Seven Characteristics of Consultants: Why Hiring a Consultant Over a Contractor is Better for Business

Many consultants cringe on the inside when others refer to them as a contractor. On the surface, many think there is little difference between the two. Both roles are brought in from outside of the organization to solve a problem. However, there is a big difference between bringing in a consultant as compared to bringing in a contractor.

Consulting is often a mystified profession because of portrayals in popular media and movies. In reality, consulting is one of the four most desired career paths chosen by MBA students out of top graduate schools throughout the United States (the other three being venture capital, hedge funds, and private equity).

Consultants are trained to analyze problems and bring an intelligent and strategic approach to solving them. In a sense, consultants are hired for their brains, their experiences, and their opinions. On the other hand, contractors are brought in to accomplish a specific problem with a narrow scope.. In other words, a consultant helps to think holistically while a contractor does the task in front of him. For instance, if you want to redecorate a room, do you hire a contractor to hang curtains or do you look for an interior decorator to give you a cohesive plan?.