The professional services industry is rapidly evolving in the face of technological disruption, shifting client expectations, economic uncertainty, and increasing regulatory demands. In this climate, simply being competent is not enough. Relevance is the new currency.

The professional services industry  is rapidly evolving in the face of technological disruption, shifting client expectations, economic uncertainty, and increasing regulatory demands. In this climate, simply being competent is not enough. Relevance is the new currency.

Why Staying Relevant Is Crucial

Remaining relevant in your sector is not just a matter of job security—it’s a strategic investment in your long-term professional value. Here’s why it matters:

Client Expectations Are Evolving: Clients now demand more strategic input, faster responses, and deeper sector knowledge from their advisors. If you cannot speak their language or anticipate their needs, you risk being replaced by someone who can—or by a piece of software.

Firms Are Restructuring: Many professional services firms are undergoing digital transformation and rethinking their business models. Those who upskill and innovate are seen as assets; those who don’t risk being sidelined.

The Industry Is More Competitive Than Ever: New entrants, globalisation, and technology are intensifying competition. Standing still means falling behind.

Technology Is Redefining Roles: AI, automation, and digital platforms are taking over routine work. Ask yourself how you are using AI in your current role to get ahead?  Relevance increasingly means offering insight, judgement, and empathy—things machines can’t easily replicate.

Benefits of Staying Relevant

Remaining current doesn’t just help you survive change—it helps you thrive in it. Here are the key advantages:

✔ Career Progression

You’re more likely to be promoted or headhunted if you demonstrate thought leadership, adaptability, and awareness of current trends.

Firms reward those who bring fresh ideas, identify new revenue streams, and contribute to strategic goals.

✔ Stronger Client Relationships

Staying on top of trends allows you to deliver value beyond the brief, turning clients into long-term partners.

Clients trust professionals who clearly understand their industry, challenges, and ambitions.

✔ Job Security and Mobility

Relevance gives you options. Whether you want to climb the ladder, pivot into a new role, or go independent, up-to-date skills and networks make it possible.

✔ Increased Confidence and Influence

When you’re informed and in demand, you speak with more authority, contribute more meaningfully, and have a seat at the table in critical discussions.

How to Stay Relevant: 8 Practical Strategies

1. Commit to Lifelong Learning and Upskilling

• Professional services revolve around knowledge—your expertise is your product.
• Stay sharp with a growth mindset and ask yourself; what was the last business book you read and how did you implement your learnings.
• What business podcasts and audio books do you listen to?

2. Embrace and Leverage Technology

Don’t fear tech—understand it and use it to your advantage:

• Get comfortable with AI tools, automation software, and cloud platforms used in your field.
• Stay informed on sector-specific technologies (e.g., legaltech, regtech, proptech).
• Champion digital adoption within your firm or department.

3. Strengthen Your Professional Network

• A strong network multiplies your relevance:
• Attend events, join professional associations, and participate in working groups.
• Build meaningful relationships with peers, mentors, and clients on platforms like LinkedIn.
• Share knowledge and offer introductions—it keeps you front-of-mind.

4. Develop Commercial and Strategic Awareness

• To offer true value, understand the business context behind your work:
• Follow sector news, regulatory changes, and economic trends that affect your clients.
• Learn how businesses operate—focus on profitability, operational risk, ESG issues, and digital growth.
• Position your advice within the bigger picture: “What does this mean for the client’s bottom line or long-term goals?”

5. Build a Strong Personal Brand

• In a competitive sector, visibility is as important as ability:
• Share insights or lessons from your work (while respecting confidentiality).
• Publish articles, speak at events, or lead internal training sessions.
• Be known for something—whether it’s expertise in a specific regulation, sector, or methodology.

6. Be Client-Centric and Responsive to Change

• Clients increasingly seek agile partners who can pivot quickly and deliver tailored solutions:
• Enhance your listening and questioning skills to better understand what clients really want.
• Be flexible and collaborative when navigating ambiguity or shifting priorities.
• Go beyond billable hours—offer value-added ideas or make relevant introductions.

7. Seek Mentorship—and Offer It

Mentorship is not only about guidance—it’s about perspective:

• Find a mentor who challenges you to think differently and plan long-term.
• Offer to mentor juniors or graduates—it keeps you sharp and grounded.
• Participate in reverse mentoring to gain insights from younger professionals and digital natives.

8. Stay Agile and Open to Reinvention

• The ability to adapt is a powerful differentiator:
• Explore lateral moves or secondments to expand your perspective and skills.
• Learn how to manage change and ambiguity—especially during restructuring or transformation projects.

Be ready to pivot—your career path may not be linear, and that’s okay. By continually developing your expertise, embracing technology, cultivating relationships, and staying attuned to clients’ needs, you not only protect your career—you elevate it.

Relevance leads to influence, resilience, and opportunity. It helps you deliver meaningful impact for your firm and clients—and ensures your professional life is both secure and fulfilling.

When you’re aiming to be the best you can be at something, burnout can become a problem. Developing your own way of avoiding burnout is crucial for emerging talent as the responsibility and impact of your role increases over time. 

