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The differences between instructional design consultants and consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an instructional design consultant and a consultant. Additionally, a consultant has an average salary of $78,912, which is higher than the $70,045 average annual salary of an instructional design consultant.
The top three skills for an instructional design consultant include instructional design, subject matter experts and elearning. The most important skills for a consultant are customer service, strong analytical, and project management.
| Instructional Design Consultant | Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $70,045 | $78,912 |
| Hourly rate | $33.68 | $37.94 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 47,057 | 171,733 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An instructional design consultant is responsible for assisting, developing, and managing instructional material and plans with other professionals such as programmers, web developers, and teachers in IT. They usually collaborate, coordinate, and interact with the aforementioned professionals to develop a program design to enhance their expertise and learning experiences. Also, they must research electronic learning, run usability tests, find learning objectives for a particular project, and do a content development review and analysis.
Consultants are individuals who were tapped by a company or an organization to work on a specific activity, depending on their field of expertise. They act as guides for the organization in undertaking projects that are related to their field. Consultants would usually assist organizations in planning, often giving advice when the need arises. They would, at times, take the lead in activities that involve data gathering and interpretation of data gathering results so that they can provide solid recommendations on actions that the organization may undertake. They may also guide the organization in implementing any changes brought about by their consultancy and in evaluating the effectiveness of the changes.
Instructional design consultants and consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Instructional Design Consultant | Consultant | |
| Average salary | $70,045 | $78,912 |
| Salary range | Between $51,000 And $95,000 | Between $58,000 And $107,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Qualtrics | L.E.K. Consulting |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Technology |
There are a few differences between an instructional design consultant and a consultant in terms of educational background:
| Instructional Design Consultant | Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Harvard University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between instructional design consultants' and consultants' demographics:
| Instructional Design Consultant | Consultant | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% | Male, 58.4% Female, 41.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 5.4% White, 62.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 13.8% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 12% |