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Executive consultant vs project consultant

The differences between executive consultants and project consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 8-10 years to become an executive consultant, becoming a project consultant takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an executive consultant has an average salary of $131,331, which is higher than the $86,654 average annual salary of a project consultant.

The top three skills for an executive consultant include healthcare, business development and financial services. The most important skills for a project consultant are customer service, project management, and client facing.

Executive consultant vs project consultant overview

Executive ConsultantProject Consultant
Yearly salary$131,331$86,654
Hourly rate$63.14$41.66
Growth rate10%11%
Number of jobs118,432113,013
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age3944
Years of experience104

What does an executive consultant do?

An executive consultant gives support and guidance to the company's management team. Their duties may vary depending on each client's needs. Other companies hire consultants to solve a particular problem or assist with operations, employees, or strategic planning. They advise partner companies in business development opportunities to pursue financial goals and financial growth. They can also provide consulting services for non-profit organizations to act as an executive member.

What does a project consultant do?

A project consultant is responsible for communicating with the clients for their specific needs, develop strategic plans, and determine project resources to achieve their business goals and objectives. Project consultants are employed across various industries, offering their knowledge and expertise to facilitate clients' requests and propositions. They also collaborate with different development teams to discuss project parameters and analyze opportunities to improve plans and progress efficiency. A project consultant must have excellent communication and critical-thinking skills, responding to clients' inquiries and concerns, and providing recommendations to ensure successful project completion.

Executive consultant vs project consultant salary

Executive consultants and project consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Executive ConsultantProject Consultant
Average salary$131,331$86,654
Salary rangeBetween $90,000 And $190,000Between $59,000 And $126,000
Highest paying CitySouth San Francisco, CANewark, NJ
Highest paying stateWashingtonNew Jersey
Best paying companyMayo ClinicDell
Best paying industryTechnology-

Differences between executive consultant and project consultant education

There are a few differences between an executive consultant and a project consultant in terms of educational background:

Executive ConsultantProject Consultant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of GeorgiaNorthwestern University

Executive consultant vs project consultant demographics

Here are the differences between executive consultants' and project consultants' demographics:

Executive ConsultantProject Consultant
Average age3944
Gender ratioMale, 67.2% Female, 32.8%Male, 61.9% Female, 38.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 7.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian, 14.4% White, 65.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage10%12%

Differences between executive consultant and project consultant duties and responsibilities

Executive consultant example responsibilities.

  • Recruit to manage key client engagements to define global strategic sourcing projects and solutions to utilize technology and advance ERP systems.
  • Manage e-commerce website and direct email campaigns to wholesale and retail customers, initiate SEO plan: organic and paid search.
  • Manage design and development of cloud-base billing application for streamlining payroll and invoicing, as well as offering real-time business analytics.
  • Own the PMO, reporting to the COO/CEO.
  • Lead and develop the expertise of individuals in the PMO.
  • Develop protocols for RFP initiation and execution.
  • Show more

Project consultant example responsibilities.

  • Lead a pilot project to introduce strong document management features to support document repositories in SharePoint.
  • Manage a team responsible for designing service-orient application architecture, standards and best practices guidelines, security and data access frameworks.
  • Create SQL scripts to implement test unit cases and ensure data quality.
  • Gather all systems, applications and processes documentation into one repository on SharePoint to enable incoming vendor education.
  • Implement strategic initiatives for operational transformation, including SDLC processes, role specialization, order tracking and labor tracking.
  • Develop amendment projection and confirmations user interfaces using JavaScript and XML and develop PL/SQL procedures and packages to handle business logic.
  • Show more

Executive consultant vs project consultant skills

Common executive consultant skills
  • Healthcare, 17%
  • Business Development, 8%
  • Financial Services, 8%
  • Project Management, 7%
  • Process Improvement, 6%
  • C-Suite, 5%
Common project consultant skills
  • Customer Service, 16%
  • Project Management, 12%
  • Client Facing, 6%
  • Project Scope, 5%
  • Process Improvement, 5%
  • Healthcare, 4%

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