Making talent-on-demand work for you: Some pointers

Opportunities are not just meant to be seized; how they are utilised is equally important, if not more.

Working for yourself, which is what talent-on-demand or the “gig” economy work is all about, is akin to running your own business and hence calls for an entrepreneurial mindset. And being proactive is an important ingredient of this mindset.

A Randstad Workmonitor survey, according to a media report of 2017, was quoted as saying that 83 per cent of the Indian workforce that it surveyed preferred to be entrepreneurs and 56 per cent indicated that they were considering leaving their jobs to start their own business.

As an experienced professional and management consultant, it would be advisable to be precise about what you have to offer to your clients, and fine-tune your service proposals as your consulting practice grows.

But, first, as some experts suggest, you will have to market yourself and one way of doing this is by using digital-based platforms available on the internet. Social media, of course, should be explored to showcase your talent. Creative people for instance, have a number of opportunities to publicise their work through popular platforms such as Instagram. Similarly, thought leadership in specific fields such as finance, digital strategy, supply chain management, risk management, among others, could be demonstrated through the writing of articles. The XpertReach platform provides our users an opportunity to post their articles and build their reputation within the wider user community. 

Digital-based marketplaces are an excellent bridge between on-demand consultants and potential clients. How to derive best value from these, however, requires careful thinking, planning and execution. How do you communicate and present your capabilities so as to be curated accurately by the XpertReach platform admin to bag rewarding projects and clients, for instance? It is advisable to prepare well in advance and build an appropriate and professional profile on the platform. Read, How to develop a successful profile.

Showcasing your intellectual property is important to gain the trust of clients. When looking to submit a proposal for a project, you should do your own background research about the business and any potential challenges. This will prepare you to know what could be expected of you and could also help you decide on whether you would like to work for a particular client on the basis of their requirements, business situation and reputation.

As an on-demand consultant, you can leverage on many realities that operate in this economy: choose work that brings out the best of your talents and draws and sustains your interest; work on projects which give you a sense of ownership; seek flexibility in how you carry out your work as well as in the timelines; be conscious of and work towards enhancing your productivity uninterruptedly.

Continuously developing and enhancing your skills is crucial for progressing in the talent-on-demand or gig economy. This continuous improvement and skills development, whether through training or acquiring through project work, will be assets to help fetch new work. You will inevitably develop more efficient ways of working and applying your skills; in fact, along the way you will discover that you have not only honed existing ones but developed new ones as well!

Like most businesses, there is a logical progression that should be followed in your consulting work. The going is initially tough and challenging. But once you adopt the XpertReach platform and learn how to maximise its tools, select the projects you would like to work on, make optimum use of your skills and experience, and develop a platform “reputation” through clients’ reviews and feedback, nothing can stop you from succeeding in this sector.