How To Become A Communications Consultant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a communications consultant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Jim Neuliep Ph.D.,

Everett Wiles

Communications consultants are employed in various industries to develop and write content for internal and external media communications. They plan and create communications strategies. They interview internal sources, collect relevant information and develop material for media releases and communication sessions. Asides from that, they monitor the results of media activities and submit reports. Additionally, they schedule and adhere to the timely release of communications and media information. Communications consultants may also work on projects, such as branding, media analysis, and communications audits.

To become a communications consultant, you need a minimum of a bachelor's degree in communications, public relations, or a related field. You may be required to have up to ten years of relevant work experience. You must have communication, project management, presentation, computer, attention to detail, listening, organization, and multitasking skills. These professionals earn an average salary of $76,377 annually. This ranges between $47,000 and $124,000.

What general advice would you give to a communications consultant?

Jim Neuliep Ph.D.

Professor of Communication and Media Studies, St. Norbert College

Dr. Jim Neuliep, Professor of Communication and Media Studies at St. Norbert College, argues that recent graduates with a degree in Communication and Media Studies are in an excellent position to assume a variety of career options. Neuliep asserts that Communication majors should be open to a whole host of potential careers. For example, virtually all employers list communication skills as a central criterion for hiring new employees. Communication majors may not recognize the diversity of jobs open to them. Neuliep notes that pharmaceutical companies often hire communication majors as pharmaceutical representatives. What do pharmaceutical representatives do? They interact/communicate with physicians, physician assistants, and nurses about a particular product. Communication majors may think they need a degree in the sciences to work for a pharmaceutical company. The pharmaceutical company will teach the recent graduate everything they need to know about the product they represent. In many cases, the training may take weeks, but the communication major will know more about the product than many in the healthcare industry. The key is to practice what they learned in their communication classes in healthcare settings.

Neuliep also maintains that Communication majors must learn to be communicatively competent; that is, they must learn to be assertive and responsive. According to Neuliep, assertiveness is the ability to approach others, initiate, maintain, terminate the conversation, express one's opinion without attacking the other person, and defend one's position without attacking another person's situation. Employers are looking for assertive communicators. Neuliep is careful to point out that assertiveness should not be confused with aggressiveness. They are very different. Neuliep also notes that competent communicators must be responsive. Responsiveness is the ability and willingness to listen, show empathy, and to be cooperative. Employers want this. Responsiveness should not be confused with submissiveness. Neuliep stresses that the competent communicator must be versatile and balance assertiveness and responsiveness, knowing when to be assertive and knowing when to be responsive. Just about any employer is looking for these qualities.

ScoreCommunications ConsultantUS Average

Salary

7.1

Avg. Salary $91,455

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.59%

Asian 5.35%

Black or African American 10.38%

Hispanic or Latino 12.24%

Unknown 5.12%

White 66.31%

Gender

female 56.52%

male 43.48%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a communications consultant

Explore communications consultant education requirements

Most common communications consultant degrees

Bachelor's

71.1 %

Master's

15.5 %

Associate

7.2 %

Start to develop specific communications consultant skills

Skills	Percentages
PowerPoint	9.60%
Web Content	9.19%
Project Management	8.26%
Press Releases	5.21%
Strategic Communications Plan	4.95%

Complete relevant communications consultant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New communications consultants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a communications consultant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real communications consultant resumes.

Research communications consultant duties and responsibilities

Plan and manage and produce online marketing activities and campaigns (B2B and B2C).
Manage content, database selection, HTML presentation and quality assurance of all outbound email campaigns.
Advise and/or manage on content, navigation architecture, SEO, social media, YouTube, email campaigns.
Manage editorial and content for Siemens quarterly executive level do magazine with worldwide distribution.

Prepare your communications consultant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your communications consultant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a communications consultant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable communications consultant resume templates

Build a professional communications consultant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your communications consultant resume.

Apply for communications consultant jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a communications consultant job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first communications consultant job

Noha Fouad

Communications Consultant, 1Web Digital Marketing

Although I was raised in a traditional Middle Eastern family, my parents encouraged me to utilize my strong workaholic tendencies from a young age. So I started working in middle school and developed a passion for print communications, creating flyers and magazines in the mid-90s. While my peers were focused on social activities, I spent hours honing my skills on my desktop computer.

Start Early.. accept any challenges
At 16, I began working 8 hours a day, balancing school and college studies. I earned my undergraduate degree in Business from Cairo University, and my communications career took off when I joined KPMG Egypt and worked on their very first digital communications project. I took the challenge and I made it interesting to follow an audit firm on Facebook by creating KPMG branded educational content addressing individual & small businesses financial challenges.
I then moved on to Baker & Mackenzie Egypt, where I tackled public relations challenges for top companies. In PR, you don’t have a life but you get unlimited supply of achievements.

Invest in valuable experiences
Although it was a salary downgrade, In 2009, I left my family for the first time in my life. I joined the United Nations Department of Global Communications in New York, serving as a public information officer.
Who’s your target audience?
the “Globe”.
This role showed me the importance of being a people person, understanding ALL human struggles, and embracing diversity. Over eight years in digital communications, I engaged with people through social media, reading comments and messages daily to stay connected.