Nervous about starting work

I'm almost there with finalising arrangements with Capgemini China now. I'm surprised actually, my negotiating position isn't terribly strong, and so I didn't think it would happen so soon. I think I owe a lot to one of the staff in the office, who's been helping make sure my case wasn't being left to one side. One of the good guys.

I had a couple of other options kicking around, but neither seem to have been really very strong. One resulted in a job offer in HK, but it's not so attractive at this point in time, so I'm sticking to my guns in Shanghai. I think it's hard for anyone else to be brave enough to give me a shot at a job. There really is a high general risk of failure, breakdown, getting fed up, running into problems in projects, falling out with colleagues, getting an easier job / better paid job elsewhere, all sorts. Added to this that for the first 18 months much of the effectiveness would be reduced or lost due to language learning, and it's easy to see that others would not be keen.

I'm flattered though that there has been interest... certainly I have options here, and my experience / capability is regarded as valuable out here. Certainly think twice about coming out here unless you have savings, valuable experience, or are prepared to slum it.

So... hopefully when various bits of paperwork get sorted out, I should be starting work for Capgemini, doing good old management consulting. Consulting as an industry is in its infancy here.. which generally means less consulting capability, and less ambitious client demand. But, on the good side, it gives me a real exposure to a number of companies and geographies, which is good for my learning language and culture. And, two years later, I'll be more ready to tackle the then slightly more mature market.

I spoke to my future boss today. She had some words of encouragement and wisdom for me. I'd best capture them here before I forget. Being able to deliver what we propose is an issue when consulting with local clients here. More consultant-experienced clients are more able to realign consultants with reality when necessary. Less consultant-experienced clients will have to trust our expertise, and so will naturally be annoyed if we don't succeed on what we promised.

Here was some advice she gave me which I haven't quite finished digesting yet. One key will be to strike the right balance between playing up the 'foreign' card, and outright arrogance. Demonstrating an external viewpoint or experience can often be an important leverage tool. It also helps justify my value, especially when my language is a problem. But too much 'leadership' and not enough observation and adjustment, could get people's backs up if I am difficult to work with.

What else... oh yes, I mentioned that besides speaking Chinese on the projects, ideally I would have time and energy to actually study Chinese from my hotel room. In reality though I am told that overtime is quite common, and so it is likely I will be too busy or tired to do much more than work eat and sleep. Some say that consulting is Asia is like that. I personally put it down to an immature market (clients and consultants), and hope that it will improve in the future.