Working World - Career Transition

By Barbara Bowes 

Is there life after a layoff?

For many professionals, the first thing that comes to mind is setting up a consultancy practice. And why not? In most cases, there is nothing more to it than “hanging up your shingle” — or so you might think.

Many people glamorize the life of a consultant. They can only see the many upsides of consulting such as being independent, doing their own thing, being their own boss, managing your own time, or believing that they’ll have more money in their pocket at the end of the day. However, believe me; consulting is certainly not suitable for everyone.

I remember an incident when I first started consulting that helped set me straight in terms of roles and relationships. I arrived at my client location one day to find the office almost empty. But the noise at the end of the hall attracted my attention. When I went to see what was going on, lo and behold, they were having a party. And imagine, I wasn’t invited!

I remember feeling so alone. I suddenly recognized that I didn’t really belong with the team. I was an outsider. No matter how much work I had done with the client, no matter the great relationships that I had developed, I was still an “outsider.” It was quite a revelation. Yet, this is what a consultant really is, an external expert who provides an objective opinion. So, unless you are with a larger consulting firm, you are indeed, essentially alone.

An independent consultant typically does all the work themselves. This includes proposal writing, clerical and administrative assistance, PowerPoint presentations, financial management (costing, invoicing, collections) and marketing. They even do their own printing and they lick their own stamps.

Since there is no corporate support, the independent consultant is also responsible for their own business development. And believe me, selling yourself is one of the most difficult challenges a consultant will face. This is due to the fact that in most cases, people are quite modest and feel awkward trying to sell themselves as a product. Not only that, most people don’t have business development or sales skills; they simply aren’t inclined that way.

Another major challenge consultants face is the continuous up and down sales/work cycle and therefore the lack of predictability for paid work. It can be downright scary when the steady paycheque evaporates and clients stretch out the payment of your invoices to 45-90 days. There’s also the constant conflict between doing the work and marketing. When a consultant is busy marketing and doing business development, they have no paid work. Yet, when they have paid work, they’re too busy to keep up any marketing momentum. As a result, when the work finishes, it creates another lull in the revenue stream.

At the same time, while it may be fortunate to have lots of work, keep in mind that in most cases, as an independent consultant, you are doing all the work yourself. No more assistants. No more folks to whom you can delegate. And this means long hours and long days. After all, clients don’t like their consultants to miss deadlines and so the pace of a consultant’s life can become quite frantic.

On the other hand, there are indeed many good things about consulting. For many professionals, it’s an effective strategy for staying in the marketplace while looking for a job. For others, consulting allows an opportunity to focus on what they are really good at and what they like to do. It’s a great job for initiators and problem solvers rather than “maintainers.” Still other people find that consulting gives them a new lease on life and reintroduces some positive energy into their lives.

Before you try to make the leap from the role of worker to that of an independent consultant, it’s important to assess your skills, capabilities and your approach to work. Take a moment to review the following success checklist.

Strong area of expertise – Organizational leaders want to hire a trusted adviser who has the depth of experience and expertise to advise them on organizational or technical issues. So take a close look at your reputation and determine what exactly you have to sell.

Initiative and drive – A successful consultant must have a lot of energy, initiative and drive. You need to keep abreast of the latest developments in your industry sector, and you need to be able to see opportunities and capitalize on them.

Positive attitude – No matter whether you are busy or not, no one wants to hire a consultant with a negative attitude. In fact, you’ll drive clients away. You need to be positive at all times. Clients need to see enthusiasm.

Relationship building skills – People want to work with consultants they trust. When a trusting relationship develops, clients will be loyal to you for years to come. Therefore, taking the time to consciously build relationships and keep in touch with clients and potential clients is critical to success. But this doesn’t happen overnight.

Networking skills — You need to be able to easily reach out to people, enjoy being around people and enjoy learning about their businesses or organizations. You need to be willing to attend multiple social events so that you are continually meeting new people and building your business development database.

Good writing skills — Much of what a consultant does is write proposals and reports. These must be clear and concise and accompanied by realistic recommendations for the client to implement. You must not only be a good writer (spelling and grammar) but you must be able to write at a general reading level as well as write quickly so that deadlines are met.

Problem solving and analysis skills — The only time a client will call you is when there is a problem. Therefore, you must be able to listen carefully, quickly grasp the nature of the problem including all of the nuances, and put all the details together so that you understand the real issues. Finally, you will need to recommend unique and practical solutions that can be implemented within the client culture.

Project management — Everything a consultant works on is a project. There is a defined beginning, middle and end with specific expected outcomes. Whereas these projects typically involve other people, managing surveys, interviews, focus groups, etc. requires strong organizational and project management skills.

Working as an independent consultant requires a strong combination of both sales and service delivery skills as well as the development of long-term trusting relationships. So, while consulting may help senior professionals through the challenging time between work assignments, consulting is not a quick fix, it’s a lifestyle.

Barbara J. Bowes, FCHRPO, CMC, is president of Legacy Bowes Group and vice-president of Legacy Executive Search Partners, Manitoba. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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