As the title suggests, in this post I am going to try to tackle three things: meetings, the human brain, and digital intelligence. Bear with me.
I go to meetings, like most of you. They make up a small, but significant part of my work, when I’m not doing background research, writing reports, and travelling. I actually like meetings. This is not just because, in my line of work as a freelance consultant, you develop a real appreciation for periodic human contact, but because meetings – when they focus on specific goals or have a clear agenda – can be extremely productive. In the case of interviews, which is the form a lot of my meetings take (the other types are team meetings and policy discussions), they are the probably most efficient way of obtaining the information you need when I’m evaluating a program, a project, a sector, or some topic.
What are the alternatives to these meetings, to learn new things? Mostly culling information from reports, books, and, of course, the internet, mostly via a search engine or social media. A large amount of Google’s search engine activity now uses artificial intelligence (AI). (I like to think of AI as just the latest manifestation of brainless intelligence, but that’s another blog topic.) Yes, the internet has made our lives a lot easier. But we’re fooling ourselves if we think everything that’s knowable can be found at the click of a mouse.
But before I get to this, yes, I am aware of the complaints. I’ve read a lot about how office meetings are unproductive, a waste of time and money, and brain cells. That may be so in the private sector or in management, areas where I am quite happy not to work. However, I find meeting with other people extremely valuable, for two reasons. First, it is a quick and efficient way to learn the most important thing about an issue. Second, it promotes cooperation, through relationship-building. And without cooperation, things tend to fall to pieces. (I’ll try to get to that in yet another blog post). For now, I’ll focus on why holding meetings is great for information gathering and, in some important ways, much better than Google. Why? It comes down to this – humans are exposed to, immersed in, and able to reflect upon a breathtakingly large amount of real world experiences, interactions, visual stimuli and sensations. We also feel and use our judgement. This is something computers and artificial intelligence can hardly do, despite the recent advances so breathlessly talked up in the media. In fact, search engines are limited to what they can find on servers.
I am not a fan of the reductive approach, e.g. reducing the human mind, or the soul, to biological impulses to be digitally mimicked. But I think there is a useful comparison to make. Strides in computing power and artificial intelligence notwithstanding, humans still have some serious comparative advantages. You can read online about how the human brain compares to a supercomputer, with some saying it has been surpassed, and others saying, not yet, not by a long shot. There are also some interesting comparisons and discussions regarding the human brain vis á vis search engines, especially Google.
You’ll see that, in a narrow sense and along quantitative parameters, search engines may be superior: processing power to retrieve keywords, access to data, speed, etc. But here is one parameter where computer search engines don’t perform anywhere near as well as humans – they are limited to the written, numerical and recorded, information they can find online. That misses out on a huge amount of information. What might that be? Well, everything that isn’t recorded: conversations, events, personal notes, observations of others, email exchanges (that Google doesn’t have access to), and so on. An expert or stakeholder who is engaged in the field you are studying – whether it be education policy in the Maldives, the Uzbekistan irrigation sector, energy efficiency in Ukraine – will be able to draw on a depth and breadth of information that the most powerful search engine in the world can only dream of (if androids could dream of electric sheep, that is). Although the information stored on all the world’s servers is vast and growing, it is still a fraction of all the information in the world and inside the heads of its population.
Ask your interlocutor, your key informant (the term used in evaluation) a question, and he or she will be able to draw on countless, non-digital, resources in order to answer you. Google is limited to giving you what it finds on the web. Certainly useful, but limited. Humans still have some value, it seems. That is why meeting them, if you ask good questions, is so invaluable. If you are an evaluator, an investigator, a journalist, or in a similar line of work, you quickly realize that you get more from holding a few meetings with key individuals than from plowing through hundreds or thousands of pages of documents.
Caveats, caveats. There are always caveats. So yes, it is true that not everyone’s memory functions at an optimal level. And some key informants, you quickly realize, don’t have much to say. Or maybe you find yourself talking to the wrong person. And, naturally, you still need to consult the thematic literature, the reports and journal articles and so on, to complement the meetings you hold. But overall – as a professional, doing my job, I’ll keep going to those meetings. And here’s a(n open) secret: most people actually like to talk about what they do and what they know. Most are happy to share. Also they don’t show you those annoying ads before answering your questions…
It is possible to make a decent living as a consultant in international development. If you’re reading this, and work in the international development field, you are probably someone who did not choose a career because of the money. But we all need to earn a living. We all have to eat. Indeed, a lot of our work centers on helping people in low-income countries earn more, increase their job opportunities, or lower their living costs. Today’s blog post is a series of observations on money, mostly aimed at consultants working in international development, who are maybe trying to navigate the earnings map and find their place on it.
Most international consulting jobs pay by the day. Like many others in today’s economy, a lot of international development consultants rely on short-term assignments. They may prefer them, as I do. Short-term jobs give you a lot of flexibility and don’t involve extended overseas stays, which can last for months. I know some consultants who spend as much as a year abroad, leaving their family at home. But that’s not for me. Typically, the short-term jobs will be contracted based on a specific number of days at a given rate. I’ve had contracts for as little as 5 days and as much as 150 days, but most fall in the 30-60 day range.
You can negotiate your daily rate.* In most cases, you can negotiate your daily rate just as you would negotiate a salary when you are offered a full-time job. Once you have been selected for the assignment, you will be offered a rate. You can either accept it or ask for more. If the offer is less than you earned previously, you can share contracts you’ve had with other organizations, they can be used as a reference point. Maybe you have misgivings about negotiating for yourself in a field you entered because you want to serve the greater good? I suggest you still try to earn what you think you are worth, and give away the surplus to a worthy cause.
Most organizations have fee structures. A lot of firms and development organizations such as the World Bank, IMF (and the US Government) have a fee structure. The structure usually has broad bands and is not necessarily rigid. The fee structure may factor in your years of work experience, sector, position (team leader, specialist, researcher), professional background, and education. The World Bank has a four-tier system, based on years worked, and each tier encompasses a fairly wide range, which includes a minimum, maximum, and market reference point. The number of years of experience seems to trump everything else. Even in development work, financial sector assignments seem to pay more, reflecting the market for these skills. (Whether finance jobs should pay more is another topic. My suspicion is that it is merely the ability of finance people to organize their work around commissions, which are easily calculated as a percentage of a deal or an investment, unlike most professionals.)
Fees can vary widely by organization and assignment. Don’t count on earning the same daily rate for every assignment. Your daily fee may vary substantially between organizations, by as much as 50%. Some organizations have salary caps which apply to contractors (as is the case for USAID contractors, which topped out at about $655 in 2016 [update – in 2020 the maximum was set at 698.08]). Exchange rate fluctuations can make a big difference. The US dollar went from $1.59 to the euro in 2008 to below $1.05 in 2016, which meant that working for European firms became less attractive for Americans over this period, and vice versa.
How much can consultants earn? As an established consultant, you should be able to earn the same as, if not more than, full-time staff at the international development organizations you engage with. Many staff have posted their salaries on glassdoor. Of course, you won’t receive any standard benefits. The main benefits of this work come from the satisfaction of doing good work, making a difference in people’s lives (hopefully a positive one), meeting new people, and exploring new countries. That means you should make sure that you can provide your own benefits out of your fee. That applies especially for health insurance and retirement savings. However, remember that your work is not worth less than that of salaried employees. To increase your rate significantly with the same organization may involve moving to a different level (based on years of experience or responsibility).
In theory, your rate should broadly reflect what the market will bear. Keep in mind that the market is different in different countries, and obviously exchange rate fluctuations can have a big impact. As noted above, when the euro was strong, working for a European entity was a better deal than working for American organizations. Within the last few years, the situation has reversed. This is by way of pointing out that one can operate in different markets, and must take that into account. In some markets you will find you are worth more than others.
