Being a self-employed consultant
September 26, 2008
Yesterday I was discussing the practice of using self-employed HR consultants to add value to a business, small or large, in a variety of areas (‘using self employed HR consultants’, 25th September). This made me think about the people doing this job, and the pros and cons of making the move to self-employment.
All of the different areas that can be and are covered by individual self-employed HR professionals mean there are real, exciting possibilities for those considering a change of career and a move to self-employment. There are real benefits in terms of job satisfaction, if you want a career that involves delivering real solutions that make a difference, without being caught up in the day to day problems that an in-house HR role brings, such as office politics and changing goal posts. As an external contractor or consultant, if you are given a brief to deliver and the goal posts change half way though, then you are able to negotiate a new brief and price for the job.
On the other hand however, there are many insecurities and risks associated with becoming a self –employed consultant, not least the fact that the workload can have peaks and troughs which could make it difficult to maintain a steady income. Many people would not want to take this risk unless they had a secure backup, e.g. a partner who can support you in times where work is slow. Added to this is the fact that you need to take care of your own income tax issues, and self-employment comes with no added benefits such as healthcare, pension or even paid holidays.
Another issue to consider is the negative effects of working alone, without the social support of a group of colleagues or the professional support of a manager. A lack of somewhere to actually work could also be a problem. The self-employed consultant may work at home a lot of the time, which could be difficult when working for companies at a distant location, and you might end up working out of a hotel room or even your car, which isn’t ideal. There are ways of overcoming some of these issues, with serviced office or hot desking options. This means that you can have an office space to use, with added benefits of a reception/admin service if you needed it, or the use of meeting rooms if you wanted to meet with a client away from their site. You can normally get short term contracts with these offices, so for example you might need a serviced office in the west end of London for a few months whilst you completed a one off change management assignment for a nearby organisation, but after this you might go back to working from home whilst working with a local company on employee relations issues. Building a relationship with a provider of such solutions might help you to manage the different practical issues you might be faced with when working as a self-employed consultant.
Clearly, there is a lot to think about when considering such a huge decision and changing your whole career path and employment status. This decision would be a matter of weighing up the benefits against the drawbacks and thinking carefully if the enjoyment and fulfilment you might gain from this kind of work would negate the problems you would no doubt face at one time or another.
If you are a self-employed HR consultant I would love to hear from you, tell me what made you take the leap and make the decision to go for it, and what are the daily ups and downs of the profession.
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