Consulting during your Executive Job Search

Many job search experts will advise Executives to continue contributing to their field at a high level when their careers are in transition. This can be accomplished through speaking engagements, earning relevant credentials, serving on boards, and through consulting or advisory work. 

Finding these opportunities will open up new conversations and set you up as someone making an impact in your field, even if you are not currently employed. Offering services or speaking engagements also enables you to extend outreach to companies with a hiring freeze or no official openings. You can then build a relationship and position yourself as a preferred candidate before an opening is announced, sometimes even before a formal position exists. 

To uncover such opportunities, start by laying the groundwork: 

— Reach out to your network

Ask your network what they see gaining traction in your field. They may advise specific credentials or ask if you would be willing to share insights on certain topics. This helps make sure your activities will speak to the needs of hiring authorities and decision makers, rather than simply distract from your job search. 

— Clarify your value offering

Determine your service offerings. Select offerings that align with your experience and future goals, then break down your service offerings very clearly into topics you can communicate to potential clients. 

Identify your target client base and where they tend to operate. Do your target clients attend industry conferences? So should you. Do they hang out on specific social media channels? If so, plan to engage and post content there. 

— Update your LinkedIn profile

It is important that your LinkedIn profile and resume communicate your contributions. Simply listing “Consultant” conveys little. Instead, specify the type of consulting you are performing and share your service offerings. 

If you have already served clients, consider listing “representative engagements” that discuss your broad contributions, along with measurable impact, if possible. If clients prefer confidentiality, frame contributions based on company and industry type. For example, “Advised small MedTech startup on establishing clinical quality operations, including the preliminary audit.”

— Create additional collateral

Determine which types of content are appropriate for your field. Options include a website, project portfolio, list of speaking engagements, a bio, marketing collateral / takeaway, and even a resume for proposals. Reframe your experience and accomplishments to position you as an authority in your field. 

Once you have determined how you would like to proceed, inform your friends and trusted colleagues about your consulting work, new credentials, etc. Ask for conversations and introductions centered around your latest advancements. 

Your new feats not only set you up to remain engaged and contributing at a high level, they also provide an additional channel for opportunities during your job search.