Evaluating Executive Career Choices
The Pros & Cons of Various Career Alternatives
Searching for a Traditional Job
Before we examine Pros and Cons of a traditional job search, consider the following:
- Those over 50 take nearly twice as long as younger people to find a new job (Drake Beam Morin)
- The are long-term costs of unemployment: Those who experience involuntary job loss are 20% less likely to be employed than people their same age who stayed employed – even after four years! (Journal of Labor Economics, volume 19, 2001)
- A survey of 700+ CEOs revealed they believe that productivity peaks at age 43! The implication is that anyone older than that is viewed as a potentially overpaid, underperforming drag on the company. ("Finished at Forty," Fortune, February 1, 1999)
- Supply and demand are working against older workers. Over the last twenty years, the number of workers over 55 has increased from 15 million to 25 million today. For the 45-54 year old group, the increase has been from 17 million to 34 million. The labor pool for experienced executives has never been larger. (US Census Bureau)
- "Once you're 55, it's almost impossible to find a job in business" ("Finished at Forty," Fortune, February 1, 1999)
- Disturbingly, all of the above citations precede the recent economic turmoil. One can rightly assume that the current situation is even more dire for experienced job seekers
Pros and Cons of a traditional job search
| Pros |
Cons |
- Low cost (self conducted job search).
- Stable income.
- Most familiar.
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- Job searches for senior-level positions can easily take six to nine months or longer. This represents significant opportunity costs. It's also very demoralizing, which can further hurt employment prospects.
- The longer you're unemployed, the less employable you may be perceived to be.
- Many senior executives are very frustrated by the current hiring practices that require an exact match based on resume screening. Generalists with broad experiences are not appreciated and often fail to make it to the interview stage.
- Senior executives often must hire career counselors or use personal marketing firms to find a new position. These costs can easily exceed $25,000.
- Age discrimination is alive and well (but discreet) in the corporate world.
- Given the changing job market and the trend of more frequent job changes, it is likely the job search will be need to be repeated in a few years.
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Conclusion
This is the best option for the person who is most comfortable working in the perceived security and stability of a traditional workplace.
Large corporate consulting
Pros and Cons of large corporate consulting
| Pros |
Cons |
- Steady paycheck
- Project-based work – rarely stay in one business long-term (a positive if that's your preference)
- Significant travel (a positive if that's your preference)
- Higher name recognition in the business community
- High levels of expertise available in all business aspects
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- Someone else picks your clients
- Extensive travel – typically Sunday afternoon through Friday evening
- Project-based work – engagements typically measured in days, weeks, and occasionally months
- Service delivery model not as appropriate for small and medium sized businesses
- Larger, well-known consulting firms often require a degree from a prominent university
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Conclusion
This is the best option for the employment-minded person who likes to travel and prefers shorter-term project work. This person often enjoys diagnosing problems more than implementing solutions.
Business Services Consulting Franchise
Pros and Cons of Business Services Consulting Franchise
| Pros |
Cons |
- Franchisor provides a structure that establishes how you conduct your consulting practice and guides you through issues outside your areas of expertise
- Little to no business experience may be required
- Protected/restricted territory
- Initial and ongoing training usually provided
- The franchisor provides, to varying degrees, marketing and advertising support
- Franchisees are buying into the franchisor's brand
- Franchise consultants are better able to meet a variety of business needs than independent consultant
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- High entry fees. Entrepreneur magazine reports that average start-up costs for consulting services franchises range on $49.882 to $100,863. (http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/categories/bsconsult.html)
- Assigned territory restricts where you can practice – and your ability to move
- Ongoing fixed monthly fees
- Ongoing fees that are a percentage of your gross income
- Long term contracts (up to 10 years or more) may leave franchisees vulnerable
- Business services consulting franchises are a fairly recent development. As might be expected, there can be tremendous variations in quality and value
- Most business owners have never heard of any of the franchises
- Feast or Famine cycle for project work
- Ongoing professional development opportunities cost the franchisor money and can be viewed as a distraction from the core business of recruiting new franchisees. The quality and quantity of professional development activities may suffer as a result
- Uncertain income (Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj .com/article/S60227BENNETT.html) and no income guarantees
- Franchisee consultants rely on the franchisor's proprietary materials to solve business problems, rather than the skills and hands-on expertise of a strong associate network
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Conclusion
This is the best option for the person who wants to be consultant, but may not have as much business experience or access to a network of specialist associates to address the full range of client needs. They also are comfortable with sharing a significant portion of all their earnings with the franchisor.
Independent Consulting
Pros and Cons of Independent Consulting
| Pros |
Cons |
- Lowest entry cost
- High levels of flexibility in every aspect of your business
- You keep what you earn - no fee sharing
- No long-term contracts binding you to a franchisor
- Real-life experience is more important than where your degree was awarded
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- Feast or famine cycle: When you're busy with clients, you don't have time to market your business. When you finish with the projects, you have no income and have to hustle up new business
- May have to turn down work requiring skills outside your repertoire
- Little name recognition in the business community
- The independent consultant rarely has the skills to address all of a client's needs
- Very limited training and support
- The failure rate for independent consultants working alone out of their homes is quite high. It's a difficult road
- It can take years to build a successful practice. Most don't make it that long
- Uncertain income
- Payment is often received weeks after the work is completed
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Conclusion
This is the best option for the entrepreneurial person with significant executive experience who desires flexibility, prefers to work alone, accepts only those clients whose needs match the consultant's skill set, and has the resources to support themselves over what can be a long start-up phase.
Becoming an Accredited Associate of the Institute for Independent Business
Pros and Cons of becoming an Accredited Associate of the Institute for Independent Business
| Pros |
Cons |
- Low entry fee – less than $25,000
- High caliber colleagues with extensive experience in every industry and aspect of business
- Fewer clients; deeper engagements
- Long-term engagements measured in months and years
- Superior business model
- Avoidance of feast or famine of traditional independent consulting
- Superior training before and after accreditation
- High levels of flexibility in every aspect of your business
- No fee sharing
- No long-term contracts binding you to the IIB
- No annual subscription fee.
- Powerful network enables Associates to rightly claim that there is no business problem they can't help solve. IIB's network is the largest of it's kind in the world: There are thousands of associates in 30 countries
- Real-life experience is more important than what college you went to
- Able to serve clients as a generalist and other Associates as specialist subcontractor
- IIB has a 25-year track record of providing support to business advisors and their clients
- IIB professional development is by Associates for Associates. There is every incentive to provide outstanding development opportunities
- IIB Associates are paid in advance before work begins
- $105,000 Minimum Income Guarantee available
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- IIB is not appropriate for inexperienced business people or those who prefer to be an employee
- Because IIB is a nonprofit research, training, and accreditation organization and does not work directly with businesses, it does not enjoy high name recognition among business owners
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Conclusion
This is the best option for the person with significant executive experience who desires independence, flexibility, a strong network of Specialist Associates from every industry imaginable, ongoing professional support, and the freedom to keep what they earn.
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