Interim consulting can be a great way of achieving a better work-life balance, gaining useful experience in between roles or keeping the cash flow going while you’re setting up a business, writing a novel or making a splash as an independent film director.
HOWEVER it can be pretty daunting to leave the security of a permanent role to go it alone! So we thought you might like some tips to help you on your way…
Packaging yourself
Successful interims need to demonstrate that they can hit the ground running and have either a relevant skill-set or industry knowledge (ideally both) to bring to a contract. So think about your background in terms of a series of projects that you have carried out and hard skills that you can offer: Are you an industry specialist or a generalist? Are you focussed on growth strategy or operational change? Are you a financial modelling whizz? What do you deliver? How do you do it?
Using your network
People you’ve worked with in the past are often an excellent source of opportunities so if you’re setting up as an Interim consultant, make sure everyone knows you’re out there!
Exploring all the avenues
At the same time as tapping your own network, jump on Google and look for online job boards and agencies that specialise in your area – agencies often advertise on job boards, so this can be a great place to find relevant firms to contact.
Pricing yourself
Interim contracts are hugely varied in terms of pay but broadly speaking, you should be looking at least at 10-30% more than your last permanent salary and speaking with an agency / other interim consultants will help you to build up a useful picture of what you can potentially expect to command.
Getting feedback, references and recommendations
Getting feedback and references at the end of an interim assignment is a great habit to get into, particularly at the beginning of your Interim career. If a client has been impressed, they might have more work in the future or be happy to recommend you to other areas of the business where there might be a need.
Good luck!
Katharine James is a candidate manager for the FreshMinds Talent Interim team