Senior Consultant's Typical Day
Senior Consultants spend a significant amount of time out and about, attending meetings and planning projects and events with clients, as well as working in the office.
Take a look at what Susan Byrne, who is based in Edinburgh and Jamie Alderslade, London, got up to recently.
- 06.30 Susan Byrne's alarm goes off early. She has to catch the 08.00 train to Thornaby for a 10.30 meeting with Connexions Tees Valley. Smart trousers and shirt. Breakfast is a croissant from Costa Coffee.
- 08.30 Jamie takes bus to London office to see John (our London-based Director), then takes the Tube to Canada Water.
- 09.30 S changes train at Darlington. In London, J has a 15 minute walk to the Silwood Estate in Lewisham. Meets three resident surveyors (Jo, Simon and Gillian) who have agreed to help out by doing two days of door-to-door surveys relating to an evaluation of the Community Warden Scheme we are undertaking. The Silwood estate is 'being comprehensively regenerated.' Kirsty, the contract manager from the Silwood SRB programme, says there was a mugging at 07.00 that morning.
- 10.30 S meets with two of the Connexions staff to develop a programme for a residential event. The seminar will bring together Careers Education, Personal Advisers and Youth Workers to develop a pilot for involving young people in Careers Education. J, meanwhile, is holding a survey training session with the surveyors. Negotiates working hours. Explores issues they might face.
- 11.30 S manages to catch half an hour with the Chief Executive of Connexions Tees Valley. Rocket Science has a long-standing relationship with ConnexionsTV and with the Connexions National Unit.
- 11.35 J and team walk around Silwood, avoiding construction work and the tunnel between the estate and Milwall football ground. Bit chilly. By 13.00, too cold to smile any more!
- 13.20 Satisfaction of great morning meetings pales as S begins a slow, frustrating journey back. Catches up with reading and some word processing on laptop but train stops at every lamp-post. Grabs lunch late, when changes train in Newcastle. Poor mobile signal. Calls and internet access interrupted. Technology, huh?
- 13.30 J has fish, chips, peas and a coke in a cafe to warm up. Stays put to prepare for interviews for potential Rocket Science staff tomorrow.
- 14.30 Back to Silwood alone to interview the co-ordinator of Good Neighbours - a family support project - to get her views on how the Community Warden scheme is working. Very bubbly, chatty interviewee.
- 15.30 Interviews the vicar about the Community Warden scheme. Not so bubbly, as J is 12 minutes late.
- 16.40 S arrives back in Edinburgh. Straight home via shops.
- 17.30 J back at the office. Discusses progress with John. Final arrangements for staff interviews the next day - drafting of questions, confirming which exercise had been set, checking 'someone' had remembered to book a meeting room? Yes.
- 18.45 J leaves office, looking forward to tomorrow. Potential Rocket Scientists. Bound to be an interesting lot.