Getting experience

"Some kind of B2B consultancy role"? That's a very broad goal for a very specific job in a very wide industry.

I'm assuming you've already researched in detail what it means to be a "B2B consultant" practicably? There are specific requirements and the majority of these positions require a significant amount of work experience. As well as a commercial network.

From your post, I can't get a sense of how much work experience outside of academia you have, if any. And from what I know of any consultancy role, as well as my own experience of B2B, a postdoctoral researcher in Philosophy at a university and a couple of years of business experience aren't going to net anything more than the current responses already received, especially if the business/commercial experience is not in-depth (i.e., approaching a solid 10 years in related roles).

For example, if I received your CV for such a post, my questions would be: What amount of work experience outside of academia do you have that is relevant to this post? Do you have several solid years' commercial experience in the consultancy area you're apply for? And, do you practicably understand what B2B involves and what it actually means to be a consultant? (This last question would be my biggest concern, since I'm getting the impression from your post that more understanding of a "B2B consultancy role" is still needed.)

Copywriting as a demo of B2B knowledge/experience? I'm skeptical about how this would be practicably relevant to the job you want to apply for. While I can see how research (including interviewing subjects, etc.) would be an asset, and would provide details, I would probably not count copywriting for much here. As a writer, I wince at saying that. As an employer, I would be looking at a potential consultant's ability to problem-solve curve-ball situations practicably — which would come from years of commercial experience. Copywriting for me, in this case, would be theory that anyone could pull together.

Websites, I have none for this type of work. You might try the job websites again.

How to get experience? Internships. Work-shadowing.

But, the only advice I would really recommend: figure out the exact area of B2B consultancy you want to get into, then apply for the right types of jobs to get the right type of experience for such a position. You may have to work your way to consultant starting from entry level jobs, or close to.

Hope this helps a bit.

If any of this response is off-base, please disregard.

(P.S. Just a quick fyi: my career to date has been a B2B marketer and B2B writer.)

Well, I'm not trying to dim your hopes, but being a post doctoral researcher in philosophy is pretty much useless in almost all of B2B communication jobs. Heck, a Doctorate in Philosophy is pretty much useless as credentials for any work outside of academia.

So, this means starting from scratch in a new career or finding that unique niche you can fit into, such as B2B communications for the research and academic industries (if they can be called industries). At any rate, you'll still need some B2B experience and a resume that shows a knowledge of communications. If you had a Bachelor's in Communications it might help, as an example. You would normally get that experience the same way anyone would, internships, course work, etc.

Good luck.

Jeff

Diomedes said:

I'm 27 years old and am a postdoctoral researcher in Philosophy at a university. I am trying to prepare alternative experience to move into some kind of B2B consultancy role once this research position ends. I've tested the water by applying for recruitment consultant positions, and have had minimal responses - it seems sales experience and some sort of B2B contact is the only means to get your foot in the door.

To get this I've thought about copywriting to demonstrate at least some B2B savviness - I can't really do anything else that I can balance with my current work. I've looked at upwork.com, but I'm not sure that that is the best place - it seems very competitive, the jobs are generally span too long a length of time (i.e. regular contact and going on for weeks), and at this point I would much rather do the work for free. Does anyone have any other websites or means through which to get some experience?

Best,
D

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You're in Dublin, which is a great place for technical writing. I'd start by looking at Uni and doing some volunteer tech editing. Handouts for, say, using a library database. Even if you don't get paid, it will it least give you a chance to produce samples.

Talk to the library about opportunities to write. Talk to the local research support/IT support office and offer to write.

As a philosophy grad, you should be able to write precisely and concisely. Look at some documentation guides to get an idea of what to call things and the general style that is both correct in terms of terminology and easy to follow.