Expenses are normally accounted for separately. In international development work, expenses are almost always budgeted and paid for separately. You receive your fee as milestones are met, and then submit receipts for any travel and accommodation expenses, unless the organization pays for it directly. Almost always, there is a per diem for meals and incidentals for which you don’t need to produce receipts. You should never have to pay for your expenses out of your fees. Some contracts are lump sum. You cover your own travel, accommodation, meals and incidentals and don’t submit any receipts.
Your present determines your future. By this I mean that whatever rate you agree on today will be the basis for future rate, at this and other organizations. So even if it is just a 20-day contract, and that $20 difference isn’t so important, your next contract may be 100 days, and it will be based on your previous contract. And most organizations will take into account what you earn elsewhere.
Does your rate seem high? Don’t forget – as a freelance consultant, you have to cover all your own benefits, and any enforced vacations from work. Essentially you are trading off benefits for freedom. You need to take into account taxes and benefits when considering your rate. Depending on your nationality and who your contract is with, you may or may not need to pay taxes. In contrast to full-time employees, you will also need to cover your own benefits, especially health insurance and retirement. Plow part of your earnings every year into a low-fee 401k. Warren Buffet suggests Vanguard S&P index funds and I agree with his advice. If you have a partner with an employee health insurance plan, get on that.
You can work overtime. Obviously, if you take on more contracts and work weekends your earnings will rise. Some organizations allow you to bill for a 7-day work week others for a 6-day work week while on site (i.e. working in country) or ‘on mission’ as it referred to by some organizations, as if international development professionals were modern-day secular missionaries preaching the gospel of improved living standards. Just make sure you do top quality work. Don’t double bill by charging different organizations twice. Be results-oriented and be ethical.
Your annual earnings will fluctuate. Ups and downs in earnings are inevitable for non-salaried workers. Over time you will, however, see an upward trend in your income as you get more work, add years of experience, and become better at negotiating your rate.
The daily rate isn’t everything. Despite the above, you may find yourself willing to accept a lower rate for a variety of reasons. Maybe you are trying to get your foot in the door, or you like the assignment, or the work conditions. Perhaps you are willing to earn less on this assignment because you’ll be working in a country you’ve always wanted to go to.
Some resources to consult
- Glassdoor. Review the salary ranges on their website, glassdoor.com, which aggregates salaries for different positions, by organization. The data is based on what people have posted themselves.
- Fellow consultants. The best source or information on what you can expect to earn is probably other consultants who work, or have worked in the field. (Don’t necessarily ask them about their own rates, however. Talking about one’s salary in the US remains an even bigger taboo than talking about one’s sex life!)
- Fee structure matrices. These may or may not be accessible to consultants for all organizations. But it never hurts to ask around. They will give you a benchmark.
- Devex. This organization describes itself as the “media platform for the development community.” It caters to organizations, companies and individuals working in international development. There is a monthly individual membership fee (starting at $9.50 at the time of this writing) and you can post your CV and look at job postings. Members have access to articles, including “Foreign aid salary spotlights,” which describes international development jobs and rates in a selection of countries.
* For more on negotiating your daily rate, see: How to negotiate your fee as a consultant: Figuring out what matters (footnote added July 30, 2019)
Nils Junge
March 29, 2017
The importance of soft power in professional life
Recently, a senior manager at a multilateral development bank told me about problems she had been having with a lead consultant on a project. He had resigned without completing the assignment, and she needed to replace him. She said she was looking for someone ‘with common sense.’ She was even willing to hire a candidate with fewer technical qualifications, as long as he or she could deliver the work and facilitate the relationship with the government. Apparently, this particular consultant had been unreliable and unpredictable. For example, on one occasion he failed to show up at a workshop he was supposed to lead, having failed to notify his client in advance. She arrived at the workshop only to learn that he had left the country without warning!
