Expert network consulting: how to become a paid expert for GLG-type networks
How to become an expert network consultant: getting recruited by GLG, AlphaSights, Guidepoint and Third Bridge, writing a profile, compliance and your first call.
Expert network consulting is paid, part-time work where you answer questions about your industry, usually on a one-hour call, for clients of a firm like GLG, AlphaSights, Guidepoint or Third Bridge. To become an expert network consultant, you create a profile on those firms' own sites (or reply when their staff contact you), pass their compliance training, set an hourly rate and take your first call. None of it needs a résumé tailored to a job, because it isn't a job.
A note on search terms: "expert network jobs" also means salaried staff roles at these firms. A Third Bridge posting for an Expert Relations Associate, for example, was a salaried role managing and recruiting experts. This post is about the other side: being the paid expert.
1. Know what the work actually is
Expert networks sell clients, such as investors and consulting firms, access to people with first-hand experience. The common model, per Wikipedia's summary, is pay-per-use: the network invoices the client per hour of consultation and pays part of that to the expert.
From your side, it looks like this:
| Network | What they say the work is | How pay works, per their own pages |
|---|---|---|
| GLG | 1:1 calls arranged after a client asks for you; "rarely is any prep work required" | You set an hourly rate; paid after the project, prorated by the minute per its S-1 |
| AlphaSights | Client interactions after a compliance briefing | Agreed hourly rate, pro rata; standard payment terms of 30 days |
| Guidepoint | 1:1 consultations, surveys and transcripts; you choose which projects to take | Compensation shown up front in each invitation |
| Third Bridge | Typically a one-hour call, plus surveys, panel events and advisory work | "Remuneration for your time and expertise"; no rate published |
It is freelance work with no guaranteed volume. GLG's S-1 says its experts are "almost always non-exclusively contracted," so joining several networks at once is normal.
2. Get into the networks both ways: sign up, and be findable
Do both. Some networks let you register, and others say they reach out to you when a project fits.
- Sign up directly. GLG's recruitment page starts with a profile: work history, signed Terms and Conditions and a rate. Guidepoint's expert page asks you to register your interest and says it generally looks for 10+ years of experience.
- Be findable. Third Bridge says on its expert page that you join "as an invited member" and that it contacts you for projects matching your experience. AlphaSights says on its expert page that it does not operate as a sign-up network: people with 10+ years of experience can share their details, and it reaches out when a client request matches.
Recruiters can only find what is visible, so make your LinkedIn headline say what you have done, in words a client would search for. "VP Operations" says little. "Ran cold-chain logistics for a 40-store grocery chain" gets found. (That one is a made-up example, but you get the idea.)
3. Write a profile that matches specific projects
Describe decisions, companies and products, not adjectives. Networks match you to client questions, and GLG says on its network members page that keeping your profile up to date increases the chance of being matched again.
Here is a made-up example. Farid spent eight years as a category manager for frozen foods at a national supermarket chain, then two years at a supplier. A weak profile line reads "Experienced retail professional with strong commercial skills." A strong one reads "Negotiated frozen food shelf space and promotions with 30+ suppliers; later sold into the same buyers from the supplier side." The second line answers a client's question before they ask it.
For ideas, see how others describe themselves in the strategy consultants and healthcare consultants directories. Those are the kinds of profiles buyers look for.
4. Reply to project invitations within hours
Reply fast. Three of these networks say something about speed. Third Bridge says experts who respond within three hours are "twice as likely to be selected." Guidepoint says consultations are often completed within 72 hours of the client's request. GLG says "the faster you respond, the more likely you are to be selected."
When an invitation arrives, GLG says on its recruitment page that you will answer a few questions confirming your knowledge fits the project. Answer them precisely. If you only know half the topic, say which half.
5. Finish compliance training before your first call
Every major network screens you first. GLG's compliance page says experts sign, and re-sign each year, its terms and conditions, and complete an interactive tutorial every year. AlphaSights says on its expert page that it walks you through its legal and compliance framework, including interactive training, before a first interaction. Guidepoint says its compliance team reviews every engagement against the rules of your current employer.
The rules that matter most if you are employed:
- GLG prohibits employed experts from projects about their own employer, and some employed experts need written employer consent for written, in-depth or ongoing work.
- You must end a call that moves into topics you cannot discuss. GLG says it still pays for the time you set aside if you tell it.
- You share experience and judgment, never confidential or material non-public information. Our guide to material non-public information explains where the line is.
Read your employment contract for moonlighting, conflict and confidentiality clauses before you sign up, and ask a lawyer if anything is unclear.
6. Set a rate you will not regret
GLG lets you choose your hourly rate; AlphaSights says high rates "typically lead to lower demand for your expertise." Pick the lowest number you would be glad to receive for an hour at an inconvenient time, and raise it once you turn down more requests than you take. Our post on how much GLG pays covers what the public record says about rates, and consultant hourly rates gives a wider benchmark.
In the US, if a network pays you as an independent contractor, the IRS says on its self-employment tax page that self-employment tax of 15.3% applies once net earnings reach $400. Ask an accountant how to handle it.
7. Make the first call easy to re-book
Answer the question the client asked; that is what gets you booked again. Before the call, reread the screening questions and write down three things you know first-hand about the topic. On the call, give the answer first and the story second, say "I don't know" when you don't, and say "I can't discuss that" when a question crosses into your employer's confidential business. (A clear "I can't discuss that" is part of the job. Guessing is not.)
After the call, update your profile with anything the client found useful. That is the topic the next client will search for. Our guide to expert network calls goes through the call itself in more detail.
You can also be paid for the same knowledge outside the networks. On Instant Expert, a company or investor invites you to a specific paid call or written answer and the invitation shows what you would receive. Claim your profile to set the rate buyers start from, or see open requests on the board.
Start today with one thing: rewrite your LinkedIn headline so it names the specific work you did, then register with two networks.