The popular belief is that 99 percent of all management consultants are freshly scrubbed 20-somethings with crisp MBAs and staggering IQs. For the 20 or so major worldwide consulting firms, such is the case. In fact, McKinsey & Company, the world’s best-known firm, likes to offer up an additional array of Ph.D.s, nuclear engineers, and world-class economists.

As measured in sheer numbers, it’s true that a sizable portion of the consulting world is populated by those stereotypes. Each year,...

In terms of the market for consulting in general, it is crowded and likely to become more crowded as Americans reach retirement age and the trend toward self-employment continues. It’s “only going to increase in frequency as growing numbers of boomers realize that retirement is not what they thought it was going to be and they’re either unprepared emotionally to leave the workplace or unprepared financially to support their lifestyle in retirement,” says John P. Delmatoff, a business coach...