consultants going perm - painful

I have heard the same lament from a recent colleague and a Barcap colleague, and also from many GS colleagues - all perm employees. They all hinted that the decision to quit the previous job and join the new job turned out to be less than foresighted. Basically the new job was not as good as advertised by the interviewers. They were oversold. Now it's too late to retreat.

This is one context where consulting provides cushion, buffer, peace of mind, a clearly visible end of the tunnel and "breathing space". As a perm employee, you may have a lot to worry about before you contemplate quitting the new job. It's a minefield most of us don't want to cross --

* Bonus, reviews...
* You may feel like a quitter. You are supposed to work things out with a cool head, not quit so easily.
* Everyone in the team would say things after you quit (actually they don't.)
* Sacrifice the short term, and hope to get the promised goodies sometime in the future.
* You are supposed to defeat problems not get defeated
* You feel stupid about the last career decision. If you don't quit, mistake is not materialized. You still have a chance to turn it into a success.
* You feel "I can't just job hop like this. No one does this sort of thing. I must try for a year or 2.". Every friend and family say the same to you.
* You feel guilty if you were to quit
* You feel the next job change may be equally unwise, so let's just stick around here.

In this context, a workplace can be a suffocating place. Consultants are used to breathe freer.