What does a professional consultant do?
Professional consultants provide their expert advice to organizations and businesses. This professional advice helps the organization to improve its business performance in terms of management, operation, and strategy. Their main tasks are to detect issues and find ways to resolve them, conduct surveys and research an understanding of the business, and assess the pros and cons of possible strategies. Professional consultants must have good numerical, teamwork, and interpersonal skills to succeed. Also, they must have commercial awareness, self-motivation, and good attention to detail.
Professional consultant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real professional consultant resumes:
- Manage implementation of initial ERP modules.
- Manage a team responsible for designing service-orient application architecture, standards and best practices guidelines, security and data access frameworks.
- Provide guidance to clients in Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
- Provide and customize marketing materials for TLC affiliates.
- Identify improvements and gaps in client's existing SOX programs and testing parameters.
- Work with several manufacturing clients with international facilities, assisting in streamlining the SOX process and focusing on key controls.
- Document internal control procedures for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
- Develop plans for payroll processing streamlining through automation and standardization.
- Review payroll account reconciliation process and provide guidelines for process improvements.
- Analyze internal knowledge infrastructure and develop optimized information system/organization.
- Create interactive reports using JavaScript and JQuery.
- Direct global application and OS deployment and implementation efforts using ticket tracking methods and change management control tools.
- Analyze internal knowledge infrastructure and develop optimized information system/organization.
Professional consultant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 31% of Professional Consultants are proficient in Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service, and C #. They’re also known for soft skills such as Problem-solving skills, Time-management skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Professional Consultants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Satisfaction, 31%
Created and implemented customer satisfaction survey and action plan response.
- Customer Service, 29%
Total ownership for delivering customer service regarding the identification and resolution of sales settlement, balance issues, and commission exceptions.
- C #, 11%
Worked in MVC pattern and Entity Framework in C #.
- Financial Statements, 4%
Facilitated processes needed for timely completion of Audited Financial Statements by Independent Certified Public Accountants.
- Internal Audit, 2%
Executed as part of the RBC Internal Audit team the SOX testing for RBC Insurance Actuarial Liabilities, Toronto.
- Regulatory Compliance, 2%
Utilized professional mastery of regulatory compliance issues that pertained to the program.
Most professional consultants use their skills in "customer satisfaction," "customer service," and "c #" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential professional consultant responsibilities here:
Problem-solving skills. The most essential soft skill for a professional consultant to carry out their responsibilities is problem-solving skills. This skill is important for the role because "management analysts must be able to think creatively to solve clients’ problems." Additionally, a professional consultant resume shows how their duties depend on problem-solving skills: "work together with clients to comprehend their business needs and help in testing and configuring the organization's payroll solution plan. "
Time-management skills. Many professional consultant duties rely on time-management skills. "management analysts often work under tight deadlines and must use their time efficiently to complete projects on schedule.," so a professional consultant will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways professional consultant responsibilities rely on time-management skills: "conducted internal audits on time off program, inter company payables and receivables, and payroll records. "
Analytical skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of professional consultants is analytical skills. This skill is critical to many everyday professional consultant duties, as "management analysts must be able to interpret information and use their findings to make proposals." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "utilized access database and excel pivot tables to analyze volume by product and account. "
Communication skills. For certain professional consultant responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "communication skills." The day-to-day duties of a professional consultant rely on this skill, as "management analysts must be able to convey information clearly in both writing and speaking." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what professional consultants do: "conducted a risk analysis for an international communications-manufacturing corporation resulting in the addition of several new internal controls worldwide. "
Interpersonal skills. A commonly-found skill in professional consultant job descriptions, "interpersonal skills" is essential to what professional consultants do. Professional consultant responsibilities rely on this skill because "management analysts work with managers and other employees of the organizations for which they provide consulting services." You can also see how professional consultant duties rely on interpersonal skills in this resume example: "leveraged deep knowledge of hr policies and employment law, as well as, strong interpersonal and communication skills. "
The three companies that hire the most professional consultants are:
- Highmark45 professional consultants jobs
- Best Buy4 professional consultants jobs
- Comptech Associates3 professional consultants jobs
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Compare different professional consultants
Professional consultant vs. Manager and consultant
Managers and Consultants are employees who are considered industry experts. They contribute to the company by providing valuable insights regarding the industry. They are often individual contributors tapped to give guidance on a specific project or undertaking of the company. These projects are related to their field of expertise or an extensive role in the past. They provide insights into the feasibility of such undertakings. Since they are given both a manager and a consultant's dual role, they also lead the team in the project. They oversee the team's progress, provide guidance, and ultimately lead the project team to success.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between professional consultants and manager and consultant. For instance, professional consultant responsibilities require skills such as "customer satisfaction," "customer service," "c #," and "hire training." Whereas a manager and consultant is skilled in "project management," "client facing," "healthcare," and "architecture." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Managers and consultant earn the highest salaries when working in the technology industry, with an average yearly salary of $114,179. On the other hand, professional consultants are paid more in the finance industry with an average salary of $89,968.On average, managers and consultant reach similar levels of education than professional consultants. Managers and consultant are 2.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Professional consultant vs. Small business consultant
A small business consultant specializes in developing and recommending strategies to optimize the daily operations of small businesses. They typically meet with clients to identify their needs and preferences, determine their short and long-term goals, perform market research and analysis to find business or client opportunities, determine the strengths and weaknesses of current processes, and implement solutions against problem areas. They may also conduct risk assessments and help address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Moreover, a small business consultant must devise a plan to implement the establishment's policies and regulations, suggesting new ones as needed.