Associate Consultant (Computer Science, BSc)

Kanav Kaura, Oracle

By: Kamal Ali, Outreach and Support Peer

Kanav Kaura graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science and a minor in UX design. While he initially pursued software development, his co-op and internship experiences led him to develop a passion for start-ups, and during his second start-up role, Kanav was introduced to the world of consultancy. This field resonated with him, combining his technical expertise with his love for face-to-face interaction. He appreciated how consultancy and UX design allowed him to integrate his interests in software development and human engagement.

Before fully committing to consultancy, Kanav explored roles in data science and analysis through internships. While he saw his analyst and data science positions as valuable entry-level roles, he didn’t envision himself in these roles long term as he found them to be too technically focused and lacking the interactive component he desired. Ultimately, consultancy emerged as the ideal career path, offering the perfect blend of problem-solving, collaboration, technology, and human connection.

As an Associate Consultant with a multi-national technology company, Kanav has spent a great deal of time deepening his knowledge of various technical topics such as NetSuite and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as undergoing training on how to better present and pitch ideas to further develop his professional consultancy skills. While Kanav’s background in IT, data science, and program management was helpful, he still felt that he had lots to learn about the consulting industry when he started the role. This required him to spend a lot of time and effort researching outside the workplace in order to be an effective consultant and truly help his clients. Kanav’s day-to-day work varies based on the stage of each project. He typically manages between 5 to 15 clients at a time, ranging from those just starting implementation to those nearing full launch. Some days involve live calls and product demonstrations, while others are more focused on Excel-based tasks. His role primarily centres around client calls and offline work, as he helps clients transition from their existing software and systems to NetSuite.

Kanav greatly values all his data science and program manager job experiences as they taught him the importance of efficiency and leadership skills, both valuable to a consulting career. To enter consultancy, Kanav notes that it is crucial to develop your leadership skills, be confident, and have a solid understanding of project management methodologies (e.g., Agile). Personalities best suited for a technical consulting role include being extroverted, quick on your feet, able to adapt, willing to ask questions, open to learning, and empathetic to your client’s viewpoints and position. Kanav notes that there are many different routes you can take to lead you to the field of technical consulting. He mentioned that freelancing is very difficult to get into but can be a great way to build skills. Talking to leaders in the industry helped Kanav gain perspective on the role and to understand the underlying requirements of becoming a successful and effective consultant. One resource that was very beneficial for his career was career consulting appointments, particularly with Susan Malcom, one of the Career Centre’s Career Consultants. Susan encouraged Kanav to contact industry professionals to learn more about the field and develop his LinkedIn and networking abilities. She created a safe space where he didn’t feel judged, and he could ask the questions he wanted answers to.

In today’s day and age, the question of whether AI will replace human intelligence is very prominent, yet Kanav believes the field will continue to grow alongside AI. In his view, chatbots and AI will replace more basic consultancy, automation will expedite the process and will replace entry-level software solutions, yet for more abstract, difficult solutions, human intelligence will still be needed for its critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Kanav recommends Fortune 500 blog sites, Axios, following mentors and people related to the industry on LinkedIn, Google, and ChatGPT as great resources to better understand trends in the technical consultancy industry. To those looking to enter the technical consulting field, Kanav also recommends completing technical certifications. For Oracle, completing the first few NetSuite certifications is very helpful, yet he also recommends getting at least 2-3 public certifications for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Some examples he gave were Google certificates, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon AWS. Experience at start-ups, or any job experience that is client-facing will be very helpful in building people skills, an essential skill in consulting. Kanav highly encourages students to talk to people in the industry, attend career fairs and apply various internship experiences to expand their network and learning. Lastly, don’t shy away from taking risks, despite the potential for failure, as that initiative and drive keeps you moving forward and constantly innovating. A risk Kanav took at the beginning of his career came from the difficulty of finding a job and getting laid off from his previous position. He was given a job offer from a Fortune 500 tech company, yet as he looked more into the job, it didn't quite satisfy what he was looking for. Therefore, he took the risk of declining the offer and held out for a better opportunity that would fulfill what he was looking for in a career. Kanav highly recommends sticking to your beliefs and taking action to achieve the results you desire!