While I wouldn’t say that this type of behavior is common, it is certainly something you come across when you work in the international development field. Indeed, I have seen stranger behavior, to wit: Exhibit A: a consultant team leader who spent the first 10 minutes of nearly every meeting with partners or government officials bragging about his qualifications, yet never actually delivered anything. On top of that, he threatened to sue counterparts from other organizations who disagreed with him, and essentially went about ruining relationships with almost every key partner. Exhibit B: a consultant- engineer who determined that an entire country’s gas infrastructure was substandard based on observing a single, rusty pipe; and whose understanding of sampling boiled down to “Let’s ask our local colleague to get in touch with his friends to see what they think.” Exhibit C: a senior manager at a bilateral organization whose capricious and unpredictable behavior played havoc with an evaluation, by, among other things, changing the scope of work well after the work started, and undermining her colleagues in front of the consultants. If you’ve spent any time in the development field, you will have stories of your own to tell.
These people may have had the technical skills and looked good on their CVs, but they were difficult to work with, and had a disruptive effect on the work. They lacked soft power. In some cases, they ended up squandering months of time and hundreds of thousands of dollars, not to mention putting at risk the usefulness of the work.
The point I want to make, though, is that in order to do good work, non-technical skills – such as common sense, the ability to communicate with others and present themselves well, plus a commitment to doing the work – are at least as important as the other kind – such as mastery of a subject, experience in a sector, or technical abilities.
Based on my 17 years working as a consultant in international development, I would boil down the qualities you need to the following:
- Knowledge
- Experience
- Common sense
- Communication skills
- Commitment
The first two I consider hard skills, and the last three soft skills. Try to cultivate each of them. Let’s take a closer look.
1. Knowledge
By knowledge I refer to the technical understanding about a subject that is gained from learning, study, and doing. It comes from formal education at university or in technical schools, training, continuing education, and staying up to date on the literature in the field. It is a core element of the specialization needed to accomplish a task, e.g. analyzing data, developing models, designing surveys, assessing a particular sector. For virtually any field you work in, there will be many courses, webinars, software programs, and training sessions, ranging in price from free to very expensive (thousands of dollars). As you assess these learning opportunities you will need to weigh the costs and benefits in terms of money and time. But this is how you invest in yourself!
2. Experience
Experience is what you get as you act in, and are acted upon, by the world. Your knowledge and assumptions are tested, and you find you have to adjust your approach to doing things. Drawing on experience enables you to make better decisions and work more efficiently. It is the whetstone against which you sharpen your theoretical knowledge. In the beginning, you will be inexperienced. If you are starting out, this is not held against you. It is normal and expected. On a team, or a consultancy, there will be a mix of more senior and more junior members. All are needed, like the cogs in a wheel, and there is a role to play for everyone .
3. Common sense
It turns out that common sense, as I discussed above, is a valuable and perhaps underrated commodity. At its most basic level it means acting as a reasonable person. It involves critical thinking. More advanced concepts of common sense could include seeing through complexity to the essence of a matter, connecting the dots, and framing and organizing information in a useful manner. Much of the time it boils down to the simple ability to reflect upon something, see what is needed, and do what is necessary to get results. Maybe this is not a satisfying explanation, but if you don’t understand the concept of common sense, this may be a problem.
4. Communication skills
The basic ability to have a conversation and get along with your colleagues and counterparts can carry you a long way in any field. People want to get a sense of who you are, whether you are trustworthy, and whether they will be able to cooperate with you. Under communication skills I would include not only to the ability speak in public and engage with colleagues and clients, but the ability to write well. This means conveying information, no matter how complicated or specialized, clearly, succinctly, and grammatically. If you want to build up your public speaking skills, I highly recommend joining a Toastmasters club near you. I have been a member of Toastmasters since 2011 and find it highly useful.
5. Commitment
Commitment to doing the work is just what it sounds like. This is probably what people in the business world refer to as “passion”, which I myself consider a wholly inappropriate quality that should be kept for the opera or the bedroom. Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times even argues that it is dangerous in the professional field. Emotional teammates are not the most reliable or stable. No, what you want to have is a commitment to doing top quality work, to meeting deadlines, to developing new skills, to learning new things, to being there when your colleagues need you. It is part of having a good work ethic.
The portfolio approach
These five qualities form the bulk of your portfolio of skills. Consider them the tools for building a career. Good luck!
