Consulting
Consultants (often referred to as management consultants) help organisations manage change and solve problems so they operate more efficiently and therefore profitably.
Consultants offer advice and expertise to client organisations to help them improve their business performance. Their work can focus on operations, strategy, management, IT, finance, marketing, HR, and supply chain management across a wide range of industries and specialisms. As they work closely with clients, they may have to work on site or meet representatives from client organisations regularly.
- Typical duties include:
- working with clients to understand their needs and to agree the scope of each consulting project
- conducting research, surveys and interviews and analysing data to gain insights into the business
- analysing statistics
- detecting issues and investigating ways to resolve them
- assessing the pros and cons of possible strategies
- exploring business problems and modelling different solutions
- attending meetings and compiling and presenting information orally, visually and in writing to keep clients up to date on progress
- making recommendations for improvement and presenting these to clients
- implementing agreed solutions
- developing and implementing new procedures or training to support the changes proposed.
- Consulting is known for involving long hours and this is often true, despite recent home-working arrangements. While you may not need to travel as much, projects can still be complex and deadlines tight, and colleagues may be in other timezones.