A contractor is a self-employed businessperson who agrees to work for a fixed price. His/her job involves the evaluation of clients' needs and actual performance of work. On the other hand, a consultant is a skilled independent businessperson who provides expert teaching and training in a specific market by assisting existing staff for the improvement of operations, problem-solving, and development of strategies. His/her role is to assess clients' needs and provide expert advice and opinion. However, both individuals are not employees, since they came from outside of the organization to perform such services.

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Contractor/Consultant Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real contractor/consultant resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

  • Manage design and development of cloud-base billing application for streamlining payroll and invoicing, as well as offering real-time business analytics.
  • Assist PMO in defining project scope, task and budget, collaborating closely with developers.
  • Bill and provide appropriate documentation to submit reimbursement for services to appropriate insurance to include Medicaid, Medicare, etc.
  • Motivate and ensure SME team member engagement in projects.
  • Provide Linux server setup, documentation, and internal support.
  • Develop and implement SQL store procedures and DTS packages to process client billing data.
  • Monitor risks to project team, escalate issues and risks for mitigation to PMO.
  • Negotiate Medicaid agreements with providers for network expansion projects in the state of Texas for a major carrier.
  • Support for AIX UNIX servers at FCW and TRCC sites for the Ethernet conversion and LINUX support for development.
  • Advise BP's project managers/leads and other decision makers on project updates, ROI and future plan country releases.
  • Perform PC deployments and install peripheral Printer/hardware.
  • Maintain and troubleshoot assign district web applications.
  • Advise facility on local and federal Medicare guidelines.
  • Conduct relocation projects moving telephone and PC equipment.
  • Maintain all documentation relating to payroll for audit review.

Contractor/Consultant Job Description

Between the years 2018 and 2028, contractor/consultant jobs are expected to undergo a growth rate described as "much faster than average" at 14%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So if the thought "should I become a contractor/consultant?" Has crossed your mind, maybe you should take the growth rate into account. In addition, the number of contractor/consultant opportunities that are projected to become available by 2028 is 118,300.

Contractor/consultants average about $40.77 an hour, which makes the contractor/consultant annual salary $84,811. Additionally, contractor/consultants are known to earn anywhere from $58,000 to $123,000 a year. This means that the top-earning contractor/consultants make $53,000 more than the lowest earning ones.

It's hard work to become a contractor/consultant, but even the most dedicated employees consider switching careers from time to time. Whether you're interested in a more challenging position or just looking for a fresh start, we've compiled extensive information on becoming an analyst, business advisor, operations specialist, and senior consultant, information technology.

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12 Contractor/Consultant Resume Examples

Contractor/Consultant Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 30% of Contractor/Consultants are proficient in Healthcare, Post Implementation, and Data Analysis. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Problem-solving skills, and Time-management skills.

We break down the percentage of Contractor/Consultants that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Healthcare, 30%

    Assist with researching and compiling data and resources for the Community Health Needs Assessments for the 5 entities of Adventist HealthCare

  • Post Implementation, 25%

    Contract Consultant 2007 - 2009 Facility- Critical Access Facility -Illinois post implementation review of the ADM and BAR applications of MEDITECH.

  • Data Analysis, 7%

    Performed data analysis/data migration tasks to help data warehouse architects determine the best database structure for different data warehouse elements.

  • Project Management, 5%

    Served as technical lead/coordinator between application development staff and project management on implementation of major third-party software (MID Allocation).

  • Financial Statements, 3%

    Prepared parent company and subsidiary bank general ledger consolidation, analyzed critical accounting policies, and compiled month-end financial statements.

  • Medicaid, 3%

    Expanded Medicare, Medicaid and Workers' Compensation networks statewide involving extensive provider persuasion and negotiations.

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Most contractor/consultants list "healthcare," "post implementation," and "data analysis" as skills on their resumes. We go into more details on the most important contractor/consultant responsibilities here:

