Employment Consulting

Employment Consultant sounds like a fancy term and might be confusing as to whom they work for. Being an employment consultant can take on several forms, working either for job seekers or the employer.

Employment consultants who work for employees or job seekers work to help their clients become employed or better employed. These kind of employment consultants work one-on-one with their clients, reviewing their job seeking strategies, offering resources, review/construct the resume, etc. They may additionally take more of a hands-on approach, what good and bad buttons are in the interview process.

You must understand what makes a resume stand out from the rest, and be able to spot what employee prospects are doing that sabotages their efforts. Additionally, you must be able to communicate this with your clients in way that does not alienate or discourage them. If a client is being unsuccessful because they don’t dress properly, are shooting for jobs they aren’t qualified for, or because they have problems in the interview, the employment consultant needs to be able to bring their client around to a more successful approach. One thing you can never do as an employment consultant however, is to guarantee specific results as they pertain to becoming employed. Since you cannot control what either the job-seeker or employer thinks, does, or says, you cannot guarantee the outcome.

Employment consultants that work for businesses ultimately have the same goal as those employment consultants who work for employees or job seekers, just in reverse. Employment consultants help employers find and retain the best employees, and often work with them on a short-term basis to realign corporate values and develop assets and practices such as employee manuals for long term use and company guidance.

Being an employment consultant essentially allows you to create whatever services you want. There are no absolutes. You must however, understand the dynamics involved in employee selection processes and the workplace. You must understand what employers want from an employee, what employees are looking for, and how to handle employment negatives on both sides. Clients who were fired from their last job (especially for cause) have particular problems and they need to be able to work with these in a positive way. Employers who have had some transitional difficulties or bad press often need to find a way to turn the corner and become attractive again. In such cases, an employment consultant who offers a background in public relations might be helpful.

Employment consultants often have a hard time pricing their services. You are also going to hear a lot of hard luck stories, and to be sympathetic but hold the line on your pricing. If you cheap out or give away services, clients won’t respect your abilities, you will lose your professional perspective, you will likely resent working for your client, and you won’t do as good a job. Nobody wins. People understand that they must pay for quality services. They also tend to much more closely follow the advice of those they’ve paid the biggest fees.

How much money can I make?

Employment consultants work on a fee for service basis, so how much you make will depend on your ability to sell your services, what you can provide, and the economic capacity of your clients. Don’t undersell or under price your services – your professional reputation is at stake, and people take you more seriously when you charge what you are worth.

At a low end, review and remaking a resume can easily net you a couple hundred dollars. Other services such as writing letters, developing portfolios, and practice interview/critiques can yield much more. Your prices will also go up as you establish a client referral system. Billing rates as much as $500-$2000 per client are not unusual. For those who can tap the C-level market, pricing can go up significantly from there.

Employment consulting in a boom economy

Employment consultants in a boom economy often work for employers. Big dollars are spent on finding and hiring the best employees. Small to medium size companies that can’t afford to hire full time employment consultants for their HR department will bring in experts to help them make the most efficient use of their resources.

Employment consulting in a bust economy

Employment consultants in a bust economy must realign their focus to working more with individuals. It can be a tough job to sell such services to someone without a job and no money, but these are by far the individuals who can best use your expertise. There can be great money and a lot of clients here for those who are willing to push hard, and word of mouth about success will be your best sales agent.

Geographical limitations/differences

Employment consultants can find work just about anywhere there are people and business. The more of each, the better chance you will find success. Therefore, middle to larger cities will generally give more opportunity to employment consultants. Economic factors are also important. As business opportunities increase or there are rises and falls in the local employment structure, these will give opportunities to the employment consultant. Fortunately, the only economic situation that is not good for the employment consulting business is where the economy is stagnant, going neither up nor down – where nobody is hiring, but nobody is losing their jobs either. Even then there are still those that are just rotating through.

Competitors

Employment consultant competitors are few outside similar businesses. One however, would be traditional employment agencies. A few will work with their clients on a limited basis to update resumes and offer personal assistance. These agencies however, are also dealing with hundreds or thousands of clients and can’t offer the time investment that an employment consultant can offer. It’s just not as easy for them to be as personal or involved.

Advertising your employment consulting business

Employment consultants get their best advertising as many businesses do from word of mouth. But because there is so much at stake here, and most job seekers only have one shot at an employment consultant, the trust from word of mouth recommendations is far more important. That said, you also need to be able to advertise for clients that don’t come via recommendation. As with any business, you need to advertise your employment consulting business where your clients gather. Advertising in employment sections of free places like Craigslist and other bulletin boards is important, but also consider other paid places like Monster or Career Builder. Be specific but brief about what you can do.

Target these groups, but concentrate your advertising on time savings, expertise, and making the most out of a precious job interview. People only get one first shot at a job. When that one dies, it’s just gone. Appeal to permanently lost opportunities.

Advertise heavily through search engines and make sure that your site is professional and immaculate. It’s all about perception. If employers don’t believe in your clients, they won’t hire them. And if your clients aren’t sure about you, they won’t hire you. Just a single misspelled word can make a difference in whether someone gives you their business. Advertise through search engine pay by click advertising too like Google AdWords. You can and should use the local features so you aren’t getting clicks from people who are too far away to be your client. It also keeps the cost down significantly.

License Requirements

Becoming an employment consultant does not require any license or specific background or education. It’s all about what you can do for your clients and your ability to communicate.

Employment consultant supplies would include your computer, a smartphone like a Blackberry, and any other tools that are necessary to keep you digitally connected all the time. Your clients must be able to contact you when they need to. You should be able to take a call, send an email, send/receive faxes, and even video consult from just about anywhere from early morning into well into the evening.

Strongly recommended would also be a Blackberry or similar smart phone for access for clients and to keep records with you including their resumes. Employment consultants find that such a similar digital device is essential to their business.

Employment consultants also need to be very well attired in business dress at all times. This isn’t a “casual Friday” kind of job. Business professionalism is imperative because people will be of the opinion that if you can’t pull it off for yourself, you can’t do it for others either.

Financial Requirements

Being an employment consultant is all about being seen, having a reputation, appealing to the needs of your market, and offering innovative and brilliant insight into their career. Your financial requirements would include the development of marketing materials including a professionally done website and specific marketing materials to let your prospect clients know what you can do for them. You are going to charge these people, so be prepared to put a bit of money up front.

What to do next

Start educating yourself about the local job market, local employers, and business and technology trends. Understand what it takes to get a resume seen by a prospect employer in today’s market, who employers will likely be hiring soon, and try to make yourself known to friendly hiring managers. Many won’t specifically work with you, but many others may consider such a relationship if they don’t have an exclusive contract with an employment agency. Those can be terribly expensive at 25-30% of a year’s salary per hire.

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