ADB application process for consultants: A primer

Competition, quick mobilization, efficiency and fairness dictate the Asian Development Bank’s hiring of individual consultants. The bank is keen on credentials, hires within two weeks, uses keywords in scanning online profiles and adheres to strict job posting policy. The number of ADB consulting opportunities has been on the rise in the past few years. ADB now partners with thousands of consultants each year on roughly 3,000 projects in five priority sectors outlined in the bank’s Strategy 2020: infrastructure, the environment, regional cooperation and integration, private sector development and education. The bank’s Central Operations Services Office oversees and facilitates the hiring of consultants and procurement of supplies. The continually upgraded Consultant Management System now includes profiles and resumes of more than 16,000 firms and individuals. ADB has sped up hiring of consultants, too – to between seven and 15 days, from two months some years back. Consultants are often hired based solely on the information they upload online; candidates may not be interviewed. Applicants with close relatives in the bank can only be hired through ADB’s executing agencies; former staff can be directly engaged only a year after their service. ADB engages consultants for technical assistance, administrative work, loans and grants assignments. Experience in development work is not a requirement to be an ADB consultant – especially for positions that call for highly specialist skills such as accounting and project management. Hiring is particularly hard for postings in Afghanistan and the Pacific Islands, an ADB official told Devex. Here’s a look at the process of landing consulting work with ADB: Job posting Not all jobs for individual consultants are advertised. Only consultancies that are more than three months in length are featured online in the Consulting Services Recruitment Notices page. Project details and terms of reference stay posted for seven days. Within that period, applicants may submit their intention to apply online. Registration to CMS is required prior application. Candidates shortlist There are three ways to make the shortlist: Submit an expression of interest to a posted jobs, get picked out among the 16,000 profiles in the CMS database or receive a “non-committal” letter directly from the project officer. “Normally, ADB already has someone in mind even before going into the CMS,” shared Erik Lacson, information and communication technology consultant who has worked on ADB projects for more than 14 years. Good performance in one ADB project can help you land another gig. “A lot of consultants work here in the headquarters and if their performance is good, words can spread very quickly,” expressed Yinguo Huang, COSO’s lead professional for consulting services. For non-advertised opportunities falling below the three-month threshold, project officers screen the CMS database for the three best candidates. Applicants’ evaluation ADB checks an applicant’s skills against the scope of work of a particular project and job description. Make sure your profile is always up-to-date; frontload professional and regional experiences. “Non-committal” inquiry Project officers will send emails to promising applicants, asking about their availability and interest in the consulting opportunity. Contract signing While project officers initially screen and ultimately pick candidates, it is COSO which actually hires consultants. Salary negotiation may happen shortly before finalizing the contract. Getting ahead To get a lead on consulting jobs, rummage through the technical assistance papers approved and to be approved by the bank. Country strategy papers, prepared every three years, are good resources for upcoming projects. Making connections within ADB can be key to landing consulting gigs. Attend the bank’s business opportunity fairs and seminars held in different member countries. “Whoever wants to work with ADB should really be familiar with ADB,” said Huang. “They should know our priority operation areas clearly identified in our long-time strategy framework called the Strategy 2020.” To keep ADB work coming, go the extra mile at every engagement. The bank’s recruitment database reveals more than just a consultant’s resume – it also stores performance evaluations from past projects, which will be surely reviewed by hiring officers creating shortlists of candidates. “It’s all about reputation,” Lacson said. Crossing over Consulting assignments can be a ticket for landing a full-time job with ADB. A number of staff in the bank – both international and local recruits – started out as consultants. Norman LaRocque, an education specialist from New Zealand at the Southeast Asia Department, handled numerous education projects prior joining the bank in 2008. One of ADB’s veterans confirms the notion of consultancies serving as a springboard for full-time employment. “I personally don’t make a distinction whether someone in coming as consultant or staff,” Managing Director-General Rajat Nag told Devex. “We have often taken on staff from our consultants and they can decide whether this is where they want to be or not. So it works very well, a testing period for both of us.”