  • The most important skills for a contractor/consultant to have in this position are interpersonal skills. In this excerpt that we gathered from a contractor/consultant resume, you'll understand why: "management analysts must work with managers and other employees of the organizations where they provide consulting services" According to resumes we found, interpersonal skills can be used by a contractor/consultant in order to "achieved exceptional customer service recognition through applying professional interpersonal communicative skills successfully exceeded company objectives through applied sales-driven personality"
  • Another trait important for fulfilling contractor/consultant duties is problem-solving skills. According to a contractor/consultant resume, "management analysts must be able to think creatively to solve clients’ problems." Here's an example of how contractor/consultants are able to utilize problem-solving skills: "post erp system conversion, error troubleshooting, analysis and determining solutions. "
  • Time-management skills is also an important skill for contractor/consultants to have. This example of how contractor/consultants use this skill comes from a contractor/consultant resume, "management analysts often work under tight deadlines and must use their time efficiently to complete projects on time." Read this excerpt from a resume to understand how vital it is to their everyday roles and responsibilities, "apply strategic planning, prioritization, and project management skills toward consistently achieving key deadlines. "
  • A thorough review of lots of resumes revealed to us that "analytical skills" is important to completing contractor/consultant responsibilities. This resume example shows just one way contractor/consultants use this skill: "management analysts must be able to interpret a wide range of information and use their findings to make proposals." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical contractor/consultant tasks: "performed required analysis, modifications, conversions, and enhancements for this automotive manufacturer during implementation of their new erp system. "
  • Another common skill for a contractor/consultant to be able to utilize is "communication skills." Management analysts must be able to communicate clearly and precisely in both writing and speaking a contractor/consultant demonstrated the need for this skill by putting this on their resume: "developed a backup and restore client/server system to interface a rack of telecommunications equipment to a networked windows 95 pc. "
  • See the full list of contractor/consultant skills.

    We've found that 63.9% of contractor/consultants have earned a bachelor's degree. Furthermore, 16.3% earned their master's degrees before becoming a contractor/consultant. While it's true that most contractor/consultants have a college degree, it's generally possible to become one with only a high school degree. In fact, one out of every eight contractor/consultants did not spend the extra money to attend college.

    Those contractor/consultants who do attend college, typically earn either business degrees or accounting degrees. Less commonly earned degrees for contractor/consultants include computer science degrees or psychology degrees.

    Once you're ready to become a contractor/consultant, you should explore the companies that typically hire contractor/consultants. According to contractor/consultant resumes that we searched through, contractor/consultants are hired the most by Oracle, FleishmanHillard, and TransPerfect. Currently, Oracle has 48 contractor/consultant job openings, while there are 16 at FleishmanHillard and 15 at TransPerfect.

    Since salary is important to some contractor/consultants, it's good to note that they are figured to earn the highest salaries at Cerner, Osha Liang LLP, and Hoffmann-LA Roche Inc. If you were to take a closer look at Cerner, you'd find that the average contractor/consultant salary is $111,757. Then at Osha Liang LLP, contractor/consultants receive an average salary of $108,592, while the salary at Hoffmann-LA Roche Inc is $101,866.

    View more details on contractor/consultant salaries across the United States.

    Some other companies you might be interested in as a contractor/consultant include Deloitte, Accenture, and Booz Allen Hamilton. These three companies were found to hire the most contractor/consultants from the top 100 U.S. educational institutions.

    In general, contractor/consultants fulfill roles in the professional and insurance industries. While employment numbers are high in those industries, the contractor/consultant annual salary is the highest in the technology industry with $88,122 as the average salary. Meanwhile, the finance and government industries pay $77,988 and $77,763 respectively. This means that contractor/consultants who are employed in the technology industry make 33.0% more than contractor/consultants who work in the health care Industry.

    The three companies that hire the most prestigious contractor/consultants are:

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    What Analysts Do

    Analysts are employees or individual contributors with a vast experience in a particular field that help the organization address challenges. They help the organization improve processes, policies, and other operations protocol by studying the current processes in place and determining the effectiveness of those processes. They also research industry trends and data to make sound inferences and recommendations on what the company should do to improve their numbers. Analysts recommend business solutions and often help the organization roll out these solutions. They ensure that the proposed action plans are effective and produce the desired results.

    We looked at the average contractor/consultant annual salary and compared it with the average of an analyst. Generally speaking, analysts receive $11,804 lower pay than contractor/consultants per year.

    Even though contractor/consultants and analysts have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require data analysis, project management, and financial statements in the day-to-day roles.

    These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A contractor/consultant responsibility is more likely to require skills like "healthcare," "post implementation," "medicare," and "opportunity analysis." Whereas a analyst requires skills like "customer service," "strong analytical," "digital transformation," and "data entry." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

    Analysts tend to make the most money in the technology industry by averaging a salary of $79,330. In contrast, contractor/consultants make the biggest average salary of $88,122 in the technology industry.

    The education levels that analysts earn is a bit different than that of contractor/consultants. In particular, analysts are 3.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a contractor/consultant. Additionally, they're 1.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    What Are The Duties Of a Business Advisor?

