This is an anonymous post from an Elpha member.

Leadership position: from consultancy agency to in-house

Ronald129·Oct 30, 2020

Hello everyone, I have been working as consultant for my whole career (10+ years) and I am currently heading up a design team in a consultancy agency. I am looking for my next move to be in-house, possibly in a start-up, but as my background is not in product design but in service design, I am struggling to get any interest from companies. Any suggestions you might have I am all ears.

teresaman·Oct 30, 2020

I made a similar switch last year, from leading a team at a consulting agency to an in-house role at a startup. A couple things:- there's a certain consultancy speak that I had found confuses or lacks resonance with recruiters and hiring managers. So I made sure I omitted languages like "clients", "projects", and "developers" and instead used words that they are familiar with — like "product teams", "product" and "engineers". I also reinforced many times how we too worked in sprints at the consulting agency.- were you interested in pursuing service design or product design in-house? I actually had considered moving from product to service back in tandem with my agency to in-house switch (and ultimately didn't). In any case, if you're looking to find product roles, I'd recommend highlighting any portfolio projects and skills that intersect both service and product design, maybe it's prototyping, maybe it's talking to users, etc.- have a clear idea of how your consulting background puts you at an advantage from those who are moving from startups to startups, and sell those relentlessly :) some thoughts: being able to work with aggressive timelines, managing a very cross-functional team, working with "product teams" 😜 who are in businesses that are not inherently design driven and therefore having to validate your design effort and aligning stakeholders' expectations always

Ronald129·Oct 30, 2020

This is SO helpful, thanks! On your second point I am interested in service design in-house as I don't really have a product background - of course designing services you end up designing digital touchpoints but the level of refinement I am personally capable of is not at a level that I reckon would be required for product design. I would love to have a proper chat if you had the time!

teresaman·Oct 31, 2020

DM me! :)

LucyN·Oct 31, 2020

Ohhhh this is such interesting feedback! Love it!