Consulting vs. Permanent Placement: Why Not Consider Consulting?
Over the past several years, I have focused on matching candidates to new roles and organizations in a variety of HR consulting engagements. One of the most voiced concerns I’ve heard from candidates have been around determining whether or not consulting is for them.
While there are always pros and cons to consulting, below are a few of those pros to think about if you’re considering taking that leap into the consulting world.
The Pros of Consulting
You’re the Expert!
When a client is looking for interim help or assistance on a specific project, they are looking for an SME (Subject Matter Expert) to help them through their business objectives. This is where you and your experience come into play.
Clients will rely on you and your skills to be the expert, and you will be able to hit the ground running right away. As a consultant, you will deliver value quickly and complete what needs to be accomplished within the required time-frame.
Flexibility/Work-Life Balance.
The demand on your time is much more structured and much more reasonable. While you may have been used to working more than 40 hours per week, most consulting projects and engagements are tracked due to budgets and timelines. Many clients would rather not pay for the overtime, so the weekly hours will stay closer to the 40-hour mark, and the work will fall in line within that allotted budget of time.
There can also be a bit more flexibility in commute times in conjunction with starting and ending each day, as well as more possibilities for some level of remote work depending on the project needs. Having an opportunity to make the most of your day creates for a stronger work-life balance overall.
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Project-Based/Interim Help.
YOU get to decide where you want your experience and skills to be focused most. Do you like project-based work where there are specific business goals? Do you like to be part of a project team creating the initiatives for the primary objective? OR, would you want to keep the work you manage on a broader scale, bringing a more well-rounded experience to the table and filling in on an interim basis?
You’re in the driver seat when it comes to the projects and engagements you consider. Your interests will determine what type of work you would like to engage in for consulting roles. As a consultant, you decide!
Growth of Knowledge and Network (Systems, Industries, Skills, Etc.).
While you may be the SME on the project, most professionals are looking for continuous learning for growth, so they continue to be marketable and to take new skills and abilities to the next role. By consulting on various projects, with different organizations and industries, it allows for continuous growth. There may be new systems to learn, a different industry, new skills, new processes not utilized before, etc.
As a consultant, you will also be continuing to grow your network through meeting and working with new peers, teams, and leaders. You will be able to take those newly learned skills and experiences to the next role, making you that much more marketable in what you have to offer.
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Launch Your Consulting Career with Versique
There are several other pros, such as clients understanding what you are worth/valued at for your expertise (pay rates generally higher than a permanent salary), no politics, completing the project or business objective and moving on to a whole new company and industry, and more! These were just a few of the benefits of what consulting may look like should you consider it an option.
Does the autonomy and freedom of consulting sound attractive to you?
Learn more about how you can launch your consulting career with Versique.
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