raghavan20 wrote:How different is a consultant from an experienced programmer? Are consultants paid the most? Is consultant job more interesting and hard enough than being an experienced programmer? What should one have to do to become a consultant, I mean the things he/she should learn and all the other aspects that are necessary to become a successful consultant?
The definitions vary from region to region, so don't be surprised to hear substantially different answers to this from different people.
I'll speak to my experience. I've been both a consultant (working under contract as a contractor) and a full-time employee (ie, experienced programmer).
Consultants usually work for a consulting company. The company looks for opportunities, and places appropriate consultants in those roles when possible. The consulting company generally bills the client company at anywhere from 150% to 300% the salary they pay the consultant. The consultant usually does not get benefits, does not earn pay when not working (sick time, holidays, time between contracts, etc).
Some consulting companies are becoming aggressive, and offering benefits, bench-time, and even stock-options. Those are generally the exception to the rule. Consultants get a range of experience, working for a range of companies, and even if they are fired at one job, it does not usually end their work for the consulting company.
A full-time employee, however, gets benefits, works for a single company, and relies on that job for their security.
There are benefits and dangers to both. Consultants get wide experience, but not deep. Employees get deep experience, but not wide. Consultants have substantial bench-time, so their pay isnt reliable. Employees have reliable pay, but can be fired or downsized and have no alternative.
Its a tradeoff. I make more now as a full-time employee, but only because I've reached 7 years in the same job category. Otherwise, I would make more as a consultant working for a consulting company.
All of this ignores the whole concept of a consultant-as-a-company, which is yet another set of risks and benefits.