Management consultant vs project management specialist

The differences between management consultants and project management specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a management consultant and a project management specialist. Additionally, a management consultant has an average salary of $99,360, which is higher than the $81,204 average annual salary of a project management specialist.

The top three skills for a management consultant include healthcare, project management and portfolio. The most important skills for a project management specialist are PMP, powerpoint, and status reports.

Management consultant vs project management specialist overview

	Management Consultant	Project Management Specialist
Yearly salary	$99,360	$81,204
Hourly rate	$47.77	$39.04
Growth rate	11%	11%
Number of jobs	153,045	145,872
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does a management consultant do?

A management consultant's responsibility focuses on conducting an in-depth analysis of a company or business, including its target market. Through their findings, they can devise strategies that will help the business grow and attain a significant profit. There are also instances when a management consultant must solve particular issues that will require them to investigate the problem, assess damages, identify risks, and recommend the best solutions to take. Furthermore, a management consultant must adhere to the company's vision, mission, and policies at all times.

What does a project management specialist do?

A project management specialist is an individual who manages an entire project and serves as a point of contact for a client or customer. Project management specialists must provide detailed cost analysis and timetable reports to keep projects on schedule and budget. They must ask for frequent updates from all staff assigned so that they can identify potential problems that may keep projects from being completed on time. Project management specialists must also prepare progress reports of projects and create presentations for senior management.

Management consultant vs project management specialist salary

Management consultants and project management specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Management Consultant	Project Management Specialist
Average salary	$99,360	$81,204
Salary range	Between $72,000 And $136,000	Between $58,000 And $112,000
Highest paying City	Jersey City, NJ	Bridgewater, NJ
Highest paying state	New Jersey	New Jersey
Best paying company	Apple	Enbridge
Best paying industry	Technology	Finance

Differences between management consultant and project management specialist education

There are a few differences between a management consultant and a project management specialist in terms of educational background:

	Management Consultant	Project Management Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Northwestern University	Stanford University

Management consultant vs project management specialist demographics

Here are the differences between management consultants' and project management specialists' demographics:

	Management Consultant	Project Management Specialist
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 65.9% Female, 34.1%	Male, 52.4% Female, 47.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 13.6% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 11.8% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between management consultant and project management specialist duties and responsibilities

Management consultant example responsibilities.

Streamline and program manage operations for end-to-end creation of all assets using Smartsheet.
Lead daily agile scrum meetings towards the end of the development phase of the project.
Monitor and control project schedule for SaaS product to achieve project deliveries in at least 95th percentile.
Lead teams in implementation of value map streaming, ISO 9000 and waste reduction in manufacturing process.
Manage functional design team activities using baseline scope document information and develop process standards in line with SDLC methodologies.
Develop light-weight (fast) proprietary cloud-base licensing engine and UI to manage and track end user subscription licenses.

Project management specialist example responsibilities.

Plan and manage all development and production activities for the company s new cardiac rhythmic management (CRM) extrusion line.
Manage user authorization in SharePoint.
Manage change management activation and stabilization activities for ERP project within all sites.
Manage a team responsible for designing service-orient application architecture, standards and best practices guidelines, security and data access frameworks.
Update, create stories, and modify VDS tasks in JIRA.
Facilitate project meetings, including setting the agenda, meeting logistics and documentation of meetings.

Management consultant vs project management specialist skills

Common management consultant skills

Healthcare, 9%
Project Management, 7%
Portfolio, 6%
Business Process, 5%
Business Strategy, 5%
Business Development, 4%

Common project management specialist skills

PMP, 9%
PowerPoint, 7%
Status Reports, 7%
Program Management, 6%
Customer Service, 6%
Project Management Tools, 5%

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Management Consultant vs Project Management Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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