In today’s hyper‑competitive market, hiring managers aren’t just filling seats—they’re looking for strategic partners who can diagnose problems, propose solutions, and deliver impact from day one.

You can’t just let things happen. Proactiveness breathes life into your career. By adopting a consultant mindset, you shift from “I need a job” to “Here’s how I’ll drive value,” instantly differentiating yourself from other candidates.

I’ve written about it several times over the years, and have offered it as a key piece of career advice when interviewed on podcasts:

Ep. 24 Rev Your Engine: Owning Your Voice In Your Career

Mark Anthony Dyson – The Voice of Job Seekers

Be a Consultant, Not a Job Seeker or a Novice

Embracing the Consultant Mindset as a Job Seeker

I’ve written about this mindset years ago and have also discussed it on podcasts. My friend, Hannah Morgan, recently wrote about it in her newsletter. Her thoughts inspired new thoughts I wanted to share.

When it comes to getting hired, presentation is everything. I’m not only talking about job interviews. Everything will be scrutinized, including your physical appearance and how you start your first day of work. If you think it’s about showing up authentically and telling your story is all there’s to presentation, rethink your strategy.

You’ll need to adopt a consultant mindset. You’ve driven value at this point in your career. You’ve produced results, collected a suite of accomplishments, and gained the respect of those around you. It’s not, “I need a job.” You must showcase confidently how you’ll deliver results.

Core Pillars of the Consultant Mindset

The consultant mindset adaptation is a powerful switch of positioning. It’s not just about entitlement or gaining power, as it may be perceived. It’s about leading with a strategic narrative highlights the strengths you can deliver with immediate impact.

For the consultant, every discussion, whether casual or formal, revolves around strategic solutions for the company. Among other things, how it needs to be delivered is where you can strategically exchange value.

Stories of Expertise and Efficiency

The most significant difference between employees and consultants is ownership. A consultant mindset owns their results, good and bad, and pursues improvement to increase the value of their services. A performance-based employee may default to being as good as the tool, and may offer suggestions for improvement.

The consultant mindset understands they are much like the modern-day football player. Even if everyone around them isn’t good, they know they must improve their performance, adapt to the adverse conditions created by other teams, and overcome inadequate coaching. They understand they will no longer be with the current team members forever, but possibly in the future with others who are better.

Prescription to the Job Description

When a doctor prescribes medication, they must have sufficient knowledge about you to achieve the desired results. It’s not sound practice for them to prescribe an antibiotic to which you’re allergic.

Similarly, you must understand the company’s “allergy” before offering a solution. Their “allergy” may be the last person in the position was careless with the budget. You must show how you responsibly managed revenue. Gain, save from loss, impact on team, department, and company.

Your Narrative as a Value Proposition

If you’ve done the work of researching the company, you aim to share how your achievements are relevant to the company. Within you, there are stories of triumph and failure, and the opportunity to share how it’s created more value for the team.

More than likely, they are recent and places you next to them, rather than trying too hard to impress them. The impression you leave is as good as how they will benefit from it. Leading with challenges, approach, and outcomes can be structured as case studies you track and measure to improve and strengthen.

Clarity, Adaptability, and Strategy in One Package

All industries are facing massive disruption with AI, as companies strive to do more with less. For instance, if your strategies don’t include AI, and the company’s mission is to streamline resources, then you’re irrelevant to them. You may get questions like, “How do you keep up with industry changes?” Show the areas where you are upskilling, whether it’s through newer AI software and tools, industry organization groupthink, or other ways. They’ll want to know if you can consistently keep up with the constant disruptions.

Purposeful pivoting is also a powerful way to show how you’ve implemented strategies when it mattered the most. How about when your work doubled because of the company’s mass layoffs? How did you manage the work? To start answering the question, explain the strategy, how you adapted, the pivot, and how you achieved success.

There’s something to be said about reacting to new data and how it’s presented. I remember when my oldest son was in high school and was distraught because his grades were mediocre. I didn’t realize my words had turned his grades around until later. He took my advice to heart about trying to memorize everything. He internalized it. New presentations of information will prompt a new approach, a different equation, and a plan revision.

The “Employer-Centric” Conversation

Unfortunately, many job seekers fail to prepare, and when they do, they often approach the interview as if it were an interrogation, rather than a conversation. Even if it’s a panel interview, be prepared to exchange ideas, answer the questions posed, and, in most cases, ask follow-up questions to allow them to address any points you raise.

Listening is not just a passive activity. It’s a strategic tool in the consultant’s mindset. It’s necessary to find out the employer’s pain points. The consultant mindset is more about listening and addressing the team or company’s gap than spewing résumé bullet points. Their answers may require you to recalibrate your approach on the spot.

For example, the team may have received terrible customer feedback, prompting them to ask an empathetic question in their vernacular, such as, ‘What do customers (clients) need to see from you?’

