About 7 years ago I left the world of consulting and outsourcing management to join the wacky, wonderful world of being an in-house practitioner. I always loved the speed and variety of consulting, and knew I’d be back one day, but also knew I wanted to “walk the walk” for a while to really get a better understanding of what it’s like to have to live with a RIM program every day (dirty socks and cap-less toothpaste and all).
As I am nearing my 39th birthday (for the first time … I expect to celebrate that day several times in the coming years), I took stock of what I wanted the next 15 years or so of my career to be. Arguably, the next decade or two are likely to be the pinnacle of my career, culminating the experiences, knowledge and skill that I have gained over the years.
I had enjoyed success in moving up the management ladder in the law firm environment and was entrusted with responsibilities that spanned beyond the RIM program – and that was great experience and I learned much – but it was taking me too far away from what I really love; developing and implementing programs to successfully manage information. So, rather than continue down the path of higher management, I decided to take a sharp left turn and return to consulting and back to doing what I love (and what I think I do best!).
I decided to join Merrill Corporation, a leading provider of outsourced solutions for complex business communication and information management, for a lot of reasons. While Merrill has a long history of providing services such as litigation support, imaging, and printing to the corporate and law firm markets, it has a very small and relatively new consulting practice. The prospects for me, personally, are that I will not only be able to serve clients who want to address their records and information management issues, but will also be able to contribute to the continued development of Merrill’s consulting practice. The best of both worlds for me – the ability to be entrepreneurial and tactical at the same time!
For those of you who find yourself a decade or more into what is likely an unexpected career, I highly recommend taking a few minutes to take stock of what you’re doing, where and how you’re doing it, and making a conscious decision about where you’re headed. You will either find validation in your current path or find that you’ve uncovered inspiration for something new, like I did.
#ElectronicRecordsManagement #ERM #Consulting #RIM