However, not every corporate professional is suited to consulting. The skills required to be a good consultant differ from those of even the best line or staff manager. The consulting lifestyle also isn't for everyone. To determine if you're suited to a consulting career, ask yourself these questions. Clients only pay consultants to work on urgent problems.
Urgency requires a fast work pace and long hours.
No one should take a high-pressure consulting job unless he or she enjoys the work. And many do enjoy it. Here, the work, location and people change. When I interview job applicants, I look for adventure seekers, people who like the idea of working for a new client and going off to spend several months in a new city. Patrick Smyth, who left a large insurance company to join Hamilton HMC, a San Francisco health-care consulting, firm, stresses the importance of being versatile and challenged by constant change.