One of the potential frustrations of working in a corporate IT department is the constant reminder that "IT is not our business; IT is here to serve the business." There's an alternative, of course: You can get a job in IT services, where information technology is the business.

Work in IT services is closely related to IT consulting (a field we covered previously), with a few key differences. Although some companies offer both IT consulting and IT services, and both types of businesses are looking to hire highly skilled IT professionals, there's a distinct difference between the two, sources say. That difference is essentially the difference between strategy and tactics: An IT consulting firm plans new systems, while an IT services provider maintains systems after they're deployed.

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Do you have cutting-edge IT skills? Are you well-versed in an industry that's hot, like healthcare or finance? Are you feeling underappreciated, and wouldn't mind being fussed over, courted and enticed? Then it might be time to think about pursuing a career in IT consulting.

"There is absolutely a war for talent in consulting," says John Reed, senior executive director for recruiting firm Robert Half Technology, who estimates that the unemployment rate for IT consultants is between zero and three percent, with salaries going up. "There's a lot of pent-up demand among consulting firms looking for resources."

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment outlook for management consultants (though not necessarily those specifically in IT) "is projected to grow 19% from 2012 to 2022, faster than the average for all occupations. Demand for the services of these workers will grow as organizations continue to seek ways to improve efficiency and control costs." According to the BLS's 2012 statistics, the most recent available, the median salary for management consulting services was $84,300.

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