IT Consultant, a profession on its own
Cédric has been working as an employee for Imalink for several months. As an IT Consultant he has the security to work on long term projects at Top 500 companies for Imalink and can count on the necessary variation.
"What appealed to me most about joining Imalink was their way of communicating"
I have always been interested in computer science. Computer science is something that keeps me busy and I hope to continue doing it for the rest of my life. Even in my childhood, I was often tinkering with computers at home, and a few years later I quickly rolled into my first IT job as a help desk clerk.
Before I started as a consultant at Imalink, I worked as an IT consultant at a company that worked mostly short term. For five years I did that and was sent from one project to another company to do roll-outs and repairs. So I was constantly challenged to do different work. Afterwards, all the projects ended and there was practically no search for a new project for me.
One year later it turned out that there was another vacancy in the tobacco company where I worked before, since the conditions were better, I decided to go back but this time as a non-consultant. Unfortunately, due to change in the market, this project was also short-lived.
A little while later, luckily I was called by Imalink. I heard that the person on the other end of the phone was very enthusiastic. Someone who is enthusiastic on the phone enjoys working at his or her job. It means that there is a nice atmosphere and that makes you leave for work with a smile every day. For me, this is very important. In fact, one of the reasons I resigned from my previous employer was the unpleasant atmosphere and the conflict with the other shifts. Kindergarten was really too long ago for that.
My first face-to-face conversation at Imalink was with Arne and Isabelle, the founders of Imalink. I immediately noticed the nice, family but still businesslike atmosphere, really nice. We quickly agreed that I would work for them as an employee. This means that I am not in daily contact with Imalink during my assignments with the customer as an employee of Imalink, but it is the company that I work for and that I can always rely on when something professional or personal occurs.
"I know our client's buildings better than Imalink's building"
I am currently working on a project at Infrabel. I am employed there as a helpdesk employee. The job doesn't just involve answering the phone and asking what the problem is. I can also carry out installations and repairs on site, which makes it a varied and broad job. It's really something for me.
Together with Imalink, I am looking forward to further training in the long run. I am always open to challenges, but my preference goes to IT consultancy. Why do I prefer this way of working to the traditional one? That is simple, simply because I have greater job security. As an employee at Imalink I have nothing to fear. As soon as a project ends, I can be employed by another customer of my employer.
"In my mind, as a consultant, you have greater job security"
Another plus of being a consultant is the variation you have in your work and the different trainings you can easily follow. On top of that, Imalink can deploy me at the customer in a better qualified way. Investing in consultants is one of the foundations of Imalink. The fact that I'm not always 100% sure about my next project(s) makes that I'm still sure and can sleep on both ears because I'm employed by a company that already exists for 20 years.
"The more projects, the more experience, and that ensures that you end up with good companies and can stay with them."
As a consultant you go from one project to another and you can immediately use the experiences you have gained in other projects in your new project. As a consultant you must be able to be flexible. The more projects you do, the more experience you will gain and this will ensure that you end up with interesting companies working on exciting projects.
"Studying has never been my strong suit but because of the many training and continuing education courses I did in the past, I have learned to learn and can now take things in and implement them in practice tremendously quickly."
If you want to work as a consultant, you must always be open to working in other environments. Moreover, not only your environment changes regularly, but also the computer science itself. So you also have to be interested in continuing education so that you remain up-to-date. I used to have problems learning things. Studying has never been my strong suit but thanks to the many training courses I have received in the past, I have learned to learn and I can now absorb things very quickly and put them into practice.
"Consultancy is a win-win situation
I think it's normal for many IT professionals to work as consultants. In many companies it is the case that you only need IT personnel with certain qualities for a short period of time. People who get a contract for such a short period are almost non-existent. That's why I think consultancy at Imalink is a win-win situation. The consultant can carry out multiple projects for the same customer and the customer can sleep on both ears because the consultant knows his job like no other.
Whether I ever want to join a company as a non-consultant? Never say never of course! However, it is my intention to remain a consultant until my retirement. Starting to apply for jobs again is not something I am looking forward to, I feel good as a consultant at Imalink.
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Cedric - Lotte - Arne