One of the most common questions we get from executives and clients is where do we find the range of roles, industries and expertise that is in our network. We are happy to answer that and a few other questions you may have.

Where does Cerius find their interim executives and consultants?

Cerius has been connecting executives with companies for over ten years. Through referrals, partner relationships and internet searches, we have been introduced to thousands of executives. With the current job market we expected this rate to slow down for a number of reasons, but instead, the rate has doubled due to our reputation for top level performing executives and making it easy for consultants to work with us. We are pleased that most of our referrals come from executives already in our network referring a colleague. At Cerius, we have two clients; the companies we provide the services for and the interim executives/management consultants.

How does Cerius get paid?

Cerius’ does a fee share with the management consultant. In exchange for our marketing and sales activities connecting them with the client as well as the administrative and accounting activities that allow them to solely focus on the assignment, the consultant provides Cerius with a revenue share fee based on the rate they have agreed upon with the client. Generally, the fee the client pays is not much more, if any, than they would pay if they found the consultant and contracted directly. Using Cerius’ services saves significant resources, gives you an advisor through the process to make sure the right results are delivered and provides a consistent and proven vetting process to find the right consultant for your situation. Cerius has one of the largest networks of vetted executive level consultants. Our success is tied to finding the client the right interim executive or management consultant and making it easy for them to focus solely on addressing the client’s needs.

Why not just use LinkedIn or my network?

This is always an option. LinkedIn has the largest database of professionals in the world. This can be both a benefit as well as a problem when looking for a management consultant. Some of the circumstances to be aware of.

You are generally starting from ground zero with a search. You will either end up with thousands of results or just a handful depending on how specific your parameters are. It can be a good place to start if you have the time to get an idea of backgrounds and the range of experience that is out there. Some of the common challenges then become:

• Figuring out the background and expertise you are looking for and narrowing the search criteria to the point of mostly getting just those individuals.
• Finding the individuals who have the expertise you are looking for. As you know, everyone has their own approach to their LinkedIn profiles. The range includes nothing more than their name and the last two company names they worked with to a full history including the weekly slideshow presentation and the 150 groups they are members of. For management consultants it is especially difficult since most don’t include all of their projects, ie. type of assignment, type of company and what they did. This is valuable information that may cause you to quickly dismiss a potential fit since you don’t see all of their background and accomplishments.
• Finding the individuals who are available for a consultant project. From our experience, many high quality management consultants do not label themselves as independent consultants on LinkedIn.
• A lot of good quality interim executives and consultants are not on LinkedIn so you won’t find them at all.
• Once you find someone, you still need to go through the process of verifying and vetting to determine if what the individuals list as their accomplishments are valid and can be replicated for you.

One of the benefits is that if you do find someone who has the right background and they are connected to someone you know, you may be able to get a personal referral. This was more relevant a few years back when you did need to at least know the person’s email address in order to connect with them. This is becoming less and less the case in recent years.

Personal networks are a great resource for trusted referrals but can be very limiting. You will likely only get the individuals referred to you who are one degree away from your immediate network and only those your network knows enough about. It never hurts to get the word out and get connected as long as you are not in a situation you would like to keep confidential.