How to launch a satisfying career in international development
I am often asked how to break into the field of international development. In this post I’m going to address this question. I’m going to assume that you are interested in doing interesting work and having a satisfying career as an independent consultant. In an effort to keep things short, I’m going to zero in on the three things I consider the most critical.
Get a graduate degree in a related field
Because of the vast number of issues covered in international development, a degree in practically any field, from economics to health to statistics to law to education, will be useful. However, degrees in some fields are likely to open up more opportunities than others. This is either because they are more broadly transferrable, or because there is a lot of work in this sector. In the first category I would include anything related to economics, statistics, sociology, public policy, or international relations. In the second category, I would include agriculture, health, education, finance, water and energy. However, the farther along you are in your career, the less the specific degree matters. When I work with team members who have at least 5 to 10 years of experience, what they studied all those years ago is often more of a conversation starter than anything else.
When you are just starting out, expect to have shorter contracts and do more work that involves research. If you don’t have a lot of experience yet, being hired to do a desk review may be a common entry point. This is not a bad thing at all, however. It enables you to become familiar with and build expertise in a particular subject, while demonstrating that you are reliable and have good writing skills. (This last is important). With time, you will start working as a specialist or team leader
Be willing to travel anywhere
Travel abroad is obviously a big part of a career in this field. For some assignments, it can mean a foreign posting, for others it may involve months on end away from home. However, in many cases trips last from one to several weeks.
The more willing you are to go to less desirable places and stay there for longer periods, the better your chances of finding work. Think of it as paying your dues. I have friends who, for family reasons, were unable to take on long-term assignments in challenging countries (like Iraq or Afghanistan) and were stymied in their career goals. I have others who spent a year or more in some of the world’s least desirable countries, and it opened doors for them.
Let people know you exist
Finally, people simply need to know that you exist. From a strictly mathematical perspective, the more people in the field who come across your CV or, better yet, meet you in person, the more likely you are to find work.
So put your CV in the public realm. You have various options here. For a monthly fee, you can post your CV on Devex.com and other websites, such as Assortis (for work in Europe). Create a LinkedIn profile. Many consulting firms also ask you to upload your CV and other data onto their company websites, which they then check when trying to find consultants. Applying to specific jobs is another way of getting noticed. Even if you don’t get the assignment – a fair number of job advertisements seem to be pro-forma, with a preferred candidate already selected – many organizations will keep your CV on file and may contact you about other opportunities in the future. Of course, if you have a blog or a book out there, or have won an award in your field, you have opened up a whole new platform on which to stand and let the world know who you are.
I have found that a highly effective way of addressing this existential issue is meeting people face to face. It may appear counterintuitive in our digital age, but making that personal connection remains important. Perhaps it is related to the fact that everyone is now adept at curating their online persona; meeting people in the flesh, where self-editing is more difficult, is a more reliable gauge of character. I have found work because I happened to meet someone at a party, because I shared an office with them for a few days, or because I was introduced to them at a dinner with friends. Of course, qualifications matter, but it seems that the crucial factor was first getting a sense of the person. This informality, and serendipity, still plays a large role in moving along the career path.
There are many ways of getting out and meeting people. Here are some:
- Attend events, seminars, BBLs in the international development field.
- Join a professional association (I belong to the American Evaluation Association and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, among others) and attend their events and conferences
- Send out emails to people working in your field (blind calls). Although many won’t respond, some will. And those that do will tend to be the kind ones who are interested in helping others.
- Request informational meetings through people you know, and thus expand your circle of contacts.
- Go to more parties and dinners!
If you need some tips on taking a a healthy approach to and getting the most out of networking, , I recommend the book Make Your Contacts Count.
In another post, I’ll discuss some of the keys to getting repeated work in the field.
Good luck!
Freedom. Independence. These are inspiring words. But do you really want those things when it comes to your work? Because that is what it means to be an independent consultant, rather than a full-time employee.