The transition from employee to consultant begins with a mindset shift. It’s OK if you’re average and follow along with the plan. However, it seems to be the new floor these days, as employees who are separating are being labeled as “underperforming.” There are ways to counteract false narratives in public defacing situations, but with a consultant mindset, you’re controlling the narrative from the beginning to the end. It’s not just protecting your reputation, it’s about future-proofing your career.

I received my fitness certification in 2010 with the International Sports and Sciences Association through independent study and additional training beyond required continuing education. I scored an 85% on my certification test and was proud.

In the same year, I consulted with a firm assisting federal employees on Army bases transitioning to other federal jobs or the civilian sector. Some of the work was remote, providing career coaching and federal resume writing while I substitute taught, which fit perfectly.

I didn’t maximize my Personal Training career, but over-indexed in career services and training. Both merged at the intersection of helping people find jobs and their best selves in fitness. Personal fitness training provided the template for assisting people in finding employment.

Although I no longer provide one-to-one career coaching, I’ve presented to colleges, organizations, and media. Here’s what I’ve gleaned from writing this blog, speaking, and engaging with peers.

1. Customized Plans Based on Individual Needs

Both industries are fundamentally the same in principle, while each has unique approaches. Getting in better shape and wanting a job are similar goals. Without plans, strategies, and goals, failure is imminent.

An obese person walking around the block is a plan. For someone who wants a job, it takes more than a walk. Both require focus, accountability, progression, and effort. For the job seeker, focus is the most challenging part. If you’re willing to do the work, you’ll progress. Without it, you’ll wander.

Action item: Employment and strength assessments help find industries to optimize skills and talents. Personal trainers prescribe correct exercises through assessments; job seekers need to do similar assessments themselves.

2. Behavioral Change and Mindset Coaching

Maintaining a healthy body is a lifestyle. Successful job seekers make job searching a way of life. Both require behavior and mindset changes. Losing 100 pounds and being unemployed both feel daunting. Progress builds resilience, despite discouragement.

Coaches emphasize discipline, provide encouragement, and promote proactive habits. Both fitness and job search clients need:

• Discipline to apply strategies for different results.
• Encouragement to stay the course.
• Proactive habits to avoid being reactive and stuck.

Action item: Enhance your most marketable skills, improve essentials to move forward, or connect with someone who can introduce you to others.

3. Goal Setting and Milestone Tracking

Most coaches set incremental goals. Clients who value mentorship initiate contact, direct their efforts, and own the agreement. While self-motivated clients thrive, most need a nudge. Slow job markets can be discouraging, so motivating without criticism is essential.

Progress happens with small wins. An interview after months without one is a cause for celebration.

Action item: Chart your progress and document successes and areas for improvement to aid future growth.

4. Progressing Past Plateaus

Everyone experiences workout, diet, and job search plateaus. Both indicate adaptation without progression, require evaluation and adjustment, and cause frustration if unaddressed. Job seekers often hit a brick wall when relying on mass applications without adding value or context.

Good coaches provide multiple strategies. Trying something different, like informational interviews, researching ideal companies, or preparing interviews with intention, stimulates growth.

Action item: Use varied job search strategies to build new skills and resilience, making you stand out even after a long search.

Feedback is essential. Personal training clients often misunderstand muscle use or food intake. Similarly, job seekers underestimate how they present themselves in interviews. Small changes make significant differences.

Mentors offer unfiltered constructive direction. Coaches and mentors help you address the little things that affect success. Personal training and job searching require awareness, feedback, adaptation, and progress. Both depend on effort and strategy. Coaching, whether self-guided or external, builds lasting lessons applied to life and career.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

This week, my guest is Lorraine K. Lee, the former editor of LinkedIn News and Prezi. She is now a Trainer, Professor, Speaker, and author of “Unforgettable Presence.” 

Highlights:

Lorraine emphasizes the importance of having both confidence and presence during job interviews. She explains that presence doesn’t only relate to executive levels but is crucial for everyone in their career. 

Presence video with intentional tech setup, energy, and aesthetics, collectively termed as the “T method.”

Lorraine highlights how non-verbal cues, such as body language and hand gestures, influence perceptions during video interviews.

Lorraine discusses the significance of video presence, particularly in virtual interviews, where technical aspects such as lighting, sound, and framing play a crucial role.

Eliminating backlighting, ensuring eye contact, and using gestures naturally to appear more personable.

We delve into overcoming challenges faced by new graduates during interviews. Lorraine points out that being intentional about one’s presence on platforms like LinkedIn and during virtual meetings contributes to building a professional reputation over time.

Lorraine shares insights on handling interviews with AI avatars, emphasizing the importance of a positive setup and practicing with real people to get feedback.

Lorraine advises job seekers to focus on storytelling and to convey their passion for the role to create a stronger connection with the interviewer.

In another segment, my article from last week, “No! Really Breathes Life Into Your Career And Reclaim Time!”