<b>A1:</b>* A lot of consultants will have had a functional specialism, or been in a functional/industrial matrix, so for them there's more of an obvious set of career options in industry.* Consultants who have just had an industry focus might move into that sector in project management, general management, strategy or analysis roles.* Although you might not be a functional expert or qualified accountant, there are still roles in marketing and sales that benefit from the breadth of market understanding that a consultant develops. Consulting does involve an entrepreneurial/sales element, so consultants with sales experience may choose to move into a business development role in industry for example.* Similarly, roles in analysis and change management build on skillsets that consultants often develop as a matter of course, so there are transition channels running across sectors there.* When transitioning between consulting and industry, many people will choose to take the opportunity to do an MBA or further study. Following that, they can enter associate schemes in a variety of organisations, where direct experience is not assumed.* Finally, a fairly common route for consultants is to transfer to the client to continue running a project they have set up. That eases them into an industry role via a familar context, as the working relationships etc. are all in place already. Further transfers are much easier.* Finally, consultants may set up on their own, especially when they have built their own network of contacts, have unique expertise, and/or that particular consulting arena has limited economies of scale. They can continue working for the client on an independent/contractor basis.<b>A2:</b>* Similar answers to above - consultants affected by a downturn may see it as a good opportunity to switch into industry or government jobs.* Consultants with transferrable skills (i.e. most of them) may be switched onto private sector projects of a similar ilk to what they were doing with the public sector - IT projects for example have many similar elements and build on the same underlying technology. Project management methodologies are frequently transferrable across a firm's public/private teams, as is change management.* If the private sector work hasn't picked up at the same time as the public sector work declined, there may not be alternative projects to move onto. Some may be put on limited working patterns (and pay), others switched onto per-hour contracts, and others simply laid off.* Very few people sit jobless (unless they choose to). There are always jobs of some type even if it means long commuting or working for less prestigious organisations.* What you have to consider is that governments don't simply "stop" doing things. They may change the means of provision (e.g. create jobs internally that the consultants who used to do them are well-placed to apply for). Alternatively, they may reduce the overall size of government, creating more opportunities for private enterprise to step in (again with opportunities for flexible consultants willing to reinvent themselves, especially if they bring the expertise from the old system that will be critical to avoiding mistakes in the new one).I've gone on a bit, but hope that gives you a few ideas.
