hire a consultant

Meaning

To employ an external expert or specialist for a short period to provide professional advice or help solve a specific corporate problem. This is typically done when a company lacks the necessary in-house expertise for a project.

Examples

• We decided to hire a consultant to help us with our digital transformation strategy.

  We decided to hire a consultant to help us with our digital transformation strategy.

• Before launching the new product, the board agreed to hire a consultant to analyze the market risks.

  Before launching the new product, the board agreed to hire a consultant to analyze the market risks.

• It might be cheaper to hire a consultant for a few weeks than to train our existing staff.

  It might be cheaper to hire a consultant for a few weeks than to train our existing staff.

• They had to hire a consultant because nobody in the IT department knew how to fix the legacy system.

  They had to hire a consultant because nobody in the IT department knew how to fix the legacy system.

• The startup plans to hire a consultant to streamline their supply chain operations.

  The startup plans to hire a consultant to streamline their supply chain operations.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ We need to rent a consultant for this project.

  ✓ We need to hire a consultant for this project.

  In English, you 'hire' or 'employ' people to perform services. The verb 'rent' is reserved for physical items like cars, apartments, or equipment.

• ✗ Our manager wants to hire a consultancy to fix the issue.

  ✓ Our manager wants to hire a consultant to fix the issue.

  A 'consultancy' refers to the consulting firm or agency itself, whereas a 'consultant' is the individual professional. If you are bringing in a single person, use 'consultant'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Since we do not have an in-house legal team, we should ___ to review the international contract.

  💡 Bring in an outside specialist for professional advice.

  Show answer

  hire a consultant

• The company had to ___ to improve their cybersecurity measures after the unexpected data breach.

  💡 Employ an external expert on a temporary basis.

  Show answer

  hire a consultant