Updated May 15, 2023.
Six months into my post-PhD career, I left a job at a think tank to do consulting with a PhD.
I was watching the money the think tank was taking in to do these research projects. It was a lot of money. And they’d pay me by the hour. And when I sold a $50k project that took me 4 months to do, I confess I started to wonder why I needed the middleman.
Why couldn’t I just sell that project and do it myself?
It turns out it was harder than I thought. People paid the think tank because of their name and reputation, and I didn’t have that yet.
So I struggled to sell, and eventually failed miserably and ran back into a job.
Why do I tell you this at the beginning of a post on consulting with a PhD?
Because it’s possible to make a lot of money consulting. And I do consult successfully now. But it’s not easy.
Here are 8 things you should do to build a career in consulting with a PhD. (NB this post is about building your own business as a consultant rather than getting hired as a consultant with a big firm. You can read about that here.)
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And if you’re ready to launch your consulting business, check out my step by step guide here (opens in a new window).
This post contains links to affiliate products, which–if you choose to purchase–pay us a commission at no extra cost to you. This helps to support our work. We only promote products we’ve used and love. We love partnering with FreshBooks, which is dead simple to use and perfect for consultants!
1. Build your network
Networking is everything. Your network will create wealth and opportunities for you. The bigger and better it gets, the more you’ll have.
If you aren’t willing to build a network constantly, don’t go into consulting. Consulting with a PhD can require near-constant selling, especially if your contracts are small.
And the first point of sales is relationships.
People are most likely to choose you from several people they could pick because they know you. If you’re on their radar, they won’t google someone; they’ll call you.
The great thing about building your network is that it doesn’t have to happen at some magical point when your PhD is done. You can start now:
See the related posts (Links open in a new tab):
Many Students Have No Idea How to Network. Here Are 5 Tips.
6 Mistakes PhDs Make When Networking
Here’s Why Networking Will Dramatically Change Your Career
In this video, I told the story of how my network helped me land my first $40,000 consulting client!
2. Define what you offer
You should know what it is you have that companies occasionally, and preferably routinely, pay for.
Consulting represents a sweet spot where employers really need to or want to get something done, but don’t have enough employees to do it and can’t justify hiring one. Enter you.
Let’s say that hiring a new research assistant would cost them $40K for a year. If you’re there and will save them the hassle of doing this, plus they get a PhD on it, they might throw $20k or $30k at you to do the project.
But define, define, define.
Be specific. Don’t just say that you’re a researcher. Be clear on what your offer is.
Some of your transferable skills CAN be really valuable here.
I can do Program Evaluation, Stakeholder Mapping, and Convening, and write policy papers in the areas of immigration, education and skills, and innovation and economic development.
If you’re on LinkedIn (which you should be), you can add certain services to your profile — making you more searchable for those things.
Here’s mine…
Pro Tip – As you meet people and build your network, ask what their specific needs are. Ask how often they hire consultants, what they usually hire consultants for, and if there’s a list you should be on. Do they need an engineer to run two months of tests to validate a concept? Do they need a policy researcher with expertise in gender studies to write a report? Figure it out! And use what you learn to adapt your offerings.
What is a science consultant?
A science or scientific consultant brings specific scientific area knowledge to a company that might need fractional help–either specialized or general. For example, here is a story of a molecular biologist who consults on grant applications for major medical projects.
What is a management consultant?
A management consultant is trained to understand corporate structures and processes, to step into a situation from the outside and offer suggestions. Many consulting companies hire PhDs because of excellent critical thinking skills, occasionally combined with specialized knowledge fields (ie. biotech, data processing, etc.).
3. Consider working a job first
If you can make the jump from PhD to consulting, more power to you. Even more power to you if you can do it on the side while you study. But if you don’t know the field you want or the value you offer, it might be worth getting “paid training” through working in a job.
I wish more would-be PhD consultants knew this…
When I worked at the think tank, I ran projects, won grant money, and worked with stakeholders. My next job in government taught me how much I didn’t know about how government works, how things get done, and how to use a bunch of acronyms.
When I recently told a director (a mid-level manager in the Canadian government) that I was going into consulting, he was excited—every time they hire consultants they have to teach them about how they do things.
He realized that if he hired me he wouldn’t have to do that.
If I had jumped straight into consulting from the PhD, I would have had a difficult time. I’m not sure what I would have sold (writing or editing probably) and, if I were successful, my life would look very different.
I learned so much from working every job I’ve done that makes succeeding in consulting more possible—but still far from a sure thing.
Don’t rule out working a job if your goal is to eventually do consulting.
What about PhD Consulting Jobs?
If you want to get a first-class consulting training, you might consider a consulting firm. For a PhD management consulting might be a great fit. These consultant jobs mean that you won’t be an entrepreneur per se, but you will get a fantastic introduction to the wide world of consulting. Check out McKinsey, Bain, or Boston Consulting Group (BCG). All of them have entry level consulting jobs for PhDs. And (BTW), many people who start with these companies eventually found their own.
4. Learn business basics
Ok, so you’re launching a consultancy.
- Will it be a corporation, a partnership, or will you operate as a sole proprietor?
- Do your clients hire sole proprietors, or do they require incorporation?
- How will you do your bookkeeping?
- Are you keeping track of your tax write-offs?
- Do you need insurance?
You don’t need to know EVERYTHING about business, but the things I mentioned above are considered basics.
Try reading some business books. Drop by a local small business support center, or browse government websites dedicated to helping.
Learn as much as you can.
Two things that helped me:
Bookkeeping for Dummies — It wasn’t John Grisham, but I read it cover to cover. Learn these basics if you are serious about running a business.