    Business Advisors are consultants responsible for implementing business strategies to improve financial and operational efficiency. They are involved in preparing financial budgets, recommending a change in the operational process, identifying new business opportunities, evaluating a marketing strategy, and reviewing supplier and labor contracts. Business advisors also help to manage risk by performing risk analysis and consumer behavioral analysis. They are involved in report preparation and work to maintain open communication with different departments to implement change.

    The next role we're going to look at is the business advisor profession. Typically, this position earns a higher pay. In fact, they earn a $11,658 higher salary than contractor/consultants per year.

    A similarity between the two careers of contractor/consultants and business advisors are a few of the skills associated with both roles. We used resumes from both professions to find that both use skills like "healthcare," "project management," and "financial statements. "

    In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences that are worth noting. For example, contractor/consultant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "post implementation," "data analysis," "medicaid," and "collective bargaining." Meanwhile, a business advisor might be skilled in areas such as "customer service," "business operations," "strong analytical," and "human resources." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

    It's been discovered that business advisors earn higher salaries compared to contractor/consultants, but we wanted to find out where business advisors earned the most pay. The answer? The technology industry. The average salary in the industry is $92,206. Additionally, contractor/consultants earn the highest paychecks in the technology with an average salary of $88,122.

    On the topic of education, business advisors earn similar levels of education than contractor/consultants. In general, they're 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    How an Operations Specialist Compares

    An operations specialist is responsible for optimizing the business' daily operations, ensuring smooth process flow to provide the best services to clients. Operations specialists' duties include analyzing business procedures, identifying opportunities for business improvement, tracking the department's metrics and activities, providing assistance to colleagues, suggesting strategies for operations efficiency, and managing customer's inquiries and complaints. An operations specialist must be an excellent team player and detail-oriented, as well as proven time-management and decision-making skills to meet clients' needs and support the business' objectives.

    The third profession we take a look at is operations specialist. On an average scale, these workers bring in lower salaries than contractor/consultants. In fact, they make a $30,059 lower salary per year.

    By looking over several contractor/consultants and operations specialists resumes, we found that both roles utilize similar skills, such as "data analysis," "hr," and "process improvement." But beyond that the careers look very different.

    Some important key differences between the two careers are a few of the skills necessary to fulfill responsibilities. Some examples from contractor/consultant resumes include skills like "healthcare," "post implementation," "project management," and "financial statements," whereas an operations specialist might be skilled in "customer service," "logistics," "basic math," and "powerpoint. "

    Operations specialists make a very good living in the government industry with an average annual salary of $65,446. Whereas contractor/consultants are paid the highest salary in the technology industry with the average being $88,122.

    When it comes to education, operations specialists tend to earn lower education levels than contractor/consultants. In fact, they're 9.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 2.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

    Description Of a Senior Consultant, Information Technology

    A senior consultant of information technology is primarily responsible for developing strategies and procedures to optimize a company's information technology systems and infrastructure. It is their duty to assess existing networks and systems to identify their strengths and weaknesses, develop solutions in problem areas, perform risk assessments, and provide advice on how to achieve the best information technology practices. Furthermore, as a senior consultant, it is essential to lead the efforts and serve as a role model for the workforce, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

    Now, we'll look at senior consultants, information technology, who generally average a higher pay when compared to contractor/consultants annual salary. In fact, the difference is about $25,327 per year.

    While their salaries may vary, contractor/consultants and senior consultants, information technology both use similar skills to perform their jobs. Resumes from both professions include skills like "healthcare," "data analysis," and "project management. "

    While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "post implementation," "financial statements," "medicaid," and "financial analysis" are skills that have shown up on contractor/consultants resumes. Additionally, senior consultant, information technology uses skills like architecture, client facing, shared services, and cloud on their resumes.

    Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The finance industry tends to pay more for senior consultants, information technology with an average of $117,869. While the highest contractor/consultant annual salary comes from the technology industry.

    The average resume of senior consultants, information technology showed that they earn similar levels of education to contractor/consultants. So much so that the likelihood of them earning a Master's Degree is 4.9% more. Additionally, they're less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 1.8%.

    What a Contractor/Consultant Does FAQs

    Consultant Vs Contractor

    A consultant's role is to assess a client's needs and give strategic advice, while a contractor assesses a client's needs and performs the work that needs to be done.

    A consultant is an expert in a particular field who provides professional advice to individuals, businesses, and corporations. They provide advice to help individuals or organizations with business performance in these areas, operations, profitability, structure, strategy, and management.

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