APA Webinars Series: How Did You Get that Job?

Speaker information and Biographical Form

Current Position Description and Information

Name: Melanie Kinser, PhD

Title: Principal Consultant/ Executive Board Member – SCP Division 13 – Education Domain Leader

Current Affiliation: ThinkWyn

Highest Degree Obtained: PhD

Field or sub-discipline (i.e., I/O Psychology, Neuroscience, Social, Clinical): School Psych

  1. Please provide us a short description of your current position, and the work you do on a daily basis. This will be made available to the attendees on a handout as part of the webinar resources (no more than 250 words is needed):

For the first 5 years of my career as an external consultant, I was a “road warrior” (aka worked for an external consulting firm and was contracted to travel 75%). I traveled to client locations to facilitate leadership seminars and to coach leaders of organizations on strengthening their culture and their leadership skills. It was a fantastic experience and a huge learning curve to climb to learn the language of business after many years in academia.

As we started a family, I transitioned my focus to work that can be done remotely or locally. Currently, I split my time between coaching leaders, conducting selection assessments and consulting to organizations. I developed expertise in helping strengthen safety cultures in high-risk industries and still have a lot of business that comes my way in that arena.

  1. In your current job, are there other titles/roles for people doing similar work at other organization, universities, or companies? If so, what are those titles/roles?

Business Consultant, Psychological Consultant, Organizational Development Manager/Specialist, OD Consultant, Leadership Coach, Executive Coach, Trusted Advisor

  1. What skills and abilities did you learn in your training (i.e., graduate school, postdoctoral experience), do you find are most useful in your job/career?

My PhD is in School Psychology so some of my training was transferable and some was less so. The heavy focus on assessment as well as my coursework focused on Consultation to Schools and Organizations has been most useful. I have had to pursue much of my own learning and development outside of my formal coursework in order to ensure I had the necessary foundation to provide quality services and expertise. I navigated the University to get permission to take courses in other departments once I discovered I wanted to be a consultant. I volunteered in order to attend conferences and institutes where I was exposed to seasoned consultants and had the opportunity to listen to their idea-sharing and debate on challenges in the field.

Because many of the practicum in my graduate program were not as closely focused on what I wanted to do long-term, I sought out a graduate assistantship and later an internship, that focused on coordinating a Leadership Development Program with Deans and Senior Administrators across a University System. My office was in the same suite as many of the VPs of the University System. It gave me an opportunity to work closely with executives running a large organization. I helped coordinate the program and we hired in a team of external consultants. I saw first hand how they ran their leadership programs, how they developed content and even helped put together content for their programs. In essence, it was what many entry-level consultants do for many years in big firms, however I got that exposure while in graduate school which was fantastic.

I got involved in the Society of Consulting Psychology – Division 13 (SCP) of APA and that has been the single-most valuable training and networking resource of my career. I volunteered to serve in a leadership role for students and over the last 10 years have served in several leadership roles on the Board and leading various committees. I have built relationships with lifelong friends and colleagues that I can call and have very candid conversations about work dilemmas. Through making a commitment to attend the conferences every year, I have built a strong network that has helped connect me with several job opportunities. My first full-time consulting job I learned about at an SCP happy hour. They never asked for references because they simply asked around and I had a positive reputation within the division that likely helped me to “break in” to the field. A huge percentage of my work comes from referrals or partnerships I have with people I met through SCP.

Career Pathway and Past Experiences

  1. How did you get the job you are currently in? Please provide a brief history of your career path/journey. Our attendees are interested in knowing more about how one achieves a current position like yours, and what opportunities or experiences help open doors or create opportunities.

In 2012, I opened my own consulting firm. It has required me to engage in a lot of networking and presenting at conferences to try and get my name out. I also built partnerships with several organizations. I teach executive leadership courses through the Colorado School of Mines, targeted at leaders in heavy industry as I had previously developed expertise through my consulting work with companies in that space. I’ve managed the ups and downs of having a small business (i.e. inconsistent revenue)by doing subcontract work for other firms. Having experience at a large firm helped me to get trained on some of the fundamentals of consulting such as business development, contracting and effective facilitation. While many of my colleagues at the firm were psychologists, we focused on learning the language of business. I engaged in global client projects that I would never be able to land or service out of my small firm. They required a much larger team with global reach. A few of the benefits of working with a firm is the scope of work they can land, having a consistent paycheck and having the opportunity to learn from more seasoned consultants. Mentoring is one of the best ways to learn the ropes in this line of work. The downside of external consulting with a firm is you are likely traveling a huge portion of your time.

  1. If someone wanted to follow a similar career path to your own, how would you suggest going about it? Please offer specifics/examples whenever possible: (Example: Networking is key. You should join XXXX LinkedIn groups, go to XXXX Meetups and attend XXXX meetings)
  1. Join Division 13 – Society of Consulting Psychology and get involved in networking
  2. With membership, you get great informal dialogue with highly seasoned consultants when you gain access to the listserv.
  3. Consider also joining the SCP LinkedIn Group
  4. Bookmark this Blog and watch for upcoming Webinars and CE Events
  5. Review the SCP Education & Training Guidelines for Consulting Psychology
  6. Consider registering for the 2017 Transitioning Consultants Training Group
  7. Learn about (and join if desired) SIOP– Society of Industrial/Organizational Psychology
  8. Familiarize yourself with the following and what they do/offer:
  9. PDI/KornFerry/Lominger
  10. RHR International
  11. Hay Group
  12. Center for Creative Leadership
  13. Hogan Assessments
  14. Executive Development at Universities (Kellogg, Wha Sloan, Harvard, Michigan, IDEO, Stanford)
  15. VA OD Internships
  16. If you are a student, research programs at Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Walden, Rutgers or Alliant University programs that have a focus on Consulting Psychology. (Disclaimer: I’m not endorsing any of these in particular.)
  17. Learnthe language of business – read the Wall Street Journal,Harvard Business Review and Strategy+Business.
  18. Consider what niche of business you have existing knowledge/skills in (e.g. family business, what your parents did, what your spouse/partner does, your life experiences). Where do you have some in-depth knowledge that you could pair with your understanding of human behavior to provide high-value insights to the leadership?
  19. Be willing to work for free (within reason). This is a good test of how badly do you want to make the transition. Non-profits or university departments can be easier entry points. Offer a free seminar or service to get your foot in the door and start building relationships. You can offer a lightweight version of your services to expose them to what you can do and as a way for you to iron out the kinks with your materials and flow.
  20. Stay within the bounds of what you know. Don’t stray too far into business strategy or areas that you aren’t well equipped. You may set yourself up for failure and potentially introduce unnecessary riskfor your clients.
  1. Are there specific resources for open positions in your career field, and if so what are they?
  • SCP – Division 13 of APA- LinkedIn or SCP website
  • SIOP Job Board and annual job fair
  • APA
  • Big consulting firm websites (see list above)
  • NCOD (at the VA) hires lots of early career consultants and offers internships/post-docs
  • Recruiters such as

Page 1

Updated 5.2017