What are the prerequisites of being a consultant?

For those who have followed this blog for a couple of months now, you must already realised that I really enjoy sharing the interesting things I have found as I have progressed, and particularly for this blog, the stuff I’ve learnt about marketing though social media, or rather more specifically, through the use of blogs.

I aspire to be able to reach out to more people and be able to share with them the fun and excitement of the online world, about the blogosphere and help them make friends like the ones I’ve made through this blog.

However, something that has been really mind boggling for me is really “What are the prerequisites of being a consultant or trainer?” Must you have 20 years of experience in the field before you are qualified to teach? If you are teaching people to “get massive traffic to your blog”, must you already “have massive traffic to your blog?”

People who know me better know that I am a hard nut perfectionist, and its tough for me to get on with my career as a trainer when I’ve got beliefs like this. Sometimes, I feel I’m “not good enough to teach“.

At the same time, I see some others teaching practically junk and charging people for it. I feel frustrated. I know I can do better.

What are your thoughts? What are the prerequisites of a consultant or trainer? Let’s just say you want to attend a class on grooming your dog. Would you listen to a trainer that has loads of theoretical knowledge (from books) that works, but don’t even keep a dog himself?

Comments

  1. Hi Kian Ann, excellent communication + knowledge are the keys for me. Having some real personal experience is not that important for me. You can always quote successful 3rd party’s experience.

  2. Thanks Jackie. Its true too, that essential skills of a consultant or trainer also includes the delivery of the materials, and not so much of the materials itself.

  3. Hey Ed,

    Yes, I think the number of years in the field also helps. However, in the Internet industry, 2 years of experience in a particular technology, say blogging – makes you a veteran already! (Provided you are not just dabbling in the field but seriously exploring)

    I think the consultant is the only job where “the older you get, the more valuable you will be” 😛