Consultant Manual
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Manual for Consultants – AKDN Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Consultant Database – 1
AKDN Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Consultant Database
Manual for Consultants
Version 1.0 – June 2016
1. Purpose of this Manual
The purpose of this manual is to assist consultants in registering with the Aga Khan Development Network
(AKDN) Monitoring, Evaluation and Research (MER) Consultant Database, as well as assisting consultants who
wish to edit, maintain or delete their profile. Should you experience any problems in working with this
database that are not discussed in this manual, please contact consultants@akdn.org.
2. Registering with the Database
This section will guide you through registering yourself with the MER Consultant Database for the first time and
describe the fields contained in the registration form. Please remember that you can Save the information you
have entered at any point during the registration process and finish at a later time. Do so by clicking on the
Save button ( ) at the bottom of the registration screen.
Personal Details
Required
Field *
Description
Surname
Enter your surname (family name).
Given Name(s)
Enter your given or first name(s).
Title
Enter the title by which you would like to be referred.
Gender
Enter your gender.
Consultant Type
Enter your affiliation status as a consultant: as an independent consultant,
affiliated with an institution (university, company, etc.), or both.
Institution Name
If you noted that you are a consultant affiliated with an institution, provide the
name of the institution.
Nationality(ies)
Select the country or countries of which you are a citizen or permanent
resident.
* Required fields are marked with asterisk (*)
Contact Details
Required
Field *
Description
Email
Enter the email address at which you would like to receive messages from
AKDN.
Alternative email
You may also provide an additional email address at which AKDN staff
members may contact you.
Tel. (inc. country
code)
Provide the primary telephone number, including the country code, at which
you would like to be contacted by AKDN.
Alternative Tel.
(inc. country
code)
You may also provide an additional telephone number at which you would like
to be contacted by AKDN.
* Required fields are marked with asterisk (*)
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Manual for Consultants – AKDN Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Consultant Database – 2
Skills and Competencies
Language(s)
In this section you will be able to list all of the languages which you speak,
read, write and understand, including your native language (mother tongue).
To add additional languages, click on the green square ( ) to the right of the
last column. To delete additional language rows you have added, click on the
red square ( ) that appears next to the green square.
For each language, you are asked to rate your ability in each of the following four ability areas:
Speaking: the ability to produce speech in the language and to be understood by its speakers
Reading: the ability to read and understand texts written in the language
Writing: the ability to formulate written text in the language
Understanding: The ability to follow and understand speech in the language
You should rate each of these four ability areas at one of the following four levels:
Beginner: Basic proficiency equivalent to the A1 or A2 levels of the Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) *
Intermediate: Intermediate proficiency equivalent to the B1 or B2 CEFR levels
Fluent: Advanced proficiency equivalent to the C1 or C2 CEFR levels
Mother Tongue: First or native language
* For more information about the CEFR, see http://www.coe.int/lang-CEFR
Thematic Area(s)
Select the relevant area or areas in which you have expertise and in which you
are interested in consulting
Skill(s)
Select the applicable area or areas in which you have skills relevant to your
consulting work
International Experience
Select the country or countries in which you have work experience on a full-
time, part-time or consulting basis
AKDN Agency Experience
Select the AKDN agency or agencies with which you have had work experience
on a full-time, part-time or consulting basis
Professional History
In order to register, please note that it is required for you to complete at least one of these three fields:
entering a LinkedIn profile (or link to another professional networking site), a personal website or weblog, or a
recent copy of a resume or CV.
LinkedIn Profile
Provide the URL for your LinkedIn profile
Personal Website/Blog
Provide a link to any personal website or weblog that you maintain
Upload Resume/CV
You may upload a recent copy of your CV or resume in either PDF or Microsoft
Word (.doc or .docx) format
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Manual for Consultants – AKDN Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Consultant Database – 3
Once you have entered information into the registration form, please read the Terms and Conditions by
clicking on the phrase “Terms and Conditions”. This will open a pop-up window which displays the Terms and
Conditions of the Consultant Database. Accept them by clicking on the box to the left ( ).
Once you have entered information in all of the required fields (denoted by *), click on the light-blue Save
button or the Register button ( ) at the bottom of the screen. The Save button allows you to save the
information you have entered and finish your registration at a later time. Clicking the Cancel button ( ) will
clear all of the unsaved entries to the registration form.
Once you click on the Register button ( ), one of two things will happen. If you have not completed all of
the required fields, a red error message will appear. The required fields that you have omitted will be labelled
with a description in red lettering. If you correctly completed the registration form, a green message will
appear letting you know that your registration was successful.
You will then receive an email (at the account which was used to register your profile) from
consultants@akdn.org with the subject line “Welcome to AKDN’s MER Consultant Database”. If you do not
receive the email within a few minutes, please check that the email has not been routed to your
junk/spam/bulk folder.
You will be asked to click on the link contained in the email in order to verify your profile in the consultant
database and to change your system-generated password to that of a password of your choice. Passwords
must be at least 8 characters long and contain at least one upper-case letter, one lower-case letter, one digit
and one special character (e.g. ! & $ #). Confirm your password by entering it a second time in the field marked
Confirm Password. Once you have done this, click the Submit ( ) button in order to change
your password.
3. Editing, Maintaining and Deleting Your Profile
This section will guide you through the process of editing, maintaining and deleting your existing profile with
the MER Consultant Database. You will start by logging in to the database (http://consultants.akdn.net/login)
using your registered email address and password.
Editing Your Profile
Once you are logged in to your profile, you can make edits to your profile in one of two ways: 1) Click on the
Edit Profile button ( ) at the bottom of the page, or 2) Select the Edit Profile option from the Welcome
drop-down menu ( ) at the upper-right corner of the screen.
Once you have performed on of these two functions, you will be able to edit all of the fields in your profile.
Please refer to the preceding section, Registering with the Database, if you would like further information
about any of the fields.
Once you are finished editing your profile, click on the blue Update button at the bottom of the screen. Clicking
on the Cancel button ( ) will undo any unsaved edits you have made to your profile.
Changing Your Password
You can change your password by selecting the Change Password option from the Welcome drop-down menu
( ) at the upper-right corner of the screen. Enter your current password, and then select a new
password. Passwords must be at least 8 characters long and contain at least one upper-case letter, one lower-
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Manual for Consultants – AKDN Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Consultant Database – 4
case letter, one digit and one special character (e.g. ! & $ #). Confirm your password by entering it a second
time in the field marked Confirm Password. Once you have done this, click the Edit ( ) button.
Deleting Your Profile
You can delete your profile by selecting the Delete Profile option from the Welcome drop-down menu at the
upper-right corner of the screen. A pop-up message will then appear asking you if you are sure you want to
delete your profile. Once you select the option of deleting your profile, your request will be sent to the
database administrators.
Should you experience any problems or have any questions that are not discussed in this manual, please
contact consultants@akdn.org.