Which is more important to consulting firms?

harri
Tue, 21 Jun 2005 01:53:33 +0000

I’m pretty sure your parents idea of consultants refers to the type of freelance consultants that individually contract with companies to provide certain industry knowledge or specialized advice. This type of consultant is different from consultants working for consulting firms.

Management consulting firms have been around for a whlie, but they’re rarely in the headlines because they generally work behind the scenes. This is why many people outside of business don’t know a lot about management consulting. Management consulting is more stable than freelance consulting because you’re hired by an actual consulting firm (not unlike being hired by a corporation). The firm you work for trains you and then as an employee of your firm you provide consulting services to client companies. Job secruity is higher because if a client company is on hard times then they may cut off the consulting services provided by your firm, but you will not lose a job. This is assuming that your firm doesn’t lose a ton of clients due to some kind of economic downturn. However, freelance consultants would lose their job if a client company no longer wanted consulting services. The major reason why people might lose their job at a consulting firm is if they’re failing to meet performance goals, which is what enables them to rise up the ranks. I think this process is called the “Up or Out” system. Otherwise, job secuirty at consulting firms is safe, and I hear the compensation and benefits is pretty nice at the top firms.