High School

High school courses that will give you a general preparation for this field include business, mathematics, and computer science. Management analysts and consultants must be able to clearly and effectively share their findings through written or oral presentations, so be sure to take English and speech classes.

Postsecondary Training

A bachelor’s degree is the minimum requirement to become a consultant, although some employers—especially major firms such as McKinsey & Company and Bain & Company—prefer to hire consultants with an MBA or at least a bachelor’s degree and several years of appropriate work experience. Attending an Ivy League school or a college with a top-rated MBA program will increase your chances of landing a consulting job.

Many people believe that you must earn a business degree to prepare for a career in the consulting industry, but this isn’t true. Firms are increasingly seeking applicants with a variety of educational backgrounds and life experiences. While many consultants do have business degrees, a growing number have degrees in economics, finance, computer science, information technology, accounting, statistics, engineering, education, communications, medicine, human resources management, marketing, supply chain management, and architecture and environmental design. Degrees and concentrations in consulting are offered at a few colleges, including the University of Colorado-Boulder, University of Notre Dame, and the College of William & Mary.

Regardless of their background, management consultants must continue their education throughout their career to keep up with industry developments and best practices in their field. They routinely attend conferences and take part in educational programs.

Certification

Georgetown University, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Wisconsin at Madison, and other colleges and universities offer consulting certificate programs. Contact these and other schools to learn more. Programs typically last six months to a year and are available in online, in-person, and hybrid formats.

The Association for Talent Development offers a Consulting Skills Certificate program online and in several U.S. cities. Visit https://www.td.org/education-courses/consulting-skills-certificate for more information.

Other Education or Training

Many professional associations provide continuing-education opportunities to management consultants. The Institute of Management Consultants USA (IMC USA) offers a Mastering Management Consulting fundamentals course for those just starting a new consulting practice or re-focusing an existing one. Educational opportunities are also available in face-to-face seminars and online webinars, at its International Consult-Con conference, and through other media. Contact IMC USA for more information.

Certification or Licensing

The Institute of Management Consultants USA offers the certified management consultant designation to those consultants who meet minimum educational and experience criteria in addition to passing a rigorous examination. All types of consultants (e.g., internal consultants, technical consultants, strategy consultants) are eligible for certification; the requirement is that they must provide consulting to management of organizations. Certification is voluntary, but it provides an additional advantage to those who are interested in demonstrating their competency, experience, and ethics as measured against globally recognized professional standards. The certification is recognized in nearly 50 countries, which is an advantage to those desiring to start an international consulting practice. The American Academy of Financial Management also provides certification to management consultants.

Several professional associations provide certification programs for HR consultants. The Human Resource Management Institute offers the certified human resources consultant designation to applicants who successfully complete online training and meet education and experience requirements. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) offers the SHRM certified professional and SHRM senior certified professional designations to those who pass an examination and meet other requirements.

Students should obtain as much experience as possible in the field by participating in summer internships and working at part-time jobs. It will take several years of on-the-job experience to be considered a full-fledged consultant.

Management analysts and consultants are often responsible for recommending layoffs of staff, so it is important that they learn to deal with people diplomatically. Their job requires a great deal of tact, enlisting cooperation while exerting leadership, debating their points, and pointing out errors. Consultants must be quick thinkers, able to refute objections with finality. They also must be able to make excellent presentations.

A management analyst must also be unbiased and analytical, with a disposition toward the intellectual side of business and a natural curiosity about the way things work best.