GLG network member: what joining commits you to

A GLG Network Member is GLG's name for an expert who has completed its Network Member Tutorial and signed its Terms and Conditions of Network Membership, according to GLG's Network Member compliance policies. Signing makes you an independent contractor GLG can invite to paid client projects. It does not promise you any projects, and it comes with rules you agree to again every year.

If an invitation called you a "GLG Network Member," it is describing that contract status.

1. "Network Member" is a contract you sign and renew every year

You get the title by signing paperwork. GLG's compliance policies say you must complete the tutorial and "formally agree" to the Terms and Conditions before you take part in a client project, and that its systems "enforce annual recertification." The compliance page on GLG's main site adds that you re-sign the terms and redo the interactive tutorial every year.

In its 2021 S-1 (the registration statement GLG filed with the SEC), GLG said its Network Members "are classified as independent contractors" and are "almost always non-exclusively contracted." In plain terms, you are not a GLG employee, and you can sign up with other expert networks too. Our guide to becoming an expert network consultant covers joining several.

How big is the club? These are GLG's own claims:

The same S-1 says GLG had "approximately 1,000,000" profiled Network Members in more than 160 countries as of June 30, 2021, including over 220,000 in technology, media and telecom and over 180,000 in healthcare and biomedical.
GLG's expert recruitment page, as read in October 2026, says that every month it runs client interactions "more than 20,000 times" and makes "more than 50,000 payments to our experts."

The two figures are five years apart, so they do not combine cleanly. Still, a network counted in the hundreds of thousands next to tens of thousands of monthly interactions points one way: most members do not work on a GLG project in a typical month. (That is our reading, not a GLG statistic.)

Short version: being a Network Member means you are eligible to be invited. It does not mean you will be.

2. You were probably invited because a client project already matched you

If GLG contacted you first, it was probably for a live request. Its recruitment page says, "We've contacted you because a GLG client has asked to speak to someone with knowledge you might have." It then lays out the steps:

Tell GLG about your work history and sign the Terms and Conditions.
Set "an hourly rate of your choosing."
Answer a few screening questions so GLG can confirm you fit the project.
If the client reviews your profile and asks to speak with you, GLG schedules a one-on-one call. The page says prep work is rarely required.

The same page says that once you join, GLG "will continue to share future opportunities" with you. So the first invitation is a project, and signing up also puts you in the pool for later ones.

Answer the screening questions with specifics from your own work: "I ran vendor selection for our 40-hospital group in 2023" tells a client more than "I know this market well."

3. Projects arrive as invitations, and clients pick from several people

GLG's For Experts page says its service teams "scope requests" and try to match you, and "should our client select you," you schedule the engagement. The same page puts the selection rule bluntly: "The faster you respond, the more likely you are to be selected."

Not being picked is normal, and GLG says why. The FAQ for its GLG for Experts app says project volume "is ultimately determined by our clients' demand" and that the app "won't increase your likelihood of being selected." The app does let you get push notifications when an opportunity lands, and apply to open projects "without waiting for invites."

You also never have to say yes. GLG's compliance policies say members "assess and explicitly accept" each project before talking to a client, and the sample letter on its Member Programs page says members are "under no obligation to accept them."

Reply quickly to the invitations you want, and decline the rest without guilt. Our guide to expert network calls covers what happens once you are picked.

4. The rules you agree to are mostly about what you keep to yourself

GLG's compliance policies and Network Member Code of Conduct set out the rules. The ones that shape day-to-day membership:

Your employer is off limits. If you are employed, you may not take projects about your own company, and you may not take calls with a company you know to be your employer's competitor.
Discuss only what you are permitted to discuss. If a call moves into a subject you cannot cover, end it immediately. GLG says members who stop a project for this reason "are paid for the time they set aside."
Tell GLG your no-go topics up front. GLG asks members to disclose restricted subjects and lets you list "Off Limit Topics" on your profile, which it uses to block future invitations on those subjects.
Keep GLG projects secret. The code of conduct says you must not disclose any GLG project or "the identity of any client" to anyone outside GLG, and must not describe a project or client on any public forum, naming LinkedIn, X, Facebook, WhatsApp and WeChat.
Do not use what you learn. You may not trade on or otherwise use information learned from GLG or a client during a project, and you may not contact a client or send it documents without GLG's written approval.
Keep your profile accurate. You must update your qualifications when they change, may not take projects outside your expertise, and may not create duplicate profiles.
Do not use outside AI. Members "may not use, or rely upon, AI-generated content" on calls, surveys, written work or written responses, "other than as integrated and utilized by GLG in its systems."