What does burnout look like? 

There are several early warning signs for burnout. If you constantly feel physically and emotionally exhausted even after a full night’s sleep, increased irritability, sleep disturbances, changes in appetite, frequent illness, difficulty concentrating, reduced performance, detachment, negative outlook or even physical symptoms such as headaches, muscle tension or other unexplained aches and pains.  

I’ve experienced burnout several times in my life. It’s never been due to external pressures but always a result of the pressure that I put upon myself. 

There was a time during early 2021 where I’d recently become a dad for the first time, taken a step up to director and was doing all I could to develop new business but hitting brick wall after brick wall.  

I was lucky enough to have a supportive employer who encouraged me to have some time off, focus on me and my family and I was able to come back to work energised. 

When you work hard at work, in a job that’s mentally or emotionally challenging it can impact other aspects of your life. 

I’m not an expert on burnout but I can be open about what works for me in the past. 

To give you a bit of context, I work full-time, I’m a husband and I’m also a dad to 3 under 5’s. 

Life is a real juggling act. To be a good leader, individual contributor, husband and dad concurrently is a challenge that I certainly haven’t nailed yet. 

With that context in mind, this is what I do to try to maintain as much balance as possible. 

Use my annual leave 

It may sound simple but it’s important to slow down and take a real break from work a few times per year. Where your out of office is on, your work phone is off, and you’ve got other people that you can rely on to look after your workload. Taking breaks can improve mental health, productivity and overall wellbeing. 

I find it really useful to have something to look forward to and properly plan for my time off which enables me to properly switch off. 

Taking breaks can prevent long-term health issues related to chronic stress. 

Exercise 

This is where I have tripped up in the past, life has been so busy that I’ve not made the time to go for a swim, run, cycle or walk. This is now a non-negotiable for me. I walk or run on my lunch break or go for a run after the kids are in bed. 

Even a short walk during your lunch break or on your morning commute will make a difference. One small change that I introduced is that I always take the stairs when possible.  

Practise Mindfulness  

This can be different for everyone. I’ve tried meditation, deep breathing and journaling. The easiest way for me to practise mindfulness is by trying to focus on one thing. My mind is naturally very busy, I find reading a book enables me to focus on one thing, so I pop on my noise cancelling headphones (to avoid distractions), put on some lo-fi music and read a book. I also try to take regular “mindful walks” with my kids. 

Mindfulness is a great habit to get into so by encouraging my kids to listen to the sounds of birds or look out for different plants and animals, it’s giving them a good foundation for the future when they can sit still… for longer than 30 seconds. 

Mindfulness helps to reduce anxiety and improve concentration.  

Focus followed by a break 

Throughout the day I have periods of hyper focus. Take right now for instance. I’m focusing on writing a blog. I’ll spend 45-60 minutes “in the zone” and then I’ll have a 5 – 10 minute break. During my period of focus, I’ll be consciously productive and avoid all distractions. My way of working is based on a mix between the pomodoro technique and time boxing.  

Hobbies/Volunteering 

I’ve always found volunteering helps me take my mind off my everyday worries/challenges. It allows me to give back and to be part of a different, diverse team. I volunteer with DadBodsNI, a not for profit who’s mission it is to support, educate, connect and inspire Dads and their families in NI while promoting healthy habits and making happy memories. Volunteering has always given me a sense of accomplishment and purpose. 

Hobbies can provide a creative outlet and balance work stress – lots of the high performing executives that I know are very active, they run marathons and some are triathletes… (perhaps one day eh?)  

Quality sleep 

Good sleep improves cognitive function and productivity. We all have different sleep needs but like most things, quality trumps quantity. Having a wind down routine, a cut off for being on screen time and being in a calming and dark environment can help. 

What we eat and drink throughout the day will impact the quality of our sleep. I try to avoid caffeine after 14:00 (up until that point, I drink a lot of coffee). 

Conclusion 

 As mentioned before, we’re all different and you may have your own strategies that help you to avoid burnout.  

I find time off, exercise, mindfulness, focus strategies, volunteering and focusing on good sleep hygiene work well for me.  

Everyone’s journey to high performance is different and you’ll have different challenges at different times; like when you move from an individual contributor to a leadership/management role. Your journey is unique and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to avoiding burnout. 

If you find yourself struggling with burnout despite trying these strategies, It’s important to seek professional help. It’s okay to ask for support, and professional guidance can make a significant difference. 

Take care of yourself and keep striving for excellence.  

 – Michael Hewitt

Director, Executive Search

Executive search often operates behind the scenes. It can lack transparency and unless you are working at an executive level or are responsible for hiring for succession plans, you probably haven’t had too much exposure to it. 

It can often get lumped in with agency recruitment but it’s important to highlight the differences.  

To better understand the unique aspects of executive search, let’s break down its core functions: 

• Building an understanding of the problem that the candidate will solve. Getting to the bottom of the “challenge”. We use assessment tools and our experience to build a deep understanding of your business and ensure there is panel alignment at the start of the process. We can often give an external perspective and help define a role beyond a typical job description 

• Research – Identifying relevant candidates in the market – we follow a SHREK-style methodology and leverage various tools along with our trusted referral networks. 

