Not Hiring Consultants? Are You Missing a Great Opportunity?

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

(from the archives)

Recently, I spoke with my umpteenth client who said, “Gee, we don’t want to interview them because they’ve been a consultant for so long.” I scratched my head and wondered, “Why do managers stop thinking?” Let me explain.

The bias against consultants is that they are mercenaries and are only working for bucks (unlike our charitable manager who is working for the greater good of humanity). They are not good team players. They will change jobs if they are offered $5 more in payroll. When the market gets better, they’ll go back to consulting.

Some consultants do not play well with others. They do not tolerate “politics” well and have trouble accepting decisions that make little sense. I know a lot of employees who are that way, too.

With the rising cost of everything, consultants won’t stay long in a job. With the rising cost of everything, how long do you think you or your staff will accept 3% salary increases when the labor market is so strong?

But when the market gets good, they’ll change jobs! Well the labor market is poor and may not get better for a while. Worse yet, blindly closing the door on men and women who would like to be former consultants is plain pig-headed. It excludes people who are used to handling difficult situations, are client service oriented and may have excellent reasons for wanting to give up consulting. Reasons like:

I’m tired of having to constantly market myself instead of doing what I love and do well

I’m getting older and want to settle down

I’m buying a house and need to be stable for a lender

I need cheaper benefits

I want to watch the kids grow up instead of working 80 hours a week on assignment and marketing myself

I was on a visa. It was my only way to work in the US

There were no jobs between the end of 2008 and 2011; it was the only kind of work available. Unlike many, I was working through the economic collapse!

 

Blindly closing the door on consultants is wrong and bad business similar to excluding anyone based upon a prejudice. Take a few minutes to investigate and evaluate the reasons why someone is willing to give up the “glamorous life” of consulting. I suspect you will increase your choices.

 

© The Big Game Hunter, Inc. Asheville, NC 2005, 2014, 2024

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