What is a Management Consultant?
Based on an analysis, examination and a lot of professional experience, these specialists will introduce new and useful management methods that will help companies to improve and to gain more money.
Job Description of a Management Consultant
A management consultant is the professional responsible for the development and improvement of a company. He or she will implement business improvement for companies. Also, in order to have successful results they will consult with the company leaders to recognize the weak and strong points of the business so that it a good improvement plan will be developed and implemented.
Their job description will involve in some cases training clients on the process involving business development. This career is very much team focused, and as a management consultant you’ll have to be able to work in a team. You will also need to be able to communicate very clearly with your clients both in a verbal and writing manner.
Being a management consultant will involve many times being flexible and very adaptable so that you could fulfill the needs of every client. Candidates for these positions will have to demonstrate a strong will for leadership position since the basics of management consulting are comprised of directing and being a leader.
Other skills that highlight the list of becoming a management consultant involve coaching and training other people, advanced and moderate skills on what concerns the Microsoft Office Suite such as Excel, Word, PowerPoint and others. You will, as well, need to have the right determination to learn about other applications or software programs.
The management consultant daily tasks can involve training their clients in the business development process, analyzing, modeling and even do some research on certain business design efforts. Your daily tasks will also entail to develop, recommend and in the last part implement the business improvements that were made for companies.
How to Become a Management Consultant?
If your dream is to become a management consultant then from the start, you should find out that this job is as lucrative as it is of rewarding. You will help your clients to analyze the competition as well as to find and develop a winning strategy.
There is not a pattern that will help you and will guide you to become the best management consultant. You just have to like what you are doing and have certain abilities and skills that will help you develop the best management strategies. Your set of skills will be formed and developed through training and education as well as the rest of things.
The first measure on this career path is to make sure that you’ve enrolled in a training program in business administration at one of the best and accredited undergraduate classes. These courses can be found in many colleges and universities. Also, you’ll benefit of key classes that will help you further such as management, business laws, statistics, employee relations, accounting and other financial courses such as marketing and business strategy. This degree will help you and will prepare you on how to run a business.
Continue on this path and earn a master’s degree in business administration that will lead you to more advanced classes. This degree will allow you to learn and gain knowledge on subjects that involve some of the advanced strategies about the contemporary business methods. Learning about such topics will definitely increase your abilities of analyzing the success of a company as well as evaluating it.
You’ll gain the opportunity of having met other students and keep a close connection with them throughout your career, this will lead you to other business opportunities. Working as a management consultant for one of the companies for at least 5 or more years will give you the huge opportunity to gain experience and not only.
You’ll gain knowledge and practical understanding of how it will be the best mode to implement the theories that you’ve learned during so many lessons in college. A great advice will be to track your progress and your awards and any record of improvement in the company that you manage. This will give you an insight into your work and will show others how efficient you are as a management consultant.
Joining the Institute of Management Consultant will allow you to progress and to take advantages of many of the educational resources that will improve your abilities. This professional organization will lead you to gain new network contacts.
Earning your professional accreditation as a Certified Management Consultant even if it won’t offer you more experience than you already have, it will prove to many potential employers that you are an expert in this field. What will help you great and will make you a huge difference in your work is if you’ll have improved your communication skills.
Knowing how to communicate your thoughts, recommendations, and evaluations in an effective manner will not lead to any confusion but it will make you be a viable management consultant. You will be an expert who will bring more solutions and improvements on relating with other managers and their employees.
Staying connect with the new trends in management and with the news will allow you to have a continuous career well built into the future. One last thing that will help you gain potential employers for your consulting business is the strategy of analyzing your strengthen points and market them to your colleagues, former employers as well as network contacts.
Work Environment and Schedule
The work of management consultants can extend to a variety of industries since a lot of companies want to maximize the potential they have. They will perform their job duties, primarily within their clients business and standard hours of work, but they might need to put some final extra time in order to finish up the recommended business plans.
Positions that are available are often full-time or either part-time, most of the companies requiring their employees to be full-time, this can also involve traveling.
