7 Ways CxO’s Can Supplement Their Income During An Executive Transition

Executive job transitions can take 2 to 24 months to complete. Many executives who are between gigs find that creating additional or multiple streams of income during these times feel less pressure and anxiety as well as increased confidence and energy.

If you are in a full time search and interested in generating additional income, here are a few options I have seen other executives explore:

1. Management Consulting - jobs in management consulting (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) have DOUBLED over the last 10 years. If you are experienced in your niche, this can make exceptional additional income! Guru and Elance are great sites for getting the word out and giving you the ability to instantly bid on projects. www.flexjobs.com and lp.experteer.com are two other options.

2. Higher Ed Adjunct Teaching - teach part-time in your area of expertise and get paid for it! Adjunct teaching is increasingly popular with state and local colleges as they do not have to cover benefits. You can search some of those positions here: https://www.higheredjobs.com/adjunct/.

3. Ebay/Craigslist/ETSY  - the business you can do using these mediums is pretty phenomenal. I know many people who generate significant income off these sites.

4. Interim Executives  - many companies are looking for interim executives for various reasons. Most of the largest recruitment firms in the U.S. including Heidrick and Struggles, Russell Reynolds, Spencer Stuart and Spherion now have specialized practice areas for interim executive placement. Private Equity firms hire interim executives when building new teams for their investment portfolio companies. Some need turnaround experts.

5. Corporate Project Assignments  - gear a version of your resume toward project assignments, highlighting the key skills/strengths you are really experienced in. This strategy appeals to companies (even for some full time positions) because these positions don't require automatic long-term commitments, benefit packages and contracting projects can generally meet many corporate challenges at significant savings to them. The benefits to you are clear including getting your foot in the door for more permanent work and giving you a chance to see if you and said company are a fit!

6. Earn Income From Your Hobby  - a few things I have seen people (and yes including many executives) do in the past includes selling fresh baked bread or veggies at their local farmers market, charcuterie, jerky or beer making/crafting, dog boarding or training, day care, ghostwriting, graphic design, selling antiques, being a tour guide for your local town or an activity like fly fishing, equestrian lessons and photography. Sometimes these side passion projects blow up and become full time careers.

7. Public Speaking or Internet Thought Leader/SME - are you a thought leader in your industry? Have you been actively involved in your industries association? Consider paid speaking engagements on hot button topics and sharing your expertise with those who could benefit from it. This is a whole world and an industry but if you like to speak about what you know and have great information to share – it is possible to get paid for this. Don’t want to travel? Well, the internet is the new real estate and social media is the new stage. Consider perhaps sharing what you know online via video or podcast or writing an ebook.