Career in consulting

The Consultant Pro

You think out of the box and are among the brightest of your graduating cohort. As a rookie consultant, you will be entrusted with responsibilities early in your career to help corporations meet their goals. Working with high-status clients means you have to dress smart, think smart and grow smart. Be it coming up with new business models, forming industry insights, or rethinking adaptation to new technologies, you will be part of a results-driven team and your clients’ go-to person for solutions.

What consultants do

What consultants do largely depends on the industry and specialization one belongs to. Clients rope in consultants to fix a tricky issue or improve a dwindling yet crucial part of their businesses. Across the fields of strategy, information technology (IT), management, operations, financial advisory and human resource (HR), consultants are expected to generate unique effective solutions based on analytical skills.

Consulting skills

You need a special set of skills to develop a career in consulting. These can range from analytical skills for tackling problems to strong leadership skills for rolling out changes in organisations. Excellent presentation, communication and collaboration skills are key too.

Consulting roles

Generalist consultants help companies with generic issues. Specialist consultants are qualified for specific industries or functions. Consulting roles are found in big and small consulting firms, and there are in-house as well as freelance positions.

Types of consultants

There are six core types of consultants, in strategy, information technology (IT), management, operations, financial advisory and human resource (HR).

How to become a consultant

General consultants start with a degree, typically in business and finance fields, or even economics. You need a specialised degree to consult in a specialised field, such as computer science, or advise businesses or organisations on operating in specific locations. Work and internship experiences come in handy, as well as a readiness to learn intensively on the job. A consultant needs to be updated with latest industry trends, and gain the trust of clients, especially if they are to venture as independent consultants.

Shanna Budihardjo