1. Part 2: My journey into Consultancy work.
My motto in life is whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. https://twitter.com/mentorshipzim/status/1321924214429904896

1. During my time as a lecturer at the UZ, there were a number of free certificates offered through https://www.edx.org . These courses were drawn from course content taught at US universities so they were equally rigorous and challenging. Online does not mean easy .

2. It was through these courses that I learnt skills in public health research, Biostats, clinical trials and recently machine learning and coding. One of my friends owned a consultancy company and he invited me to join and just use my expertise in this area to open a new avenue.

3. I leveraged on my network from the UZ and then boom I had a database of more than 80 consultants across different professions. It was not anything amazing, it was just networking and forming friendships with people and converting others to become consultants

4. I cannot emphasize that one of the skills my anatomy training never taught me was networking. In order to build networks that endure always have a “value proposition”, seek to serve others and not to merely extract something. Everyone in my circle became a consultant .

5. I would like to also add that, when I journeyed into consultancy I received a lot of mentorship and guidance from those who were already in the sector. I was taught many valuable lessons on how to write proposals, M&E, log sheets, project planning and management.

6. The key takeaway from this is: your network is your free classroom, learn from it. I just sat and absorbed experience others had acquired over their careers and they just poured more and more knowledge and skills.

7. For those who might be interested in going global on consultancy work, World Bank has a great platform for global consultancy projects. Haaperi! Check out this website >>> https://wbgeconsult2.worldbank.org/wbgec/index.html

8. I figured out how to register my friend’s consultancy on the World Bank Group platform and my job as “Director” of Research was to recruit consultants and apply for projects. I ended up getting shortlisted for 6 WBG projects ranging from public health to tax

9. There I was mukomana wezvitunha deep into global consultancy. I mention this not because I am infinitely clever or smart, but I just learnt that life is about relationships and build them, sustain them and nurture them. You’ll find success in the success of others.

10. Consultancy work is very rewarding, but it is not easy all the time. You need to be at the same level of understanding with the people in your team. Your values and ethics must align or else it will fail. Protect your reputation by avoiding working with some people.

11. Time management is key for “side-hustles”, during my time as a lecturer I would get my things organized in such a way that my proposal and consultancy schedules did not clash with my anatomy stuff. So taityora chalk then at night we work.

12. My inspiration on seeking knowledge and multiple competencies is Solomon, he could describe life from the vine that grew out of the walls (mutsvamvi) to the cedar that grew in the field. You can be more than one thing in this life and do well in all!

13. As you age, you will realize just how much you need different skillsets to open up new streams for you. Keep your network intact, if you see opportunities that others could benefit from pass them on. Be a conveyor of other people’s success and one day your door will open.

End of Part 2