How To Become An Operations Consultant: What It Is and Career Path

What is an operations consultant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Experts

Angela Grotto Ph.D.,

George Dierberger

Businesses having none to poor strategies face various issues and can lose everything. Organizations need proper effective strategies to shape the direction of their companies. This is where operations consultants come in. They steer organizations in the right direction to boost business efficiency and productivity.

Operations consultants act as strategic planners, facilitators, or supporters for a business. Their responsibilities depend on their role in the firm. They may work with clients to point out the businesses' areas requiring development and focus and know their weaknesses and strengths. Consultants also introduce the latest technologies, produce progress and evaluation reports, and facilitate training activities and budget coordination.

You will normally see them being self-employed on a contract basis with many organizations and private firms. They offer their services to get a salary of $39.48 per hour. Expert consultants having bachelor's or master's degrees in business or finance excel in the field.

What general advice would you give to an Operations Consultant?

Angela Grotto Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Management, Manhattan College

When job searching, be active and persistent - Network by setting up Zoom informational calls with professionals (alumni, people with whom your family work) to learn about jobs that you are interested in or to learn about organizations where you would like to work and then follow up with them; have someone you trust who is a professional review your resume and social media profile pages; carve out time every day to apply to jobs; use Handshake and LinkedIn as a resource; keep sending out applications; while job searching, volunteer or start your business project that showcases your skillset and then discuss it during your interviews.
When interviewing, be creative - Use experiences from your academic career to demonstrate your capabilities. There are many skills you learn in class that are transferrable to the professional world. For example, as a student, you likely had to pivot to full remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than seeing this as a disadvantage, discuss how the new learning format has prepared you to work remotely as an employee, how small group projects have primed you to collaborate on a virtual team, and how small classes have equipped you to use technology such as Zoom.
When deciding on a job offer, be open-minded - Your first job may not be the one you had imagined or hoped for upon graduation. Still, it may be a stepping stone to your ideal career or a way to build your network of professional connections. You create meaningful and valuable relationships with others who may one day help you get the job you want.
When you land the job, be flexible - Show your employer or your boss that you're willing to step outside your comfort zone and do tasks that you were not necessarily trained for or are unrelated to your degree. Also, when circumstances at work change, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, show that you are willing to step up and do a different job, do someone else's job, or work on another project or team. This flexibility will demonstrate your versatility and how you can adapt to new and unpredictable situations. Lastly, embrace the "gig" economy - be willing to start as a temporary or contract worker with a company to get your foot in the door and build more professional connections.

ScoreOperations ConsultantUS Average

Salary

6.8

Avg. Salary $87,229

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.8

Growth Rate 11%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.43%

Asian 8.83%

Black or African American 6.36%

Hispanic or Latino 9.39%

Unknown 4.56%

White 70.43%

Gender

female 37.27%

male 62.73%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

6.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.7

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

2.2

Work Life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Newest jobs for Operations Consultant in Ashburn, VA

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Key steps to become an operations consultant

Explore operations consultant education requirements

Most common operations consultant degrees

Bachelor's

67.9 %

Master's

15.4 %

Associate

10.0 %

Start to develop specific operations consultant skills

Skills	Percentages
Risk Management	12.94%
Strong Analytical	12.90%
Business Process	9.96%
Operational Risk	8.58%
Project Management	3.47%

Research operations consultant duties and responsibilities

Lead the design and implementation of a new customer income verification tool using SharePoint and InfoPath.
Manage a team to leverage demand planning, supply , 6 sigma strategic sourcing processes, and negotiate vendor pricing.
Program initiatives include case management, commercial / manage care / government dispute management, appeals, and retro authorizations.
Manage departmental Sarbanes-Oxley compliance activities.

Prepare your operations consultant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your operations consultant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an operations consultant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Operations Consultant Resume templates

Build a professional Operations Consultant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Operations Consultant resume.

Apply for operations consultant jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an operations consultant job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do operations consultants rate their job?

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Operations Consultant reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2020

Cons

It needs more patience to apply the true solution and satisfy your client

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2020

Cons

Marketing during and between projects. Work is not always steady.

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020

Pros

Being an important COG into the system. The dynamic work flow ensures that you are always well vested into the multiple projects you will assist in facilitating resources too.

Cons

Not too much that I don't like. Learning curve was steep but I'm getting better all the time.

What is an operations consultant and how to become one

What general advice would you give to an Operations Consultant?

Newest jobs for Operations Consultant in Ashburn, VA

Operations Consultant career paths

Key steps to become an operations consultant

Explore operations consultant education requirements

Most common operations consultant degrees

Start to develop specific operations consultant skills

Research operations consultant duties and responsibilities

Prepare your operations consultant resume

Choose From 10+ Customizable Operations Consultant Resume templates

Apply for operations consultant jobs

How Did You Land Your First Operations Consultant Job

Average operations consultant salary

How do operations consultants rate their job?

Operations Consultant reviews

Operations Consultant jobs by state