The Consultant's Paradox

Paradox:  noun

1. A statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth.

2. A self-contradictory and false proposition.

3. Any person, thing, or situation exhibiting an apparently contradictory nature.

4. An opinion or statement contrary to commonly accepted opinion. 

I am well into a Controller search for a global manufacturing company based here in the northern suburbs of Atlanta.  The client has identified two lead candidates and I have three back-up candidates in the queue for insurance.  One of my backup candidates is particularly interesting as he has been doing consulting/project work for the past eight years.  He is interesting because his consulting experience has largely been with manufacturers, making him a viable candidate. 

Early in my career it was not uncommon for the unemployed to present their time between jobs as "Consultant" whether they had actual clients or not.  At that time "Consultant" became a euphemism for unemployment.  There was a greater stigma attached to unemployment in those days.   The realities of the past 30 years have helped people understand that competent people can be displaced through no fault of their own.  Industry restructuring leading to mergers and acquisitions and subsequent right-sizing, and down-sizing has affected most us, one or more times.  In all of this turmoil, the decision to terminate particular Executives is more like Survivor Island than we would like to admit.  The individual decisions are often more politically driven than for competence and potential.   Thankfully, opinions have changed about people taking on consulting/project assignments while unemployed.  There are of course other biases against consultants, even those from established consulting companies. 

We live in a different world today.   There is still a lot of work to be done, but companies are reluctant to add to staff.    In this environment out-sourcing is a very desirable alternative.  It is easier to terminate a contract than to fire a difficult employee.  Given this reality, I have long advised my candidates to consider free-lancing.  It is a good way to maintain one's cash flow needs and a viable job-search strategy.  The activities one must engage in to find a consulting assignment are no different than those required to find a job.  The effort is complimentary.  From the employer’s perspective the “Temp to Perm” analogy comes to mind.   In the example of the candidate, mentioned earlier in this post, freelance work gave him the opportunity to gain new experiences, strengthening his resume, making him a more viable candidate.   There is a balancing act one must consider.  The longer one is employed as a freelancer the more difficult it becomes to find full-time employment.  It seems that the inflection point is in the two to three year range.   By this time one must decide which path to pursue or the consultant path may be chosen for you, like it or not.

As with any bias or prejudice, the employer’s predisposition toward consultants is due to a lack of understanding about the challenges faced by the freelancer.  The freelancer is a self-employed, small business owner.  Fundamentally, they must be competent and able to work with people to complete an engagement and generate referrals for new business.  More importantly, however, the freelancer must be good at business development to land their assignments.  They must be successful networkers and good sales people, skills that are valued in any successful organization.  They must be good financial managers as well.  These traits may not be well understood by most employers.

In conclusion, businesses need freelancers to help them achieve their goals while minimizing their labor exposure.  Displaced professionals are available to do freelance work while looking for full-time employment.  The paradox is that after a certain period of time a freelancer may become unemployable and type-cast as a consultant.  Understand the trade-offs and plan accordingly.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President
New Century Dynamics Executive Search
www.newcenturydynamics.com

Be On Your Game At All Times!

Saturday morning I awoke to find an email nasty-gram from one of my candidates.  I first heard the term "nasty-gram" from a former Boss to describe a certain type of negative, personal memo.  It seems this candidate was miffed that I had not responded to his email earlier in the week indicating that we could not schedule a meeting until later in the week.  Mea Culpa!  No excuses. I thought I had acknowledged his email.   My priorities for the week had changed and I failed to close the loop with this candidate.  On the other hand, I did not receive a follow up note or a reminder from him either.


I must say that I was naturally taken back.  Mad even.  When dealing with professionals one expects a certain amount of discretion, giving one the benefit of the doubt, as it were.  I took responsibility for my oversight and apologized.  I invited him to call me at his convenience for an update on the search.  This is a younger candidate who may not have worked with an Executive Recruiter before.  In any event, if he knew how to craft a note to obtain a favorable result he chose a different direction, taking the unprofessional route.  On the other hand, he may have an over-inflated ego, or anger management issues.  Whatever the reason for the tone of his missive, it spoke volumes about him as a person.  He was not my strongest candidate for the search in question, by a long shot, but he was a possibility.  After the receipt of his email, his status dropped significantly.  Seriously, is this the kind of person I want to put in front of my client?  Do I want this guy representing my reputation?  Doubtful!


