Meet Your Industry Advisor
Victoria Suarez Consulting Industry Advisor
Consultants provide professional advice to clients regarding a wide variety of business problems. Companies hire consulting firms to provide expertise and an outside perspective on their business problems and to develop strategies to improve their organization.
Consultants work across a range of different industry sectors including Energy, Financial, Human Resources and Organizational Behavior, Information Technology, Management and Strategy, Operations and Supply Chain Management, and Pharmaceutical and Healthcare. They also work in various practice areas such as Operations and Implementation, Financial, Healthcare, Economic, and Human Resources.
How to Get Started
6 steps to get you started in consulting
- Join a relevant student organization.
- Examples: Mason Consulting Club or Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM)
- Attend networking events to meet employers.
- Shadow a consulting professional to see if the job is a right fit for you.
- Complete at least one internship prior to graduation.
- Consider getting course credit for your internship.
- Join a professional association prior to graduation such as Association of Management Consulting Firms
Necessary Skills
Skills needed for a career in consulting
- Strong PowerPoint skills
- Listening skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Analytical skills
- Teamwork skills
- Business acumen and industry specific knowledge
- Creativity
- Critical thinking
- Persuasive communication skills
- Problem solving skills
- Strategic thinking and able to synthesize information
- Quantitative skills
- Verbal and written communication skills
Degrees and Certifications
Although you can obtain some consulting positions with a Bachelors degree, depending on the field, below are advanced degrees and certifications typically associated with consulting positions.
- Master of Business Administration (MBA)
- Master of Public Policy
- Master of Public Health Administration
- Law Degree
- Certified Financial Consultant (CFC)
Resources
Research, get experience, and get connected to contacts in consulting.
Industry Research
- Learn to Become: Business Analyst
- Careers-in-Consulting: Offers information about top consulting firms and a guide to finding a consulting job
- ALM Intelligence: Industry research, publications, and resources for the management consulting career
- Occupational Outlook Handbook
Job & Internship Search
- Handshake: Mason's centralized job and internship database
- Consulting Crossing: Job search website that aggregates jobs in the consulting industry from numerous sources
- Doostang: Job search database with jobs related to consulting and other areas of business
- Top Consultant: A database with global job opportunities in the consulting industry
Experiential Learning
- Apply to be a Leadership Consultant through Mason's LEAD Office
- Obtain a leadership position in your student organization
- Consider a Study Abroad Internship to obtain global business experience
- Obtain a minimum of one to two related internships before your graduate
Professional Associations
- Association of Management Consulting Firms
- Consulting Women: a DC professional forum for women in consulting careers to network and share best practices
- Society of Professional Consultants
Case Interviewing
- McKinsey & Company Tips
- Corporate Executive Board Tips
- Boston Consulting Group Tips
- Case in Point: Case Interview Preparation, 3rd Edition, (Marc P. Cosentino, 2004).
Job Functions
Communication Consultant
Communication Consultants provide internal or external support for a company's communication department. Companies may hire a consultant to handle communication needs, such as in the areas of public and media relations, publicity, and customer service.
Financial Consultant
Financial consultants provide financial advice to corporations and money managers. This advice may involve the strategies for creating shareholder value, business valuation, M&A advisory, economic forecasts and analysis or suggestions for Treasury management.
Health Care Consultant
Health care consultants are interested in managed care solutions, reengineering, IT projects, strategy and program evaluation.
Human Resources Consultant
Human resource consulting serves organizations seeking outside assistance with their workplace needs and organizational goals. An HR consultant either advises an existing human resources department, or completes projects the company leadership assigns directly.
IT Consultant
IT Consultants advise clients on how to use information and communication technologies to meet their commercial or personal needs and goals. IT consultants are most commonly employed by organizations or businesses to improve the function of the organization's IT infrastructure.
Management Analyst/Consultant
Management analysts, often called management consultants, propose ways to improve an organization’s efficiency. They advise managers on how to make organizations more profitable through reduced costs and increased revenues.