Re: Why people dislike consultants

This is an interesting thread of disscussion. I also have noticed that often times consultants are resented by permies. Sometimes they don't do a good job, and sometimes that might be due to the short-term nature of their contracts - they just don't get the info they really need in time to do a good job. Sometimes this is directly due to the permie's resentment of the consultant. (I should say I'm not a consultant now but I have been a consultant, I've hired and worked with consultants as a permie and experienced uncooperative co-workers, I've been hired as a permie to clean-up after some bad consulting work and I have lots of friends who are consultants.)

In general a consultant's sucess will have a lot to do with his/her skill level - not just technical expertise - but communication and people skills. You have to be able to walk into a potentially hostile situation and become a recognised and respected member of their team in a short period of time. You don't do this with shoddy work or with a superiority complex. Consultants do have the advantage of cutting edge technology and exposure to many different ways of applying this technology that you can't get from working the same job year after year. There's pros and cons to being a consultant and the pay equals out because they have to pay for things like health insurance, life insurance, 401K plans etc. out of pocket - it's part of a permie's pay package. (This is the main reason I'm a permie - I'm a single mom and can't afford to lose those benefits.)

In today's shortage of high tech skills it makes sense for companies to hire consultants - and the trend isn't going to go away. We all need to learn how the get the best out of it. Permies can learn a lot from consultants if they're open to it. (I've always been more than happy to teach skills to those eager to learn.)

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy. Received on Tue Nov 16 1999 - 20:45:14 CST