For candidates: becoming an interregna interim manager
Interregna’s clients offer exciting challenges in the form of interim opportunities for confident, well-rounded senior executives with a track record of achievement.
In addition to your proven professional skills and the ability to hit the ground running, you will need to give evidence of flexibility, responsiveness, adaptability – and a readiness to take control of your own destiny.
Obviously, you must be open to working for a defined period – contracts typically last three months to a year – rather than on a permanent basis. You should also be prepared for taking on assignments at short notice.
Beyond the UK, many Interregna clients operate across Europe or further afield, so you could well expect substantial travel. Cross-cultural awareness and foreign-language skills are thus often a plus for Interregna candidates.
Achieving for your client
Above all, you need to be committed to making a positive difference to your client’s business. The prime imperative will always be to deliver projects on time and on budget. Your prowess as a project manager will be complemented by a sensitivity to each client’s culture and operating procedures, and by your capacity to evolve with the requirements of your role.
Beyond offering hands-on managerial skills, you will need to be quick to learn and ready to fit in with new surroundings, cultures and colleagues. While the emphasis is very much upon accountable, results-driven interim management, it is likely that you can offer the kind of fresh perspective that clients would expect from a consultant.
What you will earn as an interim manager
You act as an interim manager, not as an interim consultant, and your day-rate will be calculated accordingly – taking into account your responsibility for your own tax, national insurance, sick days, holiday periods and so on. Interregna charges you no membership fee and generates revenue purely from a margin on the client’s payment. The majority of Interregna interim managers work through the legal structure of their own personal services company (PSC), which demonstrates their commitment to a career in interim management.
Interregna is a long-standing member of the Interim Management Association.
For more information on becoming an Interregna interim manager, or to email us your CV, please contact us
Do you have what it takes to be an Interim Manager?
If you can answer yes to most of the following questions, then click the link at the bottom of the page to send us your CV.
Do you handle interviews well?
The selection process for interim managers often takes only a few days – you must make a positive impact at the earliest opportunity.
Do you have a demonstrable track record of achievement? Are you happy to be judged entirely on what you deliver?
Interregna’s clients rely on us to present interim managers who can demonstrate achievement in demanding situations.
Are you a rounded and experienced problem solver?
Interregna’s clients have issues to be resolved and jobs to be done. They want an interim manager to deliver solutions and results – not just advice or an opinion.
Are you happy to work without the status of board position and company perks?
Interim management often means working alongside a director on a specific project, or providing temporary cover before moving on to your next interim project.
Can you walk into a business on Monday morning and grasp its essence by Monday afternoon?
Interim managers need to assess the situation rapidly and rapidly make decisions that will lead to delivery on budget and on schedule.
Can you quickly win over any sceptics among your new colleagues?
To deliver results, you must prove credible and persuasive at the earliest opportunity, securing co-operation where you need it.
Do you have the stamina and drive to start anew, in a new environment, on a repeated basis – maybe every six months?
Many senior people function best within the comfort zone of a familiar working environment; as an interim manager you will constantly face fresh challenges.
Do you mind living out of a suitcase for weeks on end?
Interregna might well ask you to take an assignment outside daily commuting reach -- either in the UK or elsewhere in Europe, sometimes further afield.
Have you worked in different cultures across Europe, and can you do business in another European language?
Many of Interregna’s assignments involve working partly or entirely outside the UK. Permanent staff might expect specific training and induction, but as an interim manager, from day one, you will need to be as confident operating in, say, Amsterdam or Frankfurt as you are in London or Leeds.
Are you committed to being an interim manager?
From the questions above, you can see that interim management positions are not for the faint-hearted and you shouldn’t expect an easy ride. You need to think carefully about interim management as a career commitment and as a lifestyle decision. Interregna and our clients are not looking for interim managers who are just “filling in time between permanent jobs”.
Have you established a personal services company (PSC) through which you market your services?
The vast majority of interim managers work through the legal structure of their own PSC, demonstrating a commitment to their career choice.
Interregna is a long-standing member of the Interim Management Association.
For more information on becoming an Interregna interim manager, or to email us your CV, please contact us
