Variety is the spice of life. And variety is a key advantage of consulting. Many companies will keep an employee in one position, doing the same type of work, throughout his or her career. That's because the company has usually trained and nurtured that person's skill in that particular area. It doesn't want to take the effort to retrain the employee. And if it does, it loses the skill that person originally provided and will need to find a replacement. All of this costs time and money. Of course, not all companies think this way. Some companies see an advantage to continually training their employees and challenging them with new types of work. On the other hand, many employees enjoy becoming an expert in one area and doing it for many years. But if you like new challenges and new types of work at different companies in different environments, then consulting is an option for you.

Many people hold the belief that consultants are the ones who are pigeonholed. That to succeed as a consultant you must specialize in one area and continually work in that area. In actuality, that's not true. In order to find work, especially your first few contracts, you need to have a strong specialty that you can sell. But since consulting gives you flexibility, you can easily take time off to study new areas and develop new skills. This may involve taking classes, attending conferences and seminars, or simply spending time reading textbooks and technical magazines. This is a big advantage over being an employee. A consultant has an easier time developing new skills, as long as he or she is self-motivated.