Management Consulting Jobs and Career Like Up In The Air

Management consultants help companies, non-profit organizations and government agencies make decisions and operate their organizations. Management consulting jobs usually require an area of specialization.

They bring to bear the experiences, skill sets, technical expertise, networks of contacts, the latest in technology and tools, strategic planning, and creative problem solving on the needs of their clients. This is the type of thing people do in management consulting jobs.

Consulting firms can be both one man operations or be large firms. They primarily sell their services, expertise, time and in some cases their personnel.

Management consulting firms can have a very narrow focus or they can be broad offering a wide array of services and expertise. Anyone with any specialized expertise can pursue management consulting jobs with a consulting firm.

You Get to Travel like George Clooney

There are many advantages to management consulting jobs. Probably the most glamorous one is that you get to travel around quite a bit. In George Clooney's new movie Up In The Air, Clooney plays a character that works as a management consultant that goes around firing people on behalf of companies. The movie glamorizes traveling. Indeed, traveling is sexy.

Many consultants travel so much that they spend more days out of the year on the road or 'up in the air' as they do at home. In fact, some travel so much that they don't even keep a home in their home city. They just live in hotels out of their suite cases. Sounds like a lot of fun to me.

Consulting firms advise their clients on any part of their company's operations. A firm may have a special area of expertise, but they may also be able to offer a comprehensive menu of services to advise on any corporate area. Accordingly, management consulting jobs will typically specialize in one or a few areas of expertise and if they are part of a larger consulting firm, there will be other management consultants that focus on complementary areas of expertise.

Again, larger firms will generally offer expert advice on all areas of business management. However, management consulting jobs in smaller firms will require that you specialize in an area that is similar or closely complementary to what that firm specializes in. If a firm specializes in human resources, their consulting jobs may require a recruiting background or experience in processing payroll.

If a firm specializes in information technology, their management consulting jobs may require technical expertise in IT, software programming, computer networking or a background in internet security. If it's a firm specializing in design and marketing, they might be looking for graphic designers, communications specialists, advertising executives or web developers.

Sometimes a smaller firm will specialize in small business management. In that case, although the consulting firm is small, they will have a comprehensive menu of services and areas of expertise that can advise on setting up financial and accounting systems, marketing, human resources, legal and administration. In these cases, these small firms will want someone with a comprehensive skill set of everything.

In other cases, the smaller firm will outsource specific areas of expertise that is not in their set of expertise to another smaller firm or management consultant that might have that particular expertise. For example, a firm specializing in accounting may outsource their client's marketing strategy needs to another smaller firm as an associate that specializes in marketing.

Secondly, they are good for people who get bored easily. They usually have a specified time period with clients with a timetable and a deadline to get the work done. Once that client gets what he needs from your firm, you move on to something else.

Thirdly, these jobs are good for people who like to give advice but not necessarily to execute or live with the consequences of the decisions in how it affects the entire company. They focus in on an area, give their advice, get paid, then they move on. Management consulting jobs also tend to pay a lot better than normal jobs in their field of expertise.

A management consultant in finance makes more money than a financial manager for example. On average, management consulting jobs will typically pay about $10 more per hour than what a similar area of expertise and function would pay in a normal employment situation.

Consulting jobs are also great for people who enjoy public speaking, giving advice, helping others succeed, strategic thinking and planning, and coming up with business and operational plans.They are also good for people who love to learn because these jobs require that the consultant have the most up to date information on the latest technology, business processes, industry trends and best practices.

They also allow for lots of writing. Consultants will write proposals, business plans, reports, industry articles and sometimes will write full-blown books on the subject matter they are an expert in.

Sometimes companies need consulting firms to help them for a large but temporary project like overhauling their infrastructure or converting to new systems and processes. For example, a management consulting firm might be contracted out by a large company to convert their current enterprise software system to a newer more integrated solution like SAP.

A consulting firm that specializes in SAP conversion will be contracted out since they need very specialized expertise but they don't need to hire large numbers of permanent personnel for a temporary project. They might hire permanently for ongoing maintenance, but that workforce will be a lot smaller in proportion to the team that is necessary to convert an entire management software system to something brand new.

The consulting jobs that might come as a result of this project would be everything from the managing director, project managers, SAP developers, SAP trainers, to administrative assistants to human resources personnel to manage any new hires for that project. In this case, management consulting jobs would almost range in scope, and they would look almost like a self-contained company of it's own for this specific project.

These jobs can be hard to find because consulting firms usually work behind the scenes and when a company hires a consulting company, they don't advertise that the consulting company is the one helping them with specific projects. When you're looking for consulting jobs you want to look for firms that seem to be growing and doing well.

These firms tend to have the most consulting jobs available because each project tends to have full time staff they need to manage it. You can look for smaller consulting firms too but you'll probably end up having to get your own clients or have to do some sales. If you're okay with that, go for it.

Just google management consulting jobs and you'll find a list of firms to research and go after. Filter out the list of firms that would want your set of qualifications or ones you know you can add value to. Some might be actively advertising jobs but others might not.

That doesn't mean they aren't hiring. I've listed some of the best and largest consulting firms in this article. Just so you know, I don't work for any of these companies so I am not trying to promote some to the exclusion of others. I just wanted to help you get started.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the field of management consulting is one of the fastest growing fields in the country. In fact, the recession may be offering some opportunities for consulting firms that it didn't have before. Companies are laying off executives and managers and replacing them with management consultants.

In fact, US News and World Report recently named Management Consulting as one of the best careers for 2009. Any reputable report that identifies a 'best career' has to imply that it's a thriving field in this current recession economy.

Although management consultants charge a higher fee per hour, there are a lot of other employment costs associated with having a full time employee that hiring a consulting firm simply does not have.

For example, companies don't have to give a consulting firm benefits like health insurance, dental insurance, paid vacation time, paid time off, sick days or disability. Additionally, there aren't other human resources infrastructure employment costs when a company hires a consulting firm to do that job.

The best places to look for jobs are in consulting firms that specialize in government and the health care industry. I have a friend who is a managing director for a consulting firm that does business with the Federal government. When the recession hit, they felt nothing. Even now, they are doing really well even in this horrible economic environment.

Companies, in order to survive and grow, are more and more entering the global market. Accordingly, the other category of consulting firm that is still growing at a rapid pace are those with a specialized expertise in international business.

Globalization has also hit the consulting industry and this would be a growing trend in the years to come. Additionally, this would allow you to now not only travel across the United States, but now all around to world to markets like Dubai, Shanghai, Singapore, London and Moscow.

Below is a video by Vault, one of the best career information and research companies in the world on how to interview for a management consulting job.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says that a full 21% of management consultants are self-employed. That's a very high percentage for a given profession. Many former executives or other professionals with specialized expertise, skill and knowledge in any given field go into consulting.

Sometimes it's due to lay-offs and sometimes they want to go it on their own. For those who have been recently laid off can and should look at this as an option, even if it's an in-between job while they land the right opportunity. In some cases, a consulting project may lead to a full time job.

Those who are self-employed have all the pressures and joys of running their own business. They have to do all the sale and relationship management, as well as the billing, invoicing, collection, bookkeeping and accounting. It can be a big job for one person, but it can also be both a satisfying and lucrative one and a great alternative to looking for management consulting jobs.