Lifestyle 101

A few weeks ago, a candidate I'm working with called me to ask for my advice on an offer she'd received.

It had the right title (VP Business Development), the right salary ($300k all in), and the role (the right blend of deal and strategy experience) she was looking for.

So why were we talking about it?

A new media content staple, this company hit it's peak in '99, and after the .bust, it saw it's profits dwindle, and was swallowed by larger corporate benefactors.

The upside was the opportunity to have a real effect on a company's strategic direction, at a time when it's positioning and profitability were being called into question. But the downside was a lack of clarity about the organization's commitment to fund and implement strategic change, and ambivalence about the corporate management team.

I think she knew the answer before she called me, but needed a little validation.

Here is my advice:

Never be afraid of a good risk- if you can articulate why you gambled on a company, and why it didn't work out, perspective employers will see you as more human, more seasoned, more honest, and more intelligent than the guy who was afraid to jump.

-BUT-

Always listen to the voice in your head telling you this is a bad risk.

You've been a consultant for a few years, and if you're leaving, you probably tell people it's because you never wanted to go down the partner track, and you've gotten the benefit out of your time that you sought coming in. The truth is it's a lifestyle change. You have a spouse or significant other, children, or other aspirations, and you're tired of the 18 hour days and the travel.

Now is the time to be your own consultant. Evaluate a perspective employer, the way you'd evaluate a client at the start of an engagement. Is the company solid? Do they have a strategic direction, and the high-level buy-in from management to implement it? Does the role compliment your skills? Do you bring value-add to the role?

When you're done with this exercise you'll know your answer.

Remember- you'll spend 9-12 hours a day doing this job (Hey- you get to cut back because you're not a consultant anymore! ), and that amounts to more time than you'll spend with your spouse and children in a day. Make sure you're not compromising.

Consultant 2.0

Management Consulting has been around for a long time, and as industries go, it's one of the most resistant to change. The 'up or out' formula has brought them results and big money since Arthur D. Little opened its doors in 1886.

But as Fortune Magazine reported in 1998, a lot has changed in the now 121 years since then, and the best and the brightest don't necessarily choose Mckinsey, Bain, and BCG as the missing stop on their resumes anymore.

To combat this, firms have changed their recruiting policies. No longer a haven for MBAs, today's top consulting firms employ doctors, lawyers, and engineers with experience and post-graduate degrees deemed equivalent to the requisite MBA. The other alternatives- dilute the talent pool with less elite students, or lose business due to lack of manpower- were not acceptable, so the change management experts stepped in to transform themselves.

The result has been a positive one for the big shops, returning profits to a positive growth curve, and solving the people problem for now.

But there is another wrinkle. Today's consultant- let's call him Consultant 2.0- isn't just looking for 3 years of consulting as a gateway to a line role in industry.

One ex-consultant who's been in industry for 25 years recently told me that in his experience, "Those consultants worth their salt get snapped up by their clients, and if they don't, there's a reason."

Consultant 2.0, working 80 hours per week at 80% travel, doesn't have time for a second full time job looking for their next career move. And his next move is likely to be less-traditional. He may sacrifice cash for equity. Having been a generalist for most of his consulting career, Consultant 2.0 isn't going to the first client who makes him an offer. He is choosing an industry and a role, and developing deep relationships with his own firms alumni network, and the recruiters who can get him in the door.

As both ex-consultant candidates, and the hiring managers who love them (often ex-consultants themselves) begin to recognize this trend, both sides are meeting through recruiters who are able to shorten the search cycle, and increase the effectiveness of the placement.

Why a Hawkes Peers Blog?

Business Intelligence.
Thought Leadership.
Corporate Blogger.

Technology has brought us a whole new business lexicon. There has been much debate in the blogosphere if corporate blogging is still in the ‘early adapter’ stage of the product life cycle, but one thing is certain… Those companies who have not begun to adapt to technology are regarded as “Laggards’ in today’s evolving economy.

It’s in that spirit that Hawkes Peers & Company has decided to begin Blogging about the business and corporate culture at large, and the Executive Search industry in specific, exercising the thought leadership we’ve amassed over 25 years of placements.

Due to confidentiality commitments, the names will be changed to protect the guilty, but in this space you’ll learn about real-time trends, and anecdotes from the trenches which will help you to negotiate your search.

I’ll be writing about once a week, so keep your eyes peeled. Feedback is welcome, so feel free to contact me to add your two cents.

And with that, off we go…