system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What actually is consulting?

I often hear stories about people who left academia to go into consulting. Recently a colleague told me that consulting is his plan B in case he can't get tenured, but he couldn't really answer when I asked what the hell consulting actually is. It honestly feels like some kind of an academic meme at this point.

I'd love to hear different experiences from people who have left or are considering leaving academia to go into consulting, especially regarding what a job like that actually involves.
gpt
Quick problem-solving, usually for businesses. Academics (well, those who aren't socially awkward) tend to be good at this type of thing: you absorb and analyze a ton of information in a short span of time and devise a solution. 

Alternately, some big companies hire long term consultants to help with designing user experience, usually social scientists. 

Non-profits very occasionally consult economists to develop for program evaluations. 

Consulting is just a catchall term for "experts" who do the thinking and offer an outside perspective. It means different things to different fields. There are image and fashion consultants, but they probably aren't from Physics.