Consultancy Jobs

Consultancy refers to the practice of advising and supporting organisations of the public or private sector to enhance performance in a particular area of business. A person working as a consultant is usually an expert in a specific area such as finance, law, human resources or marketing. Consultants may be employed internally by a business or organisation or externally, providing expert advice for a specific period of time.

Consultants may work in large and international consultancy firms or on independent terms. Jobs in consultancy are mainly project-based and can include relocation to new cities.

People interested in this sector enjoy the diversified tasks and projects, remuneration is comparatively good, working hours, on the other hand, are long and levels of stress and pressure tend to be high. Consultants need to work objectively and sign contracts of non-disclosure. Large consultancy firms have competitive selection processes, which need exhaustive preparation. Consultants working independently in their niche of expertise, must market themselves to potential clients and need to know the details of contracting and writing proposals. In either way, employed by a large consultancy form or working as a freelancer, people working in this field need a great deal of initiative and professionalism. The consultancy sector is competitive and attracts well-trained professionals. A postgraduate degree or MBA can open many doors, relevant work experience and demonstrable expertise in a specific sector is even more important.

Consultants usually possess an academic degree and need to be well-informed about best practices and aware of current development in their particular industry. Besides being experts in their field, consultants need to have a range of general abilities, such as:

• Flexibility
• Technical and mathematical skills
• Analytical thinking
• Presentation skills
• Being organized and methodical
• Being able to work under pressure and independently

Consultants may find employment in the following areas:

• Management Consulting: may come into consideration when an organisation is not able to handle specific areas internally and needs support or expert advice on business management and strategy.
• Financial Consulting: deals with the analysis of financial operations, handled by external consultants.
• IT Consulting: supports the chief technical officer and IT department of an organisation on specific technical problems.

There are different types of consultants:

• Freelancers
• Interim Managers
• Project Manager
• Temporary Staff

Job titles include but are not limited to the following:

• Business Consultant
• Recruitment Consultant
• Business Analyst
• Junior Consultant