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Re:How I went from programming to consulting (2012) by user5994461 on Saturday December 23, 2017 @11:50AM (#15994934)
A consultant do the exact same work that you do, except he's paid a multiple of you and doesn't get company benefits.
Re:How I went from programming to consulting (2012) by putnam on Saturday December 23, 2017 @11:58AM (#15994981)
Can a consultant do any kind/type of work?
Re:How I went from programming to consulting (2012) by blhack on Saturday December 23, 2017 @12:10PM (#15995052)
Yes. "Consultant" seems to be essentially synonymous with "contractor" or "freelancer".

They come in to do a specific job, then leave.

Re:How I went from programming to consulting (2012) by k__ on Saturday December 23, 2017 @12:15PM (#15995074)
Consultant is simply perceived higher value than freelancer or contractor.

Since I started selling myself as a "Mobile Consultant" I made significantly more money than selling myself as a "Front-End Developer", "Freelance Developer" or such.

Seemingly it's all in the wording these days.

Re:How I went from programming to consulting (2012) by oblio on Saturday December 23, 2017 @12:41PM (#15995225)
It was always in the wording :)
Re:How I went from programming to consulting (2012) by user5994461 on Saturday December 23, 2017 @01:04PM (#15995363)
"Freelance" is the offshore developers on elance.com working for a dollar an hour and the students working after class for free who are desperate to get experience.

"contractor" is the replacement status for permanent employees. They are outside of normal payroll and company benefits, they usually do 1 to 6 months repeatable contracts.

"consultants" is the experienced people who need to be called by up-the-chain to perform important matters and take critical decisions.

Re:How I went from programming to consulting (2012) by jwhitlark on Saturday December 23, 2017 @04:37PM (#15996388)
Or, you tell contractors what to do, but consultants tell you what to do.
Re:How I went from programming to consulting (2012) by k__ on Tuesday December 26, 2017 @04:50AM (#16007925)
Mostly it's a mix.
Re:How I went from programming to consulting (2012) by epicide on Saturday December 23, 2017 @03:24PM (#15996091)
I am a consultant and yet distinct from a contractor or a freelancer.

I am not a freelancer because I work for a larger company.

I am not a contractor because, while that is a good chunk of what I do, I provide more than just software development. Oftentimes, I end up working with clients to actually determine what they need and how to build it. Then I help build it. Contractors typically just build it.