Workshifter

Workshifter Has Moved

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Analyzing the Unemployment Rate: What this means for consultants

Last Friday, the Department of Labor released its monthly unemployment report for February 2009. Though experts had predicted that it would undoubtedly rise from the 7.6 percent rate back in January, the announcement that it was at 8.1 percent stunned everyone. So, what does this mean for consultants?

Opportunity! For the unexpectedly unemployed or for those of you feeling under-employed who have been looking for a change, there has never been a better time to start a consulting practice than now!! It is a trend I have been talking about for the past year and it’s something I’ve seen grown tremendously in the last 6 months. Right now, 30 percent of the workforce is made up of consultants and that number is expected to grow to over 50 percent by 2014.

I’ve used this blog in the past to give tips to my readers on how to become independent consultants. Given the recent news on unemployment and the economy, I’ve decided to expand this into a full day seminar. I’ll be sponsoring an all day workshop on March 31^st in Boston at the Seaport Hotel for those who are looking to launch a consulting career. We’ll have experts and professionals – from lawyers, CPA’s, web designers and behavioral experts – to help guide you through the process of becoming independently employed. You will even get the chance to start a business plan and network with other professionals. Check out www.epochseminars.com for more information. And check back here for more tips and information for consultants or to see when the seminar is coming to a town near you!

Consulting: The Next Way to Work on Boomster.com

Recently, I was interviewed by Booster.com to talk about workshifting and choosing independent work as an alternative to traditional employment.  In the course of that interview I got to know a bit more about this organization that focuses exclusively on baby boomers and the issues and topics that are important and relevant to us.  I invite you to visit them at www.boomster.com    to learn more and connect on all the issues that effect us as a group, as we journey through life.

Happy New Year

For those of you seeking to be "Workshifters", and choosing to work as independent professionals, there is a silver lining to this economic crisis. We have begun to see genuine interest in engagement style work as a viable and compelling way to drive business results. Although using interim leaders and experienced goal oriented executives has been a well established practice in Europe for decades, I think it took an economic crisis this dramatic for companies to begin to think about deploying and utilizing talent in the United States in dramatically different ways. In these challenging times when global competition requires speeds to market unprecedented in our history and the pressure to deliver results and operate at increasing efficiencies has never been greater, companies are finally beginning to see the real value in this talent model. EPOCH has seen tremendous interest in companies willing to try this model in 2009. So, we are highly encouraged that you will begin to see real opportunities to work as free agents in all industries.  So, Happy New Year and here's to the overwhelming adoption of this as a new model to support the lifestyle workshifters are seeking and to help companies drive real business results and achieve a true competitive business edge.

TOTAL PICTURE RADIO

Billed as “the voice of career leadership,” TPR is a forum for sharing ideas and commentary from thought leaders in business, strategy, marketing, career management, media, and the Internet. Interviews on TPR include best-selling authors, senior executives, visionaries, leadership coaches and entrepreneurs….and me. 

See what you think: Here's my podcast with host Peter Clayton in which we discuss topics including what impact the implosion of the financial markets may have on jobs outside the financial services industry and how current events in the financial markets will impact compliance and risk issues all companies face.

If you have a few extra minutes, TPR also conducted an interview with me last year if you want to check it out too.

Part 5 – Develop Your Business Plan

Working as someone who is independently employed requires that you think comprehensively about what you’re doing and think of it as if you were starting your own business – the business of you! That said, you need to put together a business plan with all the relevant parts, just as if you were starting a new business.You need to have a section on Sales, Marketing, Operations, Human Resources and Finance. Each section needs to be carefully planned out.

Let’s start with Sales. Have you ever heard the phrase “you have to sell yourself”? This is true in business whether you are a traditional or non-traditional employee. Begin by making a list of your contacts, your target companies and your networks, and assign dates and plans to contact and meet with all of them. If you can’t imagine putting in this time then this may not be the best career choice for you.

Next, think about how you will market yourself. Your single best marketing tool is your CV as I pointed out in step four. Be sure to spend significant time creating it and highlighting your skills. Ask respected people in your life to read it and providehonest feedback. Your job now is finding a job and you need to have an action plan each day that you are responsible for executing and reviewing on a regular basis.

Now it’s time to think about Operations. How do you plan to deliver? Will you work from home? Are you willing to travel? How will you manage those choices? Will you be able to do it independently or do you need a network of people that you can draw from in order to take on larger projects? What system will you use for communication, billing and client management? Do you have the appropriate level of insurance to protect yourself and your client? Have you written a contract that you can use to clearly identify the roles and responsibilities of all parties? These are all questions that need to be answered before you set yourself up in independent practice.

You also need to think about your new way of working from a human resources perspective. How will you stay current? What benefits do you need? Where can you go to get them? There are lots of things that you may not have thought of on a regular basis when you work for a company that now will become your responsibility. Be sure to review these things and remember the cost of all these things need to be taken into consideration as you develop your pricing models.

And last but not least, you need to do some financial modeling. What are your ongoing revenue requirements? What do you need to cover all your costs? What utilization requirements do you have? How will you bill and collect? What amount of bad debt can you absorb? I can’t possibly identify all the relevant questions you need to answer but suffice it to say that it is extremely important that you develop these models so that you understand your financial requirements up front. Failure to do this may result in great job satisfaction but limited financial satisfaction and that is probably not sustainable over the long term.

