Survival Tips for Consultants and Contractors - Part One

Being a consultant has its advantages and disadvantages. It's great being your own boss, setting your own schedule, being in charge of your own career, and having a certain amount of freedom.

By Annabelle Reitman, Career Management Consultant

However, there are down times when it is natural to experience uneasiness about not having a guaranteed steady income, feeling alone and isolated, and discouraged about being self-employed.

Dr. Suzanne E. Szabo of Organizational Research and Consulting, LLC, offers this advice, "I keep myself motivated during down time by participating in more volunteer activities. I find the positive feedback from colleagues very gratifying. In addition, it's also a way to market yourself indirectly."

"I keep myself motivated...by participating in more volunteer activities...it's also a way to market yourself indirectly."

? Suzanne E. Szabo, Organizational Research and Consulting, LLC

How can I remain motivated and keep a positive mindset when new contracts are not available?

• Schedule at least one or two activities or ppointments each day related to your consulting work.
• Take a physical fitness or self-improvement class.
• Look into professional chat rooms or discussion groups to talk with people in a similar situation and share coping suggestions.
• If you know other consultants or contract workers who are also experiencing downtime, form a support group.
• Ask a friend to act as your success coach or mentor.

How do to stay busy and yet be involved in productive activities so that I feel I'm not wasting my time away?

• Clear your out-dated or no longer needed paper or computer files.
• Clean up your office clutter and reorganize your work environment.
• Review rolodex, remove non-relevant resources and make a list of people to touch base with in the next two weeks.
• Catch up with your professional reading & reduce the journal and magazine pile.
• Take some professional development courses or seminars to update skills or increase competencies.

What can I do to present a strong and confident image while continuing to market myself and network?

• Look at how you can rebundle your expertise and experience shifting your unique professional niche to reflect current needs of your field or profession.
• Rethink your skills/competencies base and identify one major point of difference that sets you apart from your colleagues.
• Contact people by e-mail or phone using a one or two sentence description that projects a professional image reminding them of your strengths and abilities.
• Be visible by volunteering in your professional organizations or through community service groups.
• Set one or two targeted marketing objectives when attending professional meetings, tradeshows, and conferences.

In summary, when you are without work, take the perspective that this is an opportune time for some work-related activities that have been on hold or for reassessing your professional self.

Go to Part 2 of the feature >>

RESOURCES

• Brand Yourself: How to Create an Identity for a Brilliant Career, by David Andrusia and Rick Haskins, Ballantine Books, 2000.