Iain reached out to me recently to tell me about The Consulting Bench and, once I learned about his background, I thought he’d be a great person for me to interview as a part of the series. Many visitors of this site are interested in Consulting and, for him to have gone from being a senior Consulting executive into becoming an entrepreneur, I believed that Iain’s story could inspire members of my member community. Also, after speaking with him over the phone, I found him to be a great guy, so I wanted to do whatever I could to help promote his latest venture.

For more information on The Consulting Bench, check out the following links:

• Website: http://www.consultingbench.com/
• How it works for employers: http://www.consultingbench.com/pages/employers.shtml
• How it works for candidates: http://www.consultingbench.com/pages/candidates.shtml
• Contact: http://www.consultingbench.com/pages/Contact.shtml

Immediately below this intro, you’ll find the press release announcing the launch of The Consulting Bench and providing a brief overview of the company and its offerings.

Following the press release, you’ll see the video interview of Iain Lopata. Thanks once again to Iain for letting me profile him in the “Conversations” series.

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Press release:

The Consulting Bench Launches Service for Job Seekers in Management and IT Consulting

Deerfield, IL – November 12, 2010 – The Consulting Bench (www.consultingbench.com ) launches today, providing consultants with a free, simple and highly confidential way to stay in touch with job opportunities in management, IT, strategic and HR consulting.  The company’s goal is to improve the effectiveness of the recruiting process for candidates and employers by addressing the unique requirements of the consulting job market.

Iain Lopata, CEO of The Consulting Bench, said, “The recruiting needs of the management, IT, HR and strategic consulting industry are not well served by general purpose job sites.  The Consulting Bench focuses on the industry, functional and technical skills of candidates and combines this with critical information such as travel expectations to better match candidates with employers.”

As in many industries, social media is reshaping the recruiting process for consulting job seekers and employers. This raises new issues of privacy and confidentiality for job seekers.

“Having it known that you are looking for a new job can have an immediate impact on project assignments, raises and promotions.  Job seekers need a confidential process to explore new opportunities without jeopardizing their current employment.  The Consulting Bench provides an easy way for candidates to keep track of new opportunities in the consulting industry without the typical risks involved.” said Mr. Lopata.

For employers there is no risk involved in using the services of The Consulting Bench.  Consulting firms can list open positions for as long as they wish at no cost.  The employer then receives screened candidate applications. Only if they decide to interview a candidate is there a fee of $300 to pay.  And there are no further charges should they choose to hire the individual.

Candidates are filtered in three ways before being presented to an employer.  This includes a direct review of resumes by professionals with experience in consulting to confirm that the candidate is a credible applicant. The three stage screening significantly reduces the number of unqualified applicants that employers need to review and process.

“We believe our unique operating model offers better value than traditional advertising, but with prices still in line with most recruitment media and far below the costs of retained and executive search firms.” said Mr. Lopata.

Mr. Lopata brings 26 years of consulting and management experience to his role as CEO.  Mr. Lopata was formerly Chief Technical Architect at Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company with more than 200,000 employees and over $20 billion in annual revenues.  Mr. Lopata is also an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.  He also serves as a counselor to small businesses through SCORE, a resource partner of the Federal Small Business Administration.

The consulting industry includes firms such as Accenture, ACS, Bain & Company, Booz Allen Hamilton, Capgemini, Cognizant, Computer Sciences Corporation, Deloitte Consulting LLP, HP Enterprise Services, IBM Global Services, Infosys, KPMG, McKinsey & Company, Wipro, Tata and an array of other firms, both large and small. The Consulting Bench’s goal is to serve the recruiting needs of these consulting firms in the strategic consulting, management consulting, IT consulting and HR consulting sectors. To learn more about current consulting jobs or to advertise a position, please visit www.consultingbench.com.

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Interview video: