A consultant may be hired because of his or her expertise. For example, when I mentioned earlier that I had become an expert as a fund-raising consultant, I knew that every client who hired me was doing so partly based on my track record alone. A consultant may be hired to identify problems. A consultant may be hired to supplement the staff. Sometimes a business discovers that it can save thousands of dollars a week by hiring consultants when they are needed, rather than hiring full-time employees. Businesses realize they save additional money by not having to pay benefits for consultants they hire. A consultant may be hired to act as a catalyst. But sometimes change is needed, and a consultant may be brought in to “get the ball rolling.” In other words, the consultant can do things without worrying about the corporate culture, employee morale or other issues that get in the way when an organization is trying to institute change. A consultant may be hired to provide much-needed objectivity. A good consultant provides an objective, fresh viewpoint--without worrying about what people in the organization might think about the results and how they were achieved. A consultant may be hired to teach. A consultant may be asked to teach employees any number of different skills.