On ConsultEarth your profile is your portfolio. It is the first and often the only thing a client reads before deciding whether to reach out. You do not need a famous firm behind your name for it to work in your favour. You need it to show, clearly and honestly, what you have actually done. The difference is the gap between "Climate finance specialist, francophone West Africa" and "Passionate sustainability changemaker": one is findable and concrete, the other is neither. A few focused choices decide whether the right work finds you.
Choose your categories with care
Categories are how the platform matches you to assignments, so this is the single most important choice you make. Pick the areas where you can credibly deliver, not every field you have ever touched. A sharp, honest set of categories is matched more often than a long one, because every match it produces is a real fit. The field guide to categories explains what each area covers if you are deciding where you belong.
Lead with proof
Clients discover experts by proof, not pedigree. Give them something to find.
- Upload a current CV. It is the fastest way to fill out your profile and the first document many clients open.
- Add the projects you have delivered. Name the work, the place, and the outcome. Auditing a national grid operator's emissions inventory tells a client more than a paragraph of adjectives ever could.
- List the organisations you have worked with. They are shorthand a client reads quickly.
- Add your certifications. Where a credential is the price of entry for an assignment, having it visible keeps you in the running.
Write a headline that places you
Your headline should tell a client what you do and where you do it in a single line. Climate finance specialist, francophone West Africa is findable and concrete. Passionate sustainability changemaker is neither. Lean on strong nouns: your discipline, your region, the kind of work you take on.
Make it easy to start
If you offer advisory calls, set up your availability so a client can book time with you directly. A short first conversation is often how an assignment begins, and an expert who is easy to reach has a real edge over one who is not.
A complete, honest, current profile is not busywork. It is the difference between a feed full of relevant assignments and a quiet one. Put the proof up where it can be read, and let your track record open the doors a network never would.