Market for interim management/director positions

[bluwale]

Hi,

I have just moved out of a perm job to take on an interim director role, which then fell through (classic for one who starts out contracting I guess...). And now of course struggle to land an interim management position.

It seems to me that senior positions (£500+ p/day) require SAP, investment banking or government experience. Any thoughts? Agencies I should be aiming at?

Much appreciated!

[SofaKingdom]

Hi,

I have just moved out of a perm job to take on an interim director role, which then fell through (classic for one who starts out contracting I guess...). And now of course struggle to land an interim management position.

It seems to me that senior positions (£500+ p/day) require SAP, investment banking or government experience. Any thoughts? Agencies I should be aiming at?

Much appreciated!

Unlucky re the original job falling through. I have fortunately never had that happen to me and I can only imagine how pi55ed I'd be if I'd quite the relatively sure thing a permie job offers.

I am in one of the areas you list above and there are definitely some decent paying jobs around at the moment. You don't say if you have experience in any of the above which makes it difficult to point you in the direction of a niche agency. If it's just general interim management you are after there must be specialist agencies you could use, unfortunately I don't have any specific recommendations for you other than try them all until you land something and then perhaps try and build some relationships with a few select agents. In the interim, your best bet may well be your own network and linkedin.

Good luck.

[bluwale]

Thanks for the feedback. I have basically been an IT Director director for various companies and been consultant in the past covering architecture and IT Strategy.

Your point re. network is a good one, working on that now, and got some positive feedback. Other than that sitting tight and living tight

Meanwhile I have a perm offer, so might try and stall that for a few more days, follow up some leads, and if nothing happens go back to the save haven of the perm job.

[Clippy]

If you don't mind me asking, why did you leave a perm job to take on an interim role - particularly in this market.

[lukemg]

Hi,

I have just moved out of a perm job to take on an interim director role, which then fell through (classic for one who starts out contracting I guess...). And now of course struggle to land an interim management position.

It seems to me that senior positions (£500+ p/day) require SAP, investment banking or government experience. Any thoughts? Agencies I should be aiming at?

Much appreciated!

Tough break, I know a few people stung in the same way. These Interim senior roles are operating in a very different way to the normal contracting model. There was a recent poll on the interim managers group on linked-in. It was clear that for most of them, 80%+ of the work was coming to them through personal contacts or friends of friends. Clearly they have worked perm/consultancy up to high levels and then been pushed or jumped into the Interim market and tapped into their own networks for work. I scored an Interim role last year (non-IT) which paid well and was some way above my usual pay grade but I have struggled to push on from that one and I am back in IT unfortunately. There are some specialist Interim agencies on the net who seem to vet candidates and act far more like an agent on your behalf, might be worth trying to get on their books but you will very rarely see any of these positions on any job boards.
I would start tapping up personal networks, use linked-in if contact ‘out of the blue’ is going to be awkward. Start thinking about what you specialise in, general management isn’t going to swing it, at these levels they want to see increases in revenue, efficiency or maybe a hatchet man. Good luck.

[bluwale]

lukemg - Thanks for the feedback, that is very helpful! I am on to my network, and so far it has been all very positive. Nothing concrete yet, but that would be very lucky, do expect something coming out soon though.

@Clippy - made the choice because I had two "almost" certain opportunities, one of them has fallen through, the other one is delayed, but I am still "their man" I am told. Thing is that these people will not commit to someone who has yet to resign, which I think is fair. I.e. you have to show you are serious about this, and show some appetite for risk. Which I did, and took it on the nose...

[northernladuk]

@Clippy - made the choice because I had two "almost" certain opportunities, one of them has fallen through, the other one is delayed, but I am still "their man" I am told. Thing is that these people will not commit to someone who has yet to resign, which I think is fair. I.e. you have to show you are serious about this, and show some appetite for risk. Which I did, and took it on the nose...

Nice!! Can't fault that attitude. Much better than guys on here that expect their current employers to let them go when they feel like it or the contract clients to wait for them and come and moan on here. Taking a couple on the nose certainly puts you in good stead in this style of work. I am sure you will also be aware but you have to take the 'almost certain' roles with a pinch of salt and until the ink is dry you have nothing. Many of us have been strung along by this delay, you are the man tactic and, in my experience, every single one of them have fallen through. Every role I have had in the last 4 years were as smooth as silk but played the waiting for client you are the man 4 or 5 times.

Stick at it. Bit of waiting time will be insignificant once you are 6 months + down the line. good luck