Working as a consultant can be a great career move; whether you’re doing it in addition to running your own business or working full-time for a company, it is a chance to share and expand your skills while staying aware of industry developments. You can widen your network and possibly even turn your consulting into a full-time job. If you have the experience and knowledge others are willing to pay for, you can benefit yourself as well as your clients.
Flexibility
One of the best benefits of working in consulting is the amount of flexibility that you will have. While you may still work a 9-5 in addition to consulting, you get to choose the days and hours you dedicate to offering your consulting services. You are also free to choose your own clients and the terms of working with them. If consulting becomes your full-time job, the flexibility is even better.
Variety in work
Generally when you work for one specific company, you probably will not see much variety in the work you do. With consulting, you can work with a variety of businesses and on many different projects. For some types of consultants, they even have the chance to work in many different industries.
Expand your network
Through consulting, you have the chance to further your network in an incredible way. No matter what industry you work in or what your job is, improving your network of connections is helpful to your career. For consultants, they need to regularly meet and work with new people and it is much easier to do through this kind of work.
Learn more about other businesses
Although your clients are typically paying to learn from you when consulting, this does not have to be a one-way street. Oftentimes, helping the client will require becoming an expert in their business first. This enables you to get insight into better ways to do it and learn from those companies even as you offer them your expertise. Many people have fairly limited exposure to different companies, but through consulting you’ll interact with a wider range of people and businesses.
Ongoing learning
Through consulting, you have the opportunity to engage in ongoing learning. You’ll sharpen your skills as you work with consulting clients, but you can also actively find opportunities for yourself to learn new skills. You can see what’s needed in the industry and then work on learning those skills. Its easy to become stagnant without exposure to new and innovative approaches. Getting a peak at your industry through the eyes of others can help you stay on the cutting edge.