The growth of professionalism is on the cutting edge in Consultancy. There are a number of ways to differentiate a profession from an occupation. A profession is a calling that requires special knowledge, skill and preparation. For example medicine and law is recognized as learned professions. The terms occupation in this field is the work that a person regularly performs that especially suits them. Thus an occupation will hold a special interest for the person and is an area of interest on a regular basis.
As a professional Consultant the requirements are prolonged, specialized training to acquire a body of knowledge pertinent to the role to be performed. The members of the profession rather than outsiders determine the standard of education and practice for the Consultant. Being a Consutlant already denotes certain professionalism or specialization brouhgt to the industry. Thereofre, the work involved requires either certification or a successfful track record, the other would be the ability to manage their time and budgets to make this a profiitable and full time job.
The regulations through the setting and enforcing standards of educaton and practice for the specilist. Regulation is largely achieved in the United States and Canada through liscensure certification and accreditation. The Development of knolwedge is to generate questions and formulate hypotheses from the theories then totest or ipplement the usefulness of the theory. Transmission of values, norms, knowledge and skill is an important aspect of professional status. Historically this knowledge was aquired through formal educational institutions. Now in modern times, the trend has been toward education programs in colleges and various online accredited programs. Any consulting job will theoretically focus on concerns of the public, client, company.
This profession can become autonomous if it regulates itself ands sets standards for its members. Providing autonomy is one of the purposes of this sector. Once legal autority in a certain sector of Consulting has been established the amount of autonomy depends on its effectiveness on governance. In some cases such as law or medicine certain govermnet agencies play a major role in how to research and analyse products. Therefore the establishement and maintenace of social, political and economic arrangements are controlled by self discipline, working conditions, and professional affairs.
Online portfolios along with registering at certain sites can ultimately bring in some business. However, return business is the key. Some projects especially larger contracts will require the Consultant to be available at any given time for consulting work. Some find this route most feasible when still employed at a company. It will also give the Consultant time to build their independent clients.
