i met a management consultant the other day. i've always wondered what they do for a living, so out of genuine interest i asked her. after more than an hour's worth of discussion, i'm still not clear on what management consultants do. what i do know is: it is very, very hard to become such a consultant and it took this one seven interviews to get the job; i would not cut it, she told me; a management consultant must be prepared to travel alot, and if you question that, you haven't understood a thing about the job; you interview executives, and of course, you use totally unbiased questions... point is, i still don't know what a management consultant actually do. can someone enlighten me? the particular instance i met may perhaps not be representative for the entire class of consultants (at least i hope not), but to her set of skills, i'd add: good at insulting people, and lack of desire to look upon her job in a critical and questioning way.