Thinking about joining this rewarding and lucrative career?
Required Skills, Education and Experience
If you want to become a management consultant like Teneo’s Declan Kelly, you must have excellent organizational and communication skills. You need to be a good listener and a quick critical thinker. Successful consultants enjoy analyzing data. They are also skilled at persuading and mediating.
To advance in the industry, you will need a few years of experience. A Master’s degree in business or management can give you an edge, but it is not always necessary.
What Management Consultants Do
Generally, being a management consultant means that you help businesses and other groups find and solve issues. You can work for a large firm or start your own as Declan Kelly did. You may help your clients take a “big picture” view of their organization and form long-term strategies. You will usually have a few large and small projects to work on simultaneously.
On a day-to-day basis, you will collect and analyze data and use that data to find problem points within the organization’s structure and workflow. You will give clear presentations to company management based on your findings and then manage the implementation of your suggestions. You may need to travel back and forth between clients, although some of the work may be done remotely. This is a good career to choose if you like to stay busy.
Salary and Job Outlook
Management consultants can earn over $100,000 USD per year depending on their level of experience and location. The median wage in the U.S. is over $85,000. This occupation is expected to grow much faster than average in the next ten years.
How To Find a Job
First, determine what you want your specialty to be. You can find consulting work in almost any area you are passionate about. Investigate the kinds of institutions that align with your skills and interest, and network with employees at those companies who attended your school.
