Job Descriptions: Management Consultant

Management Consultants are responsible for improving and streamlining a business or department with advice and expertise.

Management Consultants are the fixers of businesses. They come in to improve and develop a business that might be struggling or be in need of a lift. This can be through an array of new business practices, changes to systems or imputing some new technology. Management Consultants usually work on a project basis where they will spend time with a department or business addressing the problems or areas that could be improved and file or present their findings back to the company. They also sometimes help businesses or departments implement these changes.

For graduates to be successful as a Management Consultants, one of the most important things they need is a deep and thorough understanding of how businesses work. This could be through a business or economics related degree or work experience.

Other key things for would-be Management Consultants to have would be excellent interpersonal skills so that work within businesses can go smoothly. Having clear and confident communication skills as well as team working skills will also be a massive benefit for graduates looking to pursue Management Consultancy as a career.

Management Consultant Salaries

The average starting salary for a graduate Management Consultant is £25,000. This is an incredibly promising salary for a graduate to start their career on and will grow immensely as they become more experienced and learn their craft.

One of the best things about starting a career as a Management Consultant is that during a graduate's training early on they sometimes get the chance to train for particular professional qualifications. For example, KPMG offer the chance to study for a CIMA qualification which will only add to a graduate Management Consultant's earning power.

The Daily Duties of a Management Consultant

Management Consultant's work on a project by project basis. This means daily duties can vary depending on at what point they are up to on a project. However, as the main aim of a Management Consultant is to help businesses become more effective and efficient, daily duties can be broadly the same with small variations depending on what sector they are consulting in. Here are some of the main duties graduates can expect to do as a Management Consultant:

• Assessing business models - Assessing and investigating businesses and their business models is a foundation block for graduate Management Consultants to build all their further work on. This might involve assessing specific markets and looking where this company sits in that market or looking at how they attract customers old and new.
• Analysing finances - Another foundation block is scrutinising the figures. Management Consultants pour over the finances of businesses, looking to see where money is spent and working out how it could be spent better. Management Consultants will examine the differences between income and overheads and use the data to help them make informed judgements.
• Collect and review findings - The projects that Management Consultants work on can vary in length and they are required to be able to pull together large amounts of data and information to formulate it all into a report or presentation. Management Consultants must have excellent communication, both verbal and oral for ensuring this is conducted effectively.
• Propose recommendations and action plans - After considering all their findings, Management Consultants use their experience and understanding to help provide expert advice for improvements to that particular business. This could be changes to outgoings, new training for members of staff or whatever the Management Consultant or Consultancy team things would improve the business for the future.
• Spending time on site - While many of the duties related being a Management Consultant require independent and team based research, they can be required to spend time on a client's site and in their business. This can often involve a lot of travelling and staying away from home while working with the business.

A career as a Management Consultant can seem a bit out of reach for graduates, needing in depth business knowledge and needing them to become an expert in business operations and management. However, this should not phase them because most of the opportunities for this career path offer fantastic training and support to ensure they are confident in their own abilities.