Seeking a Career Change? Consider Becoming an Interim Executive

Seeking a Career Change? Consider Becoming an Interim Executive

Since the pandemic, the concept of “work” has fundamentally changed. We’ve seen massive shifts not only in how people work, but also why they work (or sometimes if they work at all). Some have retired early, some have changed jobs to reduce stress, and others want new ways to attain higher quality of life. There’s no doubt, a lot has changed. Are you considering a career change for one or more of these reasons?

Introducing the Third Option: Interim Roles

In the past, professionals had two options—work full-time or retire. It was all or nothing. Today, there’s a third option called interim work—which is rising in popularity due to its wide-ranging benefits.

What do we mean by interim? At Cerius Executives, our interim professionals fall into several categories:

  • Interim: A full-time or part-time role with one organization for a set period of time (usually six to nine months). This work is often tied to a strategic objective defined in the scope of work (e.g., strategic planning, crisis situations, new product rollout, growth, transformation).
  • Fractional: On the other hand, a fractional executive is normally engaged for a longer period (often years), but only works with the organization a “fraction” of the time, allowing the company to get high-level expertise at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire, while giving the fractional executive an opportunity to work with multiple companies, if they so choose. Fractional engagements can vary from a few days per week to a few days per month.
  • Direct-Hire: A full-time or part-time role with one organization.

Why Becoming an Interim Professional Makes Sense

Be Your Own Boss

One of the main reasons people want to work as an interim professional is to have more control over their professional journey—to be the captain of their own ship. As an interim professional, you can face new career challenges and focus on achieving results without fear of layoffs or getting embroiled in corporate politics.

More Quality of Life
Do you want to work all year round, or take regular breaks? Do you want to work full-time or just a few days a week? Do you want to work in specific industries or only on certain assignments? As an interim professional, you can select assignments and schedules that work best for you—perhaps one that lets you work from home (to avoid a long commute), one that challenges your skillsets, or one that inspires your creativity. The choice is yours!

Variety
Being an interim professional allows you the chance to work for and with a variety of different businesses and on projects that truly interest and excite you. This enables you to add skills and experience to your CV, build up a strong portfolio of stellar clients, and gain exposure to a whole range of diverse situations—all at an accelerated rate than your permanent counterparts.

Flexibility
Working as an interim means making your own choices. You can scale up or scale down your amount of work based on your own priorities—fluctuating as you like. You can organize your own time and work at your own pace. When you’re on assignment, you need to achieve your objectives on time; but when you’re not working, you can spend your time relaxing, recharging, networking or focusing on professional growth. It’s all up to you.

Remuneration
When you deliver excellent results, your compensation reflects your worth. As an interim executive, you’ll be valued and recognized for your premium-level expertise and compensated accordingly.

Personal & Professional Growth
Your results will help to further build your skill sets—and also your professional brand. With each new interim assignment, you’ll be expanding your leadership network, further honing your career accomplishments, building your CV, and achieving results that change the strategic trajectory for some of today’s biggest companies.

If you’re an experienced leader who’s exploring a career change, it’s a great time to consider an interim role. If you think it might be right for you, we’d love to connect!

Registration takes 15 minutes and gives you access to monthly executive forums and a fast pass to the front of the line when one of our clients needs the type of expertise you provide. Interim, Fractional, or Direct Placement opportunities are only a click away.

Learn how we can help your career grow.