Hello and welcome to another episode of the Impact Consulting Podcast, a show that shares insights into the world of consulting in the international development and social impact spaces.
Today I’m joined by Hannah Plumb, who shares her journey as an independent consultant who specialises in labour migration, responsible recruitment and human rights.
About Hannah
Hannah began her career with the Australian Government where she worked on a variety of human rights policy issues and Australia’s regional aid programme. In 2015, Hannah moved to Vietnam to work for the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Hannah later moved to IOM’s headquarters in Geneva where she worked on a global project dedicated to promoting the responsible recruitment of migrant workers. Hannah led IOM’s capacity-building efforts and developed a variety of tools, resources and training programmes on responsible recruitment for labour recruiters, employers, brands and IOM staff.
Hannah's freelancing journey
Hannah’s freelance journey began about 16 months ago when she moved back to her hometown, Adelaide. While she mostly works independently, Hannah is also a member of the Research and Communications Group, which is a small, specialised consultancy company committed to improving social development outcomes. When she’s not working, Hannah lives up to the stereotypical image of Australians and can be found at her local beach (something that I was very jealous about whilst recording this from rainy Britain).
Hannah’s done a fantastic job of transitioning from an in-house role to the world of consulting back in her home country. We talk about:
How to leverage that in-house position to create a runway from which to take off as a new freelancer.
How consulting realities compare with initial expectations.
How to set fees.
How to diversify one’s clientele (since many of her projects have come from her previous employer).
How to deal with the isolation of freelancing.
Working with an alliance of freelancers, the Research and Communications Group.
What was most important to Hannah when she was a "client" selecting consultants.
If you’re interested in learning from consultants like Hannah, you’re more than welcome to join us at the IC-Hub.
Without further ado, thank you so much for listening and we hope you enjoy the show.
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