Internal consultant vs strategy consultant

The differences between internal consultants and strategy 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 internal consultant and a strategy consultant. Additionally, a strategy consultant has an average salary of $115,244, which is higher than the $91,097 average annual salary of an internal consultant.

The top three skills for an internal consultant include project management, process improvement and internal controls. The most important skills for a strategy consultant are healthcare, project management, and develop recommendations.

Internal consultant vs strategy consultant overview

	Internal Consultant	Strategy Consultant
Yearly salary	$91,097	$115,244
Hourly rate	$43.80	$55.41
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	70,927	70,241
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does an internal consultant do?

An internal consultant is responsible for providing consultation on the business process and operations to identify key areas of improvement and review its effectiveness to support the business goals and objectives. Internal consultants must have excellent organizational skills and expertise in business planning and project management to strategize and improve existing methodologies that would raise the company's performance. They also develop training and programs necessary for the employees to maximize their productivity and manage efficiency.

What does a strategy consultant do?

A strategy consultant specializes in examining and analyzing business processes to identify areas needing improvement, ensuring to provide strategies for optimal performance. A strategy consultant may work as a member of a company or as a freelancer. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around discussing business vision and goals with clients, assessing the workflow and the workforce of a company, observing competitors, identifying risks, and recommending strategies for profitable growth and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, as a strategy consultant, it is essential to adhere to the company's vision and mission throughout the process.

Internal consultant vs strategy consultant salary

Internal consultants and strategy consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Internal Consultant	Strategy Consultant
Average salary	$91,097	$115,244
Salary range	Between $67,000 And $122,000	Between $87,000 And $151,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Alaska
Best paying company	Citi	Mayo Clinic
Best paying industry	Technology	Finance

Differences between internal consultant and strategy consultant education

There are a few differences between an internal consultant and a strategy consultant in terms of educational background:

	Internal Consultant	Strategy Consultant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Northwestern University	Northwestern University

Internal consultant vs strategy consultant demographics

Here are the differences between internal consultants' and strategy consultants' demographics:

	Internal Consultant	Strategy Consultant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 62.8% Female, 37.2%	Male, 63.1% Female, 36.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 12.4% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between internal consultant and strategy consultant duties and responsibilities

Internal consultant example responsibilities.

Manage project and perform UAT of any changes from AppStore releases that relate to sales compensation elements.
Manage a team responsible for designing service-orient application architecture, standards and best practices guidelines, security and data access frameworks.
Conduct UAT sessions to validate requirements against application.
Perform gap analysis and create needed architecture and systems overviews documentation from existing Visio drawings, program coding and PowerPoint presentations.
Analyze internal knowledge infrastructure and develop optimized information system/organization.
Identify key performance indicators (KPIs), then used it to measure and set improvement targets.

Strategy consultant example responsibilities.

Lead project to ensure integration of CMS and other regulations (HIPAA etc . )
Achieve SOX compliance requirements across organization.
Manage the remediation process using SDLC methodology.
Develop and manage all front-of-house operations / logistics including guest control planning, security, celebrity appearances and executive presentations.
Develop and manage value-based pricing strategy that maximize profitability and marketability of limited-inventory advertising portfolio.
Provide business development and growth direction to technology focuse entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Internal consultant vs strategy consultant skills

Common internal consultant skills

Project Management, 18%
Process Improvement, 18%
Internal Controls, 9%
Sigma, 8%
Internal Clients, 7%
Business Development, 7%

Common strategy consultant skills

Healthcare, 7%
Project Management, 6%
Develop Recommendations, 6%
Client Facing, 5%
Market Research, 5%
Business Development, 4%

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Internal Consultant
Internal Consultant vs Strategy Consultant

Updated January 8, 2025

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