Learn Consulting Ideas and Tips from Daryl Gerke, P.E.
After more than 30 years of running an engineering consulting business, Daryl Gerke, P.E. wants to share what he has discovered in the industry to people who plan to start their own consulting practice. His blog, JumptoConsulting.com is his gift for whoever wants to learn from his knowledge, skills and experience.
What the Blog Covers and Who Can Benefit from It
Jumptoconsulting.com covers the nitty-gritties of the consulting business – sales, operations, marketing, finance, and more. It also includes resources, interviews, answers to questions raised on external websites, anecdotes, and success stories that inspire aspiring consultants.
The blog is designed for anyone who wants to join the consulting industry. They can be graduates as well as lawyers, engineers, retirees, accountants, or architects who feel professionally misplaced with their current state and desire to do something else.
How Gerke Got into Consulting
At first, Gerke didn’t have any plans of taking the technical consulting path. After graduating with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 1968, he took a job in the corporate world, but due to the challenges of the electronics industry at that time, he was laid off along with many other employees. Fortunately, he landed another position in Univac Defense Systems where he worked with a group providing in-house advice on Electromagnetic Interference and Compatibility (EMI/EMC) issues. This later became the foundation for his consulting business.
He started to get interested in the consulting business when he was undergoing a program to get a Professional Engineer license, a qualification compulsory for consulting engineers. Soon after, he was recruited to teach at a vocational school, which led him to consulting contracts to develop technical training projects. It further led him to consulting commitments outside the institution with his business partner and friend, Bill Kimmel.
While keeping his part-time consulting business, Gerke accepted other several professional roles that further equipped him for consulting. He became a Field Sales Engineer of Tektronix, joined a startup, and was also employed by Intel. After gaining valuable technical, sales and marketing knowledge, he decided to respond to his entrepreneurial itch. He and his partner created a feasible plan, and finally exited the corporate world to jump into consulting. Since then, the consulting business has treated him well.