (or the world) and see the direct results of my work, such as the transit systems, freeway interchanges and cities I helped design.  As a consulting firm employee, I’ve worked on some of the most interesting and exciting projects I could imagine.  From the mountains of Oahu, to the coast of Malibu, to the deserts of Qatar and the U.A.E., I’ve had a terrific career in consulting. 

But there are too many problems in the world for me to ever want to retire, so through my own consulting firm I plan to continue for many more years!