After decades in the federal public service, retirement can bring an exciting question: What’s next?
For some experienced federal government professionals, the answer isn’t to stop working completely. It’s an opportunity to use decades of knowledge and experience in a different way – through consulting.
We’ve worked closely with professionals across levels of the federal government, from AS to EX, and have seen experienced public servants successfully transition into consulting after retirement.
But consulting is different from simply continuing your previous job.
Before making the transition, it’s worth thinking carefully about how much you want to work, the expertise you want to offer and what you want this next stage of your career to look like.
If you’re considering consulting after federal government retirement, here are five important steps to help you prepare.
1. Decide What You Want Retirement to Look Like
Before looking for consulting opportunities, start with a more fundamental question:
How much do you actually want to work?
After 25 or 30+ years of building a career, you may not want another full-time commitment.
And that’s okay.
Think about:
- How many hours you’d like to work
- Whether you want short- or long-term engagements
- Whether you’re willing to travel
- How much flexibility you want
- The types of projects that still interest you
- Personal and family commitments
- How much time you want to take off before consulting
You don’t necessarily need to begin consulting immediately after leaving the public service.
Give yourself permission to enjoy retirement first.
Then decide what role – if any – you want work to play in this next chapter.
Consulting should ideally fit the life you’re trying to create rather than recreating the schedule you just retired from.
2. Maintain Your Professional Network
After decades in government, you’ve probably built something extremely valuable:
relationships.
Former colleagues, directors, executives, industry partners and other professionals already understand your expertise and how you work.
Stay connected.
Let trusted people know you’re considering consulting opportunities after retirement.
Attend industry events. Keep your LinkedIn profile current. Have occasional coffee conversations with former colleagues and professional contacts.
But don’t approach every conversation as a request for work.
Strong professional networks are built over years, and sometimes an informal conversation today leads to a consulting opportunity months later.
Your experience matters.
But the people who know and trust that experience can be just as important when you’re entering consulting.
3. Reposition Your Resume for Consulting
The resume that helped build your public-service career may not be the resume that helps you secure consulting work.
A consulting resume needs to communicate your expertise quickly.
Focus on recent and relevant experience, including:
- Major projects
- Project scope
- Leadership responsibilities
- Specialized expertise
- Problems you helped solve
- Teams or initiatives you led
- Measurable outcomes
- Relevant technical or policy knowledge
Think beyond responsibilities.
Instead of simply explaining what your position was, demonstrate what your experience allows you to do for an organization now.
That’s an important shift.
You’re no longer simply presenting yourself as someone qualified for a position.
You’re presenting expertise that can help solve a problem.
An experienced recruiter familiar with government consulting or a former colleague who has already made the transition can also provide useful perspective on how your resume will be interpreted outside the public service.
4. Understand Your Consulting and Contracting Options
“Becoming a consultant” can mean several different things.
Depending on the opportunity, you might work:
- Through a consulting or staffing firm
- As a subcontractor
- Through your own business
- As an independent professional
- As an employee working on consulting engagements
Each arrangement can have different implications for administration, income, taxes, pension planning, insurance and cash flow.
There can also be specific procurement considerations when the federal government contracts with former public servants, including certain requirements involving former public servants receiving a pension.
Before deciding how you want to operate, speak with the appropriate financial, accounting and legal professionals about your individual circumstances.
Understanding the business side of consulting before accepting your first engagement can prevent unnecessary surprises later.
5. Understand Security Requirements Before Pursuing Government Contracts
If you plan to consult on federal government contracts, security requirements deserve attention early.
However, this part of the original advice needs an important clarification.
An individual does not simply maintain or transfer their own security clearance independently. Under PSPC’s Contract Security Program, personnel screening is connected to eligible screened organizations and contract requirements. Individuals cannot initiate their own personnel security screening requests; the appropriate company security officer initiates them.
Existing government screening may sometimes be transferred, duplicated, updated or reactivated depending on the circumstances. PSPC’s current forms and processes specifically provide for those types of requests.
And if you’re establishing a one-person consulting company that wants to pursue federal contracts with security requirements, the organization itself may also need to be screened through PSPC’s Contract Security Program.
So before pursuing an engagement, determine:
What security requirements does the contract have?
Then work with the contracting organization and appropriate security officials to determine what screening is required and how your existing status may apply.
Government of Canada guidance on security requirements for contracting
Your Experience Still Has Value After Retirement
Retirement doesn’t erase 30 years of knowledge.
In fact, this stage of your career may give you an opportunity to use that knowledge more selectively.
You may decide to contribute to projects that genuinely interest you.
You may mentor others.
You may provide specialized expertise to organizations that don’t need (or can’t find) that knowledge internally.
Or you may simply take on occasional engagements while enjoying considerably more control over your time.
That’s one of the advantages of considering consulting after federal government retirement.
The goal doesn’t have to be starting another career.
It can simply be deciding which parts of your experience you’d still like to share.
Take Time Before Deciding What’s Next
After a long public-service career, there can be pressure to immediately answer:
“So, what are you doing next?”
You don’t need to have that answer on your final day.
Take some time.
Think about the work you genuinely enjoyed throughout your career. Consider the expertise people consistently came to you for. Decide how much of your time you’re willing to commit.
Then determine whether consulting fits the next chapter you actually want.
Considering Consulting After Federal Government Retirement?
At TerraHR Consulting, we’ve worked with experienced federal government professionals navigating the transition from public service into consulting.
We understand that this stage isn’t simply about finding another position. It’s about deciding how and whether you want to use decades of experience in the next phase of your professional life.
If you’re approaching retirement and would like to discuss your options, connect with Ana at TerraHR Consulting for a confidential conversation about what your next chapter could look like.
