Some people think, "he says he was consulting, whatever, he's got the skills and seems like a good guy". Are they really fooled? Or do they just not care?
The real question is, will "consulting" fool the people who would reject you for a resume gap?
You would obviously need to give an overview of the types of customers and assignments and you had while consulting. And provide references on request.
At the very least it seems like it's useful for fooling the first tier recruiters who filter people out based on things like resume gaps or not having a particular keyword. It keeps your resume out of the wastebin, at least until you get to chat with the next tier recruiter.