That last rule has one wrinkle. The GLG for Experts app offers AI-suggested answers to screening questions, drafted from your past responses and profile, which you can edit before submitting. That is GLG's own system, which the code of conduct carves out. Pasting a chatbot's answer into a written response is not.

The code of conduct says breaking these rules "may result in removal" from the network, and that GLG may "terminate or limit an individual's membership" at any time and for any reason.

For where the legal line on confidential information sits, read our guide to material non-public information before your first call.

5. Calls and surveys are the default; deeper work needs Member Programs

A basic membership covers short work. GLG's Member Programs page says members who are not enrolled "are limited in terms of the quantity of projects" they can take, and that enrolling, which is free, lifts that limit and opens up written work, in-person meetings, events and expert witness work.

Enrolling usually means asking your employer. The compliance policies say employees, "other than from senior management," need written employer consent to join Member Programs. The Member Programs page asks for confirmation from HR, Legal or a similar group, or from your CEO, CFO, chief compliance officer or head of HR, and says GLG "will periodically contact" that person to reconfirm. If you are self-employed, retired or working independently, the page says GLG may be able to enroll you automatically.

Here is a made-up example. Priya is a procurement director at a mid-size medical device maker, and her contract allows outside consulting that avoids her employer's business. Her first GLG call is a 45-minute phone consultation about hospital purchasing trends. When a client later asks her for a written report, she needs Member Programs, which means a written yes from her company's HR or legal team first.

Check your own contract before you sign anything. Our post on reading a moonlighting policy walks through what to look for.

Read GLG's Network Member privacy policy before you join. It says GLG may:

Disclose your information to clients.
Share your information with current and former employers, and companies you have worked for, to confirm consents or approvals you need for a project.
Run background checks, including through a third-party service, to verify your employment history and education and check for criminal history.
Share your information with outside parties to promote GLG's business, such as on its websites, "subject to your right to opt-out, as provided in the Terms & Conditions."

It also notes that some clients must disclose their projects with you, for example "your name and the amount you were paid." Its example is a pharmaceutical company that must publicly report certain dealings with healthcare professionals. If you are a doctor or other clinician, assume a paid GLG project for a drug company could be reported publicly.

7. You can opt out of membership, but GLG does not promise to delete your data

Leaving is allowed. The same privacy policy says "Network Members may opt-out of membership in the GLG Councils," after which GLG "will use reasonable efforts to cease contacting" you. It also says GLG may keep your information "for its business purposes" after you leave, protected under the policy, and that you can see the personal information it holds (subject to its duties to clients) and ask for corrections.

None of GLG's member pages we read describe a self-serve "delete my profile" button. The privacy policy names an address for "requests relating to our use of your information": privacy@glgroup.com.

If you want out, write to privacy@glgroup.com, say you are opting out of Network Membership, and ask what data GLG will keep. Keep the details of past projects to yourself after you leave, too.

8. Pay is the rate you set, prorated by the minute

GLG pays "based on your set rate" once a project is completed, per its recruitment page, and its 2021 S-1 says members are generally paid that hourly rate prorated for the minutes spent. Our post on how much GLG pays covers what the public record says about amounts and how to pick your number.

Some paid expert work does not run through a network membership. On Instant Expert, a buyer invites you to a specific paid call or a written or voice answer and sets the amount up front, and you receive the full amount offered. You can reply with a higher price. To get started, claim your profile or see open paid requests on the request board.

Before you sign GLG's terms, write down your employer, its competitors and any topics your contracts rule out, and put them in your GLG profile on day one.