Life After Corporate — 50Plus Apps

Your Second Act

Redefine What Work Means to You

Leaving a long career — whether through choice or circumstance — is one of the most significant identity transitions an adult can face. The tools here were selected to support every path: the executive consultant who wants to package decades of expertise, the entrepreneur finally building the business they deferred, and the person who simply wants to contribute meaningfully without the weight of a full-time role.

We cover board matching platforms, independent consulting infrastructure, encore entrepreneurship tools, and professional network management — the full toolkit for building a second career that reflects who you have become.

Curated Tools

Our Top Picks for Life After Corporate

From board opportunities to consulting infrastructure — tools that respect your experience.

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Board Matching

LinkedIn Board Connect

LinkedIn's dedicated board-matching feature connects experienced professionals with companies seeking non-executive directors. Optimising your profile for board searches is a different discipline to job searching — our guide shows you how.

★★★★☆ 4.4 · Essential Top Pick

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Consulting Platform

Catalant

The leading marketplace for senior independent consultants. Projects from Fortune 500 companies seeking C-suite-level expertise for specific strategic challenges. Average consultant on the platform has 20+ years of experience.

★★★★★ 4.6 · Member favourite

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Entrepreneurship

Enterprise Nation

The UK's leading community for people starting or growing a business — offering mentoring, events, and practical expertise. Across Europe, the EU's Enterprise Europe Network provides equivalent free business development support and funding guidance in every member state.

★★★★★ 4.7 · Highly valued

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Skills & Credentials

Coursera for Business

Update credentials in areas like ESG, digital transformation, or AI governance — topics that board directors and senior consultants increasingly need fluency in. Accredited programmes from leading universities.

★★★★☆ 4.3 · Widely used

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Solo Business

HoneyBook

Project management, client communication, invoicing, and contracts — all in one platform built for independent professionals. Particularly well suited to consultants and coaches running lean solo practices.

★★★★☆ 4.4 · Editor's choice

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Networking

Lunchclub

AI-powered professional networking that curates one-on-one introductions based on your stated interests and goals. Particularly valuable for executives re-entering the professional community after a career break or transition.

★★★★☆ 4.2 · Growing fast

Transition Framework

From Identity to Opportunity: A Practical Framework

The executives who transition most successfully share a common trait: they clarify their "offer" before going to market. Decades of accumulated expertise need packaging — not just a LinkedIn update.

Our editors have distilled the transition frameworks used by executive coaches into five practical steps that any outgoing executive can follow independently.

✓ Define your three-sentence value proposition
✓ Identify the two or three industries where your expertise is most portable
✓ Build a board-ready biography (distinct from a CV)
✓ Set up a consulting entity and basic infrastructure in a weekend
✓ Activate your dormant network systematically over 60 days

Read the Full Guide

Quick Wins

Three Things to Do This Month

Actions our career advisors recommend to every new member making a corporate transition.

Optimise Your LinkedIn

Rewrite your headline and summary for the role you want, not the role you had. Board profiles, consultant profiles, and entrepreneur profiles require a fundamentally different voice and vocabulary to executive profiles.

Join One Board Forum

Attend a single board-directors forum or alumni chapter event before committing to anything. The informal intelligence you gather about what companies actually look for in non-executive directors is invaluable and rarely written down anywhere.

Have the Fee Conversation

Most executives wildly underprice their consulting day rate in the first year of independence. Talk to three peers who have already made the transition — their honesty about what the market bears will save you from a costly first mistake.