Pros and Cons of Being a Management Consultant
Working as a management consultant has its advantages and disadvantages, the best option when finding out a good career job is to inform yourself early if this is the right path for you to go or not. The compensation in this field has a very good review due to the considerably high salary even for those who just become hired. This salary will differ based on the company size, the assigned responsibilities, and according to each state.
The generous compensation (that can easily be considered a pro) also brings a good salary package such as allowance, great insurance and as well as other benefits. Your work as a management consultant will involve assignments to various and different clients on diverse projects. Through their work, they can widen their network without too much effort and create new job opportunities as well as endless friendships.
Related to your work another pro will be the opportunity of continually grow and develop through experience. A management consultant is seen as one of the professionals who helps an organization or company to improve on a constant base its profits and efficiency. The analysis concerning the market segmentation, the competition as well as the research studies show very clear focus on the company growth that in an indirect manner help other thousands of employees.
This whole goal will lead management consultants to enhance knowledge since the job has a highly intellectual bases as well as the fact that it will provide these professionals with noble aspirations. The responsibilities found in this job will develop management consultant skills such as the communication and analytical skills and how to organize well and have a well improvised time management.
However, the nature of this job implies some cons such as more hours of work, this involving a number of 60 up to 80 estimated hours. Their daily tasks involve a lot of meetings with clients, teams problem solving, workshops, and even interviews. The extra hours are attributed for analysis and evaluations so they can comply with any of their clients demanding.
Being a management consultant will mean many times working a lot, as well as traveling, this will lead to a lack of time that is spent with the family. A very common occurrence that these professionals have to deal with is missed birthday parties, anniversaries, and other family reunions, due to the number of demanding that appear at this job. Another factor that has a huge impact on this career is the factor of stress that many times appear due to various different perspectives and personalities when it comes to the consulting team members. Any management consultant can be caught up in some stressful situations due to the analysis, research, and the heavy workload.
The misconception that might be avoided right from the start if it is understood is the fake impression that traveling is and will remain exciting for a management consultant. In the beginning, it might be exciting but after a while you will start to perceive it very differently.
Much of your time as a management consultant is spent on planes and in hotels and at one point you’ll start missing the comfort of your house. Also, in major lines it can be very exhausting, continuously having to adapt to new people and to other cultures as well as to new circumstances and new settings. All in all, this job can be a much fitted match if you are single and if you really like traveling. Still, if you are an individual who has a family, then it will give you the opportunity to provide best for them.
Management Consultant job growth
The employment growth for management consultants is predicted at 24% rate of increase that is much faster than the average for all the occupations. This is due mainly to the nature itself of the job and the number of demanding that is increasing in a fast pace.
With this rapid employment growth, the job competition among management consultants is starting to increase a lot, because the opportunities of high paying earnings are always out there. As a management consultant you’ll find plenty of work opportunities for the public sector such as the government or for the private firms.
Management Consultant Salary
In the United States, the average salary for a management consultant is estimated to reach about $85,906 per year. There are certain skills that will be of an impact if we are thinking to the salaries of these professionals. Skills that prove to be very efficient such as the skill of developing a good and efficient strategy, as well as implementing the right business strategy are all of impact.
According to many surveys the management consultant salary is estimated to be comprised from $54,916 per year and up to $139,996 per year. This salary will vary according to some notable factors that include the type of employment, location, and other benefits.
The bonuses that are granted vary between $972 and $26,106 while the estimated profit sharing is estimated from $997 and $15,516 per year. You can also benefit by a commission that is estimated from $2,452 and $78,298 per year. It will lead in the end to an estimated salary that ranges from $55,447 and $172,963 per year.
The annual salary for these professionals reaches about $78,610 per year. The salaries based on each state have their lower and higher points. The top ten percent of individuals hired will take home an income estimated to reach about $142,582 per year. The highest paying jobs in this field can be encountered in the public department such as the federal government.
Salary of a Management Consultant in 2015
In 2015, the salary for a management consultant due to the number of demanding will exceed in growth. There are more and more companies and organizations that will seek to save money and at the same time be more efficient. This fact will lead them to a huge need for management consultants.
This growth is expected to have a higher estimation in government agencies, those that have their focus on based international businesses or even small consulting firms. The salaries will continue to be influenced by the same factors that were mentioned earlier. Those who just finished a college can be hired by top firms and in many cases the compensation will exceed or approach to $90,005 in the first year.
