Expert networks don’t operate like hiring platforms. Calls are not driven by applications or how recently you joined.

Expert calls are triggered by live client questions, often narrow, time-sensitive, and highly specific to market, role, and timing. This is why many qualified experts experience a “quiet” period after registering. Understanding that mechanism is key to navigating expert networks effectively.

Our article will help explain what happens after you register, why no calls are normal, and how to stay ready when demand hits.

What Happens to Your Profile After You Register at Arches

Once you hit submit, a few things happen behind the scenes:

1. Your profile is checked and standardized

• Your role, industry, geography, and seniority are reviewed.
• Your experience is translated from free text into structured signals: industry, function, region, channel, language, and scope.

The goal of this review is to validate and standardize your profile so it can be accurately aligned with the common screening criteria used across client briefs.

2. You get added to the Arches’ expert database 

Once approved, your profile is indexed into Arches’ structured expert database. 

Here, your profile is categorized using core demographic or basic tags such as industry, target companies, functions, seniority, and specific expertise.

This step ensures your expertise becomes ‘searchable and deployable’ when a matching demand arises.

3. Waiting for a Live Client Brief

Expert Calls at Arches are triggered by clients’ demand. In other words, experts are contacted only when a brief aligns with their specific profile tags.

Even if there’s no project yet in your exact niche, your profile still remains visible.

Why Have You Registered but Received No Projects?

Lack of project outreach is almost always about demand and timing, not expertise quality.

Here are the most common reasons:

#1: No live project matches your specific experience (yet)

Client briefs can be extremely specific, requiring an expert who meets all criteria at once: exact function, exact market, and recent execution experience. For example:

• Led battery or cell sourcing for EV manufacturers in China
• Worked directly with Tier-1 suppliers (CATL, BYD, LGES, etc.)
• Has recent, hands-on experience navigating local regulatory or export constraints

If your background is close but not exact, it usually means the client’s question hasn’t aligned with your niche yet, not that your experience is being ranked lower.

 #2: Your profile may not yet be scanable

Your clarity accelerates relevance.

If your profile says: “20+ years in banking. Experience in product, sales, and digital.”, it’s hard for the system to know exactly which use cases you’re best for.

A scanable profile clearly includes:

• What you did (decision-level responsibility, not just function)
• Where (market/country and type of company)
• When (recent, relevant time frame)
• In what context (product, channel, regulation, restructuring, scale, etc.)

Instead of broad summaries, surface decision-ready signals like:

“20+ years in banking, with recent focus on retail lending and digital products in Vietnam. Led cash-loan underwriting policy design and BNPL product rollout for a top-tier local bank, working directly with risk, compliance, and distribution teams.”

#3: Expert demand fluctuates by sector

Expert demand is cyclical and varies by industry. 

• Some months are quiet for: Retail, Consumer marketing, Traditional services
• Others spike suddenly for: Semiconductors, Energy, AI infrastructure

In these cases, the issue is timing, not the strength of your expertise.

Curious where demand is strongest right now? → Check our top 5 industries for expert insight in 2026.

How Experts Typically Get Called at Arches

For most experts, the first call does not happen immediately after registration. 

Once your profile is approved and indexed, it becomes active in Arches’ structured expert database. 

From our internal data, the average time to a first match is around 2-3 months. When the expert-client alignment appears, outreach can happen very quickly.

“I joined Arches and heard nothing for a while. Then a consulting firm launched a project on Southeast Asia manufacturing resilience. Because of my background in electronics sourcing and supplier audits, I was contacted and booked within a week.” – Former Electronics Manufacturing & Supply Chain Director, Active Expert at Arches

However, projects timing can vary depending on external, fluctuating factors such as:

• The current “heat” of your industry or niche 
• The types of clients Arches is supporting at a given moment (PE, consulting, corporate, etc.)

For this reason, we cannot guarantee a specific timeline for your first project. 

But this variability is a normal part of how expert networks operate, and staying patient while keeping your profile accurate and up to date ensures you are ready when the right demand emerges.

Across cases, the mechanism is consistent:

Experts are not activated by seniority or timing of registration, but by relevance to a live client question. No calls doesn’t mean “not selected.” It means the right question hasn’t arrived yet.

Zooming out, here is how an expert typically moves through the Arches system from registration to first call.

You are here!

Figure: Arches Expert Matching Flow

If your experience is niche, regional, or industry‑specific, there is likely a client who will need exactly that.

→ Apply to join the Arches Expert Network Sign up here

→ Check our Expert Payment Guide

→ Connect with us to learn more

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