How to succeed as an independent consultant in global development

For many global development professionals, the flexibility and diversity of an independent consulting career is very appealing. The project-based nature of development work also offers many opportunities for professionals to collaborate with organizations seeking specific technical expertise at home and abroad. However, establishing yourself as an independent consultant and maintaining clients is not without its challenges. In this exclusive Devex webinar we hear from four seasoned consultants who have extensive experience working on a range of clients on different development issues. Jill Gay, Marjorie Macieira, Dina Towbin and Jessica Broome, from the Independent Consultants Working for a Better World membership group, share their advice on succeeding in this line of work. Based on their personal and professional experience, our four speakers describe what the life of a consultant looks like, and talk us through the process of setting up as an independent consultant. The speakers also stuck around after the webinar, to answer additional questions on preparing for a career in independent consulting. Watch the video recording and see what else they have to say below. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. What advice would you have for someone looking to break into the international arena, but who currently only has local-level experience? Marjorie Macieira: Go abroad with your own funds, and volunteer if need be, to gain experience — it is difficult to get overseas assignments without previous overseas experience. Make sure you are fluent, or have high working proficiency and comprehension, in at least one or two languages, such as French, Spanish or Arabic, among others. Jill Gay: Talk to people. Network. Look for organizations that interest you, go to their events How important is it to have part-time or freelance support staff for certain roles and tasks, such as legal contracts, billing, data analysis etc? How do you go about balancing the costs of this additional support with the money you are bringing, especially when you are just starting out? Dina Towbin: Definitely hire a certified public accountant to review your taxes and a lawyer to review your contracts. If your taxes aren’t difficult, a U.S. CPA fees shouldn’t be very high. Try to negotiate your rates with these professionals as a new business. Perhaps you can work out a rate that increases over time, as your income increases. Look at your high school/college/grad school alumni list. Fellow alumni may be willing to help you at a lower rate. You don’t want to owe taxes, or be stuck with a contract that gives you liability. Collectively you have a range of experience working with companies, academic institutions and grassroots groups. How does it differ in the way you approach these different clients, and then proceed working with them? Jessica Broome: I think it's totally different. They have different priorities, issues, budgets, timeline and orientations to work. With companies, I am often working with very results driven teams or short timelines, and budgets are bigger compared to non-profits, which tend to be a bit slower and more lax about timing. I'll ask clients in each group similar questions: What do you want to know? What are your research objectives? What are you going to do with the findings? What will success look like to you? What's your timeline? What’s your budget? But I expect very different answers. A “quick turnaround” for most academics would be considered pretty leisurely by most corporate standards. MM: For foundations and the private sector, you need to have a more formal, highly professional demeanor in your engagement, and polish in what you produce. Grassroots NGOs will be more forgiving. JG: I’ve worked with grassroots groups, academics, foundations, United Nations agencies, USAID, etc. and I agree with all of the above. I try to be transparent, honest, diligent, hardworking, and try to treat them the way I would want to be treated. I err on the side of generosity in giving other people credit, particularly younger graduate students. How many years of professional experience is usually expected of someone bidding on contracts as a private consultant — or how many years would you consider a requirement to even land your first job as an independent consultant? JG: I had about eight years of experience before I gave birth to my first daughter and started consulting. But I had worked very intensely during those eight years, and had met many people through my work on human rights and women’s rights globally with Chilean exile Isabel Letelier. DT: I had about seven years’ experience working in international development as an employee, and a few years doing other international trade work before I started my own business. With just grad school or a few years of work experience under your belt, you may have certain skills — social media, data analysis, and so on — that could be helpful to a larger organization. It’s up to you to figure out what they need. MM: I had been working about 10 years in my consulting area, but depending on your skill and experience, you may be able to obtain consulting work earlier, or partner with someone with more experience. Many new graduates find consulting work right out of school while waiting for fulltime work. However, they are paid lower rates. How do you decide if you need another consultant, or even a team, to help you on a project? And then how do you build this team, split responsibilities, cover costs? MM: Gage your time and expertise for the assignment. If you lack either, you need a partner to do it well. Draw on your professional contacts for team members, or referrals of others. Talk to your team and discuss how they wish to contribute. Be willing to do the grunt work others do not wish to do. Be realistic in your proposal, as more people on the bid will raise the fees, so you will want to balance this against your competitors, who will apply individually. Some assignments are best skipped if you can’t deliver a professional result at cost. If you are travelling overseas as part of a consultancy job, how do you go about making the necessary contacts and accessing resources there? JG: It is always the obligation of the client to connect you to whom you need to be in touch with for the assignment. That being said, I always contact people in country through my human rights, women and other networks. For example, for the assignment I just did in Senegal, I happened to let a long-time colleague, who lead the International Community of Women Living with HIV, know that I was headed to Senegal. She introduced me to someone at UNICEF — which was then very helpful in the assignment, which was on school-related gender based violence and gender and education. MM: I do my research before arriving there, by talking to colleagues in my home country that have experience in my destination, and once there, by interviewing collaborating or potential partners on the project. How important is it to publish articles, especially on professional networks, to build up your reputation as an expert on an area? JG: It’s always been important to me. JB:I rarely do it, and don’t see much “return” in terms of clients or business growth when I do. However, it can be beneficial to be seen as an “expert” on certain topics, and can be a conversation starter. I don’t think it hurts, but it is not my top priority. MM: It depends on your line of work, and whether you wish to be seen as a “researcher” or other type of professional. For media professionals for example, you need to show your abilities via your social media interfaces and other media related products.