Management Consultant Salary in 2016
The average median income in the U.S, for a management consultant is estimated at $86,182 per year, for the year 2016, according to the salary data information provided by PayScale. The salary starting rate point in this field is $54,734 per year, climbing up to $143,265 per year.
The granted bonuses are comprised from $978 and up to $25,419, while the earned profit sharing have values that start from $982 and up to $15,214. The commission is estimated from $1,852 and up to $90,010 per year, this leading in the end with benefits added to a total payment that is comprised between $54,959 per year and up to $175,238 per year.
Other benefits that these professionals will have are health insurance, retirement plan, paid vacations, sick leave and other as well. In addition, to these the travel expenses that are mainly associated with their position are reimbursed by the firm that they are working for. On the other hand those who are self-employed have to provide their own benefits as well as maintain their own business.
The main factors that impact and influence the economic salary status of a management consultant are linked with the geographical location. Earnings having different values from state to state, city to city or region to region due mainly to the costs of living found in that particular area and the living expenses. Followed by other that play an important part such as the years of experience in the field, specific type of employment, level of education as well as industry and company size.
Associated with a high payment in this profession are skills such as Strategy, Development Strategy and Business Strategy. According to the reported data survey more than half of the individuals working as Management Consultants are men rather than women.
When it comes to the years of experience in the field, the incomes tend to have a gradual and continuous increase. For instance an entry-level management consultant, with less than five years of working experience can expect to gain around $78,010 per year, while a Mid-Career professional, with 5 to 10 years of practice will take home around $106,010 per year.
An experienced management consultant, with 10 and up to 20 years of experience in the field will earn around $134,010 per year, while the veterans in this position, with more than 20 years of knowledge and with plenty of activity can expect at incomes that have an average estimated at $157,010 per year.
The national average, in the US, for management consultants is estimated to reach at $93,186 per year. One of the best paying locations for these professionals can be encountered in San Francisco, with earnings that exceed the national average reaching at a total median average payment of $110,776 per year.
Followed by locations such as Seattle, with a total median payment of $105,209 per year, Los Angeles, with earnings that go up to $103,834 per year, Minneapolis, with a median payment that sums up at $108,092 per year and a few other. On the other hand earnings that are below the national average for this profession can be spotted in Chicago, where the median total payment reaches at $91,486 per year.
Management Consultant Salary in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom
- In Canada, the average salary for a Management Consultant is estimated to reach about C$78,142 per year. The salary, based on a number of surveys, has its lower, and higher points being estimated to start from C$53,033 and go up to C$123,386 per year. To this, you can add certain benefits such as bonuses that can reach up to C$20,134, profit sharing that is estimated between C$958 and C$10,156. Another benefit is the commission that can start from C$5,005 and climb up to C$37,505. In the end, it will lead to a total management consultant salary in Canada estimated to start from C$54,102 per year and go up to C$175,718 per year.
- In Australia, the average salary of a Management Consultant is estimated to reach at about AU$84,812 per year. The salary is estimated to be between AU$52,587 per year and AU$151,338 per year. To this, you can easily add a bonus that can reach up to AU$20,281 per year and the profit distribution that can reach up to AU$40,548 per year. The total management consultant payment in Australia that you can reach at can be comprised from AU$53,443 per year and AU$171,344 per year.
- In UK working for a larger firm or company, the starting salary for a Management Consultant is estimated to be comprised between £25,010 and £30,010 per year. There are smaller companies or consultancies that will offer a lower payment and the salaries will vary greatly according to the type and scope of the consultancies as well as based on location. Based on the years of experience a management consultant salary in the United Kingdom can be up to £50,010 per year. These salaries will go up to if you are already in a senior position. You can also benefit of car allowance, life insurance, or even private health insurance or other.
Conclusion on Management Consultant Salary
The management consultant salary is above average. Such a good wage many times can be very attractive to the fresh graduates that just completed their training educations, and that want a job in this field.
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- First Published Date: 5 June, 2015
- Last Updated Date: 8 November, 2016