again, specific instances of peoples jobs are not a reflection of the industry in a holistic view… getting paid 13k more than an FTE is a very small amount… my first consulting job added to my income over 200% a year… the typical breakout for consultant vs. full-time is well over 20k a year… easy.
networking is even larger of a gap.
all of this boils down to the underlying skills of a consultant, the multiple environments worked and the multiple employers worked for. no one is going to hire you if you did something in school, or tested something in a lab, or did it once… they want to hear that you did something 10 times for 10 companies and got 10 outcomes… with that history of work and on-site skillset, you’re a shoe in.
don’t put the saddle before the horse… the best advice is to find a job you want, get it, then make a difference… do it two or three more times, then sit back and wait for the phone to start ringing… once you have the work experience backing, you dont’ look for jobs you just chose the ones you want. period. don’t pay too much attention to one-off advice and just make it happen. if you have the ambition, it will all fall into place.