• Candidate Engagement – that initial outreach, the compelling reason for why somebody should speak to us which allows us to pitch the challenge and opportunity for impact. 

• Assessment – Ensuring fit for both parties. This is arguably up there with understanding the problem when it comes to the most critical stage but it’s an area that often has the least emphasis.  

For this blog, I’ll focus on Assessment. The reason for this is most search firms have access to the same tools, usually have similar research methodologies and all should high engagement levels when it comes to engaging with the marketplace for critical roles. 

How do you ensure fit or predict the success of a potential hire? 

Oftentimes, it’s based on a coffee with a candidate or a formal job interview but for critical, high value roles, there are various assessment tools that can help de-risk your decision making. 

At Corvus People, we work with our clients to design an assessment process relevant for the role. They allow you to make your decisions based on data and avoid the wasted time meeting candidates that aren’t right for the role. 

Mental Agility Testing: designed to measure cognitive abilities, including verbal comprehension, mathematical skills, and reasoning. The test evaluates how quickly and accurately you can perform mental tasks, often used by employers during the hiring process to gauge general intelligence and problem-solving capabilities 

Behavioural profiling: Corvus uses behavioural assessments to ensure cultural fit, which requires critical analysis of candidates beyond their CVs and interviews. 

Critical thinking assessments: As part of their selection process, Corvus includes critical thinking assessments for candidates. This directly evaluates a candidate’s ability to navigate complex information environments, a crucial skill in today’s business landscape. 

Emotional intelligence evaluation: By assessing emotional intelligence, Corvus recognises the importance of leaders who can effectively manage relationships and make sound judgments in emotionally charged situations. 

Behavioural Interviews: We design and deliver competency-based interviews with a comprehensive scoring matrix to allow us to fairly assess and rank candidates. 

Once candidates have been through an assessment process, the top candidates will be presented to you via our portal where we will share all the data to ensure that you are properly prepared for interviews. 

The success of Corvus People’s approach is evident in our results. 97% of our candidates introduced through Executive Search have remained in their new roles for 12 months or more. This high retention rate suggests that our approach leads to strong matches between candidates and organisations. 

Our Human Capital Management Consulting services complement our search services by ensuring the chosen candidate is set up for success.  This holistic approach recognises that success is not just based on hiring the right person but also, developing them for long-term organisational success. 

Corvus People is well-positioned to help organisations navigate the challenges of misinformation and complex decision-making in executive hiring. Our approach aligns with the growing need for leaders who can think critically, adapt to changing environments, and make informed decisions based on thorough analysis rather than intuition or potentially misleading information. 

Corvus People, exemplifies the importance of assessments and critical thinking in executive search and talent acquisition. Their approach to Executive Search, demonstrates a deep understanding of the challenges posed by misinformation and the need for thorough, data-driven decision-making in hiring processes. 

The ability to search and find suitable candidates is only the first half of the process which is underpinned by a data-led process designed for critical and executive hires. This methodology incorporates several elements that highlight the importance of critical thinking: 

In-depth analysis: Corvus Executive Search consultants invest time with their client’s senior teams to understand the business, culture, and roles thoroughly. This approach ensures a comprehensive understanding of the client’s needs, reducing the risk of misinformation or misalignment. 

Cutting-edge technology: By leveraging advanced tools, Corvus can sift through vast amounts of information to identify qualified candidates. This tech-enabled approach helps in managing the information overload often associated with executive search. 

Behavioural profiling: Corvus uses behavioural assessments to ensure cultural fit, which requires critical analysis of candidates beyond their CVs and interviews. 

Critical thinking assessments: As part of their selection process, Corvus includes critical thinking assessments for candidates. This directly evaluates a candidate’s ability to navigate complex information environments, a crucial skill in today’s business landscape. 

Emotional intelligence evaluation: By assessing emotional intelligence, Corvus recognises the importance of leaders who can effectively manage relationships and make sound judgments in emotionally charged situations. 

The success of Corvus People’s approach is evident in their results. They report that 97% of their Corvus Assured candidates have remained in their new roles for 12 months or more. This high retention rate suggests that their critical thinking-based approach leads to better matches between candidates and organisations. 

Corvus People’s services extend beyond just filling positions. They offer Human Capital Management Consulting services, which focus on developing and retaining top talent. This holistic approach recognises that critical thinking skills are not just crucial for hiring but also for long-term organisational success. 

In the face of recruitment challenges, Corvus People’s methods have proven effective. Clients have reported success in filling complex roles with demanding skill sets, even when previous attempts had failed. This success can be attributed to Corvus’s thorough, critical approach to understanding both the role requirements and the candidates’ capabilities. 

By emphasising critical thinking in their processes, Corvus People is well-positioned to help organisations navigate the challenges of misinformation and complex decision-making in executive hiring. Their approach aligns with the growing need for leaders who can think critically, adapt to changing environments, and make informed decisions based on thorough analysis rather than intuition or potentially misleading information.