.... So it's a fancy term for 'Temp.'

A couple of buddies of mine are doing this right now, and are LOVING it. Both are no-college schlubs who somehow now make just over and just under six figures annually, respectively. The dude who's over 100K is single with no kids and no overhead. His is the ALPHA LIFE.

I bet he cries himself to sleep on his huge pillow.

Right after he fucks a bag of money.

I'm not technically a consultant either, just a road whore now- for instance, today's fun:

1) Wake up in own bed in FL
2) Fly to Pittsburgh through Cincinnatti
3) Spend 2 hrs in company US headquarters before
4) Getting LOST as a muthafugga driving from Pittsburgh to Wheeling, W. Va. And I mean pig-trails, one-lane bridges lost.
5) Went to a GIANT Cabela's to buy a jacket because the weather is signifcantly different here than where I woke up this AM.
6) At least the hotel has high speed Net access.

2 days in the land of the 6- toed sister bangers, then in Pittsburgh until next Thursday. Then back home for a few days, then a few days in Corpus Christi the following week, then South Korea for 2 weeks, then Madrid for 3 weeks, then back to Pittsburgh until Thanksgiving.

It's not a glamorous lifestyle.

What the hell do they DO?!?! I just don't understand. "Consultant" is too ambiguous a term for this to be anything more than a bullshit profession.

If temp didn't imply admin/secretary work, yes.

if temps were by and large skilled in developing database and handling processes like i need them to be, then i wouldn't look for any consultants at all. but they're not, and i am. temps do things that you don't want to do, consultants do things that you don't need to learn.

and as proof that this sucks, i'm seriously considering walking to the TGI Fridays AGAIN for dinner instead of QDoba or Subway or Tim Hortons. Again.

TGIFridays is an epicurean indulgence compared to Applebee's. And I hate that I've been to either.

So you're not actually CONSULTING?

I have had the inverse experience. The only marginally-decent T.G.I.Friday's to which I have been was the one located adjacent the Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. Otherwise... they've been a .

Meanwhile, I do enjoy Applebee's, save for one location (Greendale, Wisc.). I think that one did have rats, though. But, the rest: .

Hey Tentoze, I'm in Jax too. Small world.

I'm an environmental consultant. Lots of hours. Travel varies. That's why none of yous know much about me. I'm too busy working so I make random and infrequent posts at midnight EDT.

My job affords me a lot of time to listen to music, but it's hard to find time to discuss it on the obner.

Ok. So PLEASE tell me what you do. Do you actually give consultation on things? People ask you what to do and you give advice?

Why are 2/3 of obners in consulting?

no, i was just traveling for work and thinking about the guys at my company that travel 5 out of 7 days, and how i think that that would suck. seriously, this thread is too hard for you to understand? it seems pretty straightforward.

They're not; they just grasp the concept of what it is.

Why is consulting popular? Because it's generally good money. You have more knowledge/skill in a given subject matter than your client, so you (or your firm) charge for your expertise over a given period of time. When that contract is up, you move to another job with another client.

From the sounds of it, you're expecting everyone with a title of 'consultant' to perform the exact same functions or activities, and that's not how it is. Jobs are way too dependent on industry and/or business area to simplify it any further. I might develop business software while RolledMeat might analyze a manufacturing plant for waste/pollution risk. The term itself might seem ambiguous, but that's why job titles are usually qualified with the related industry or focus. I don't see how it's any more ambiguous than 'manager' or 'director.'

The most common element of consulting work across-the-board is travel, which puts chase's original question in its appropriate context.

In a nutshell: I deal with soil and groundwater contamination. Somebody hires me to deal with these issues to they can buy or sell a property or get something built.