I happen to enjoy consulting. I’ve been doing international development for 16 years in this capacity. It has led to a highly satisfying and rewarding career. I have no intention of throwing in the towel. I enjoy the independence as well as the travel. (My parents once told me I was named after Nils Holgersson, the little Swedish boy who flew around the world on a goose. Perhaps another case of nominative determinism?)
But this ‘lifestyle’ isn’t for everyone. Let’s begin with reasons not to work as a consultant:
- The most obvious advantages of full-time work are job security and benefits. If these are important to you, consulting won’t be up your alley. Relying on a slowly rising salary year in year out, regular bi-weekly deposits into your account – not to mention paid holidays, health insurance and other benefits –means one less source of stress in life. Even if job security isn’t what it used to be, full-time work is still far different being an independent contractor. As the latter, you often don’t know what you’ll be doing three to six months from now. And you may only have a ballpark estimate of what your annual income will be.
- You need or like structure in your working life. A staff position comes with stability, interactions with the same colleagues, responsibilities more or less clearly defined. The routine and structure of the workplace appeals to many people. It’s what forces them to get out of bed in the morning. If you have a hard time managing your time or motivating yourself, then working independently could prove to be dispiriting.
- You aspire to a leadership or management position. If you work within the structure of an organization, you can pursue a career track, moving up through the ranks and taking on more responsibilities as you build management and leadership skills. Working as a freelance doesn’t mean you can’t grow and take on more responsibilities. In this field, you can work either as a specialist, or a team leader, which does involve managing other consultants, budgeting, etc . On occasion, headhunters have asked me to apply for director positions at different institutions (I declined). So choosing the path of a consultant doesn’t necessarily take you out of the game. But most are simply not focused on climbing the career ladder.
- You value the status that comes with your title and being part of a (well-regarded) organization or company. Let’s face it, at some level, consultants are just guns for hire.
And now, reasons consulting can be a good career choice
- Consulting gives you a lot of freedom and flexibility with respect to where, what and with whom. You can work just about anywhere – from home, a café, the library, sometimes even the organization which has hired you, such as the World Bank or Inter-American Development Bank. One day here, the next day there, and then off to work in the Caribbean for a couple of weeks, where you set up your laptop by the pool or the beach. Over time, once you’ve built up your reputation, say, by producing reliable, competent and useful analysis, you can pick and choose what jobs to take on. You can say yes to work that looks interesting, and turn down other inquiries. And crucially, when you end up on assignment with a crazy, intolerable team member or manager, you can choose never to work with them again!
- You like the sense of adventure and possibility that comes from not knowing where you’ll be or what you’ll be doing a few months from now. This can keep work from getting routine and dull. You’ll work with an ever-changing mix of colleagues, and make new friends and connections along the way. You will build up a large and valuable network.
- You can increase your earnings. As a consultant, you face a soft earnings ceiling. Depending on how hard you work, the number of offers you get, and the rates you’re able to negotiate, you may be able to increase your annual earnings substantially. You’re not locked in. Experienced consultants can earn more than staff, even when taking the latters’ benefits into account. If you get enough contracts, and manage your projects well, there is no reason for earning less than them.
- Perhaps the best reason to work as a consultant is that most of the work is substantive, i.e. it is about addressing problems ‘out there’ in the world. For example, in the field of evaluation or policy analysis, you spend most of your time working to solve questions about a program, a project or a policy. Conversely, staff at the organizations that rely on consultants like you spend a considerable amount of their time on internal reporting, business development (e.g. writing proposals), budgeting, hiring consultants, and other administrative tasks. These tasks are important, presumably, but not directly related to the problems they are trying to solve beyond the walls of the organization.
I’ve focused on differences. But to be honest, consulting vs. full-time isn’t an either-or proposition. People switch back and forth depending on their career phase, their goals, their options, etc. For some, consulting is a stepping stone to full-time work, a chance to show what they can do, and for the organization to get to know someone before offering them a position. A considerable share of World Bank staff, for example, have worked previously as consultants. For others, it is a way of leaving behind the daily grind that working for an organization entails, and taking control of their lives again.