When you are working with a recruiter, whether a company recruiter or a third-party Executive Recruiter, your behavior is being evaluated at every contact point of the recruiting and selection process.  Looking for a job is stressful, but one must deal with stress on the job too.  If you are perceived to handle stress poorly as demonstrated in the recruiting process then your ability to handle normal job stress will be questioned.


Communication skills are critical in professional callings.  The ability to express yourself persuasively in verbal and written form is mandatory.  No company wants to deal with the drama created by strained relationships  due to less than professional communication and behavior.  The way you interact with your recruiter and prospective employers during the selection process gives them a window into how you will behave if hired.  It will definitely affect your ranking in the process.


When you are under consideration for a job you must be at the top of your game, all the time!   The last thing you need to do is create doubt about your viability.  The slightest slip can diminish your standing.  Creating strained relationships with anyone who has a vote in the hiring decision is very unwise.  You must make those folks your friends and supporters.
Thank you for visiting my blog.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President
New Century Dynamics Executive Search
www.newcenturydynamics.com

It's That Time Again!

It's that time again.  Time to recap the fundamentals of a good resume.  This seems to be a topic that will never go out of style.   It is ever relevant as the typical resume continues to violate so many of the basics.   Why this week, you might ask?  Well, as it happens, I have been asked by a new client to edit his resume in a way that will help minimize his pending job search.   He is on notice that his job will be eliminated in about sixty days.   This gentleman is a seasoned professional who has not had to look for a job in well over 20 years so spending a lot of time agonizing over the perfect resume has not been a priority.  As he contemplates job search his strategy is to look beyond the industry segment where he built his career.  His skill set is very strong and should be of value to hiring managers in a number of segments.  As a result,  the resume we craft must emphasize his skills and accomplishments so as to resonate with those hiring managers.

The good news is that my client's resume in solid in many ways.  He is using a standard format; he has an executive summary that serves to position his career;  he breaks things up a bit with a Skill Set Summary in bullet point format; and he separates job responsibilities (in sentence format) from accomplishments (in bullet point format).  The primary issue is that his resume does not properly reflect his stature by his verbiage or formatting.  The verbiage screams middle-manager, and the formatting does not optimize available space. 

Five Key Point for an Effective Resume

• Make use of White Space to break up the resume and keep it interesting.
• Use a 12 pt font to make it easier to read.
• Keep each bullet point to one line.
• Edit aggressively for relevancy and to eliminate redundancy.
• Use the header and footer functions to maintain integrity and continuity.

The point of a resume is to generate interest leading to an interview.  It must be designed for a reader who will spend twenty seconds skimming through the document to arrive at a go, no-go decision.  Short, concise verbiage is key.  Jargon and buzz words are a distraction.  One's accomplishments must jump off the page.  Don't write a dissertation as no one will read it anyway.

I attacked his resume by eliminating bullet points that added little value which gave room to raise the font  to 12 pts.  Those edits immediately took his resume to a full two pages with more white space.  Already, his resume was beginning to look a lot more interesting.  My next step was to edit the remaining content for relevance.  I cleaned up run-on sentences and eliminated follow-on sentences that added no value.  Those edits elevated the stature of this candidate to his rightful place. 

When crafting a resume it is important to remember your audience and how they will consume your resume.  The reader is pressed for time.  Some studies indicate that  a viewer may spend 20 seconds with your resume, unless it is interesting and compelling.  Your resume is as much a marketing tool as it is your personal career history.  Make use of larger fonts and other text effects like bolding and italics.   White space helps to ensure that your message stands out and makes the resume more inviting to the reader.  Be concise and accurate with your prose.  Repetitive themes can be useful, but redundant verbiage is not.  If you follow these suggestions your resume will help you stand apart from the rest of the pack and ensure that you are called for an interview.

One final point.  I received a resume via email this morning.  The email address was very personal, cute even, but it was not professional.  My eyes rolled!  Immediately this candidate looks to be less than serious.  The ideal email address is you name or a reasonable derivation thereof.  It should be used explicitly for your job search so that you will not be distracted by other personal matters.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President

New Century Dynamics Executive Search

www.newcenturydynamics.com