So, as you can see, it is extremely important that you, as your own business, put together a plan that considers all the disciplines of a business so that your can help to ensure your total success as an independent business person.

Becoming Independently Employed: A 5 Step Guide

Step 4: Develop your CV

Part four of our five part series looking at the steps to becoming independently employed.

Let’s face it. There will be intense competition for snagging project work, short-term or permanent jobs that may be created in the coming year. Despite the current financial market turmoil, there will be companies in need of people to help them out. You can be one of them.

In this environment I cannot stress enough how important it will be to present yourself in the best way possible. Clearly outline your ability to deliver results.

Sure, there are all sorts of theories on resume types. The curriculum vitae, or CV, is what I recommend. While a résumé focuses on your job experience, a CV highlights your accomplishments in quantifiable ways. Obviously a CV is much more impressive but also much more difficult to pull together.

Unless you’ve been diligent about tracking your accomplishments all along, you’ll need to do some digging. Your goal is to create quantifiable accomplishment statements such as “Implemented call centers in eight countries 20% under budget and 25% ahead of schedule.”

In addition to the typical job experience details contained in a standard résumé, a CV will often include work samples presentations, publications, research, board memberships – that sort of thing. It’s longer than the average résumé but well worth it in the long run.

Naturally prospective clients will want to see this type of detailed document. They’ll want to make sure up front that you have the proper credentials to perform the service you're selling.

Step 5: Develop your personal business plan

Career Advice during the Financial Crisis

It has been a busy week for Wall Street and for EPOCH! Fortunately for EPOCH, our week has been going a little better. Now more than ever, businesses and candidates alike are questioning their next moves. I’d like to use today’s post to direct readers to recent career advice I’ve given to the New York Times and to Monster.com. 

During my interview with New York Times Career Couch writer Eilene Zimmerman, I stressed the importance of laying groundwork before becoming an independent consultant. It’s important to plan six months to a year prior to going out on your own and to build a network of contacts during this time. That network includes friends, colleagues, business associates, vendors and clients. Your personal business plan is equally as important as it establishes how revenue will be generated and how you will handle sales, marketing, finance, operations, expenses and fees. More of my advice and the advice of others can be found here. 

Given the current economic condition, a timely article to read is “Laid Off in Financial Services- 11 Job Options to Consider” by Denise DeZube (Monster Finance Careers Expert). In the article Denise lays out 11 different options to consider and I comment on the need for compliance during these unsteady times. Companies need professionals with deep knowledge and experience to establish and manage procedures designed to stabilize financial activities going forward. If you have this experience, you’ll become an asset to the financial services industry.

Also, congratulations to Susanne Lyons, EPOCH’s Strategic Advisor, for her feature story in the Wall Street Journal. Read all about Susanne’s ‘second act’ in “An Executive Downshifts From Marketing Fast Lane”. 

Visit us again next week as I discuss part four of our five-step guide to becoming independently employed.

Becoming Independently Employed: A 5 Step Guide

Step 3: Evaluate Your Behaviors and Motivators

Part three of our five part series looking at the steps to becoming independently employed.

Working independently isn’t for everyone. Do you have what it takes? How you behave in certain situations and what motivates you can shed light on that.

Examine your personality. If you’re domineering (or what some formal assessments refer to as “high in dominance”), you will run into problems. As an independently employed consultant, you need to integrate quickly into new environments and be accepted. If you’re used to simply telling people what to do in no uncertain terms, you need to stop and think about whether this path is right for you. That style may work in certain crisis or turnaround situations but other than that, it can be a bit of a problem.

If you’re highly collaborative (“high in influence” we sometimes say), that’s a good thing. The ability to project a sense of service in your project workplace is also a must.

While being a team player is essential, at the end of the day you’ll need to accept that you are an outsider. If you’re highly sociable and crave close interactions, this outsider status may be a difficult adjustment.

What motivates you? If you derive satisfaction from delivering results, and can live with moving on after the engagement is done, then this independent life could be the one for you. There are many tools in the marketplace today to help you understand your behaviors and motivators.

Step 4: Develop your CV….not just a standard resume

What’s next? Compliance and risk

We’re all reeling from the news in the financial markets and the fate of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and others. As the CEO of my own company, it’s hard not to put myself in the shoes of CEOs of some of the other financial services companies. “What next?” is the looming question after the upheaval many are experiencing. Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know and that’s not a comfortable place to be. I see the areas of compliance, audit and risk taking center stage in the months to come. Right now many CEOs may not have a complete picture of potential risks for their companies. They will need to evaluate:

• Internal risk areas
• The short term resource requirements for increased compliance and risk needs
• The ripple effects throughout their organizations--where are volatile areas hidden?

  Many companies will need to bring in outside expertise to fully assess compliance and risk issues. Previously I’ve referred to corporations’ need to have a roadmap to compete in a troubled economy. While companies will most likely not be taking on new and creative initiatives in the days to come, they will need to execute their critical business initiatives simply to survive. That’s the new landscape we’re all part of now.