FreshBooks – This is an amazing and simple bookkeeping solution, perfect for consulting. It’s simple, but lets you send pro invoices, keep track of profit and loss, and expenses.
5. Figure out how much to charge for consulting
It’s really hard to learn how to charge for consulting.
If you’re going to charge $15 an hour as a consultant, you might be better off working at McDonald’s. It’s tempting to bid cheap to win contracts, and sometimes you might have to do that.
But your foray into consulting can’t be a race to the bottom or you won’t make it.
Price your service high enough that some people might say no (again make sure you know what your value proposition is). Recognize that people equate price with value, and expect to pay a little more for someone who will do a great job.
To give you a frame of reference, my own PhD consulting hourly rate was $70 an hour for most clients. For the occasional passion projects or non-profits, I’ll go lower—my lowest right now would be $55 an hour.
Now, of course, I don’t actually charge by the hour—I charge by the project.
But if a client wants to know what my hourly rate is, that’s it. And when I estimate a project, that’s the framework I use. (Update-I now charge between $100-$350 hourly. I’ve upped my rates as time goes on.)
Now let me guess. You’re sitting there as a graduate student thinking that this is an obscene amount of money.
And from a $15k stipend, it seems like it.
It’s actually a win-win. I didn’t make $70 an hour in any career job I worked. As a PhD consultant, I’m assuming all the risk. I’m personally not willing to assume a high level of risk to make the same as I made in a job.
And it’s a win for the employer too, believe it or not. It costs an employer anywhere from $70,000-$130,000+ a year to hire someone full-time to do what I can do–and it’s a headache.
So if someone hires me for $40,000 to get done what it would normally cost them $80,000 they’ve saved a lot. If I can get between 4-10 contracts a year that are between $20,000-$45,000 I’ve made some fantastic money.
Now—before you see the dollar signs rolling in front of your eyes, let’s add a caution here. If I sold 4-10 projects a year worth $1,000 each I’d be living in poverty.
Some consultants do–especially the first year. Just because you CAN make a ton of money consulting doesn’t mean you WILL.
Again, I don’t want to discourage anyone, but it’s important to have a realistic view of what might happen and prepare for anything.
Did you know? – The challenge that sinks most consultants is the balance between selling and delivering. They get their first contract and work hard at it, forgetting about finding the next one. Or they get caught up in chasing leads and their quality suffers. It’s a tough balance — you’ll have to work to figure it out.
6. Build your personal brand
If people are going to pay you $70 an hour to be a consultant for them, they want you to be professional. That means putting the grubby PhD student identity away (if they’re still around). Polish, polish, polish your brand.. Work on your LinkedIn and share material on it, get professional head shots. Perhaps get a website. You’re in the business of marketing YOU inc. right now, so make sure you would want to hire you.
Work on how you carry yourself. Practice your handshake so it’s firm. Study speaking and projecting confidence.
I know these things sound so ridiculous, but they seriously make a huge difference and will make you more likely to succeed. Confidence especially is critical and is easier said than done.
And get ONLINE! I get consulting clients now from my digital presence. If you want to know how to get started, I created a free email course on mastering your digital brand and making money from it!
Book Recommendation: There are two great books on building confidence: Steal the Show — a book about “performing” your roles in life, and The Confidence Code — directed towards helping women grow confidence.
Read More
5 Personal Brand Tips to Put Your Growth on Autopilot
7. Get professional help
If you’re serious about consulting, you can’t be the expert on everything.
There are two people every entrepreneur should have in their ear: a lawyer and an accountant.
- The lawyer will help you be legal and legitimate (if you decide to incorporate) but can also offer advice on contractor agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and a whole bunch of other legal processes that are vital for entrepreneurs.
- The accountant will tell you how to structure a company, and teach you how to pay only the taxes you need to (I’m not talking about setting up a shell company in Panama here—but you really don’t want to pay more taxes than necessary), and what you need to keep for bookkeeping, tax write-offs, etc.
You need both of these people.
You don’t need either of them full-time.
Chances are, once you’re running, you’ll only see your accountant once a year and your lawyer perhaps less than that.
But do find someone with the heart of a teacher that you can call with little questions as you have them. If your lawyer or accountant makes you feel like an idiot or won’t explain things to you, fire them.
Pro Tip: Don’t spend tons of money upfront. Lawyers and accountants have tons of things they can charge you for—monthly check-ins, extra paperwork, etc. I chose to do the bare minimum UNTIL I had cashflow. You should absolutely make sure you’re going to have some money coming in, perhaps even have your first few clients tentatively signed, before you drop a ton of money on lawyers and accountants. It’s too easy to get in way over your head up front.
8. Get ready to battle yourself
Just like in academia, imposter syndrome among entrepreneurs is rampant. So you may never feel good enough. And in the end, it’s one more place you’ll have to #fakeittillyoumakeit.
If you’re making the leap, make sure to prepare for this. Find a good mentor–a BUSINESS mentor (not your PI). Look for mastermind groups or meetups of business people, and surround yourself with people who think like entrepreneurs.
Deal with your money blocks before they bite you in the ass.
Conclusion
This is a very minimal guide to consulting. I’m still learning lots about it, so I’ll post more as I learn. What do you think? Are you planning to make the jump? Have you thought it through? Have I missed anything?
If you’re ready, follow my 7 Easy Steps To Launch Your Consulting Business This Week. And good luck!
Now Read- What My $40,000 Client Taught Me About Starting a Consulting Business (Video)
Book Recommendation
If you’re looking for a fantastic book that will give you some great advice on building a consulting practice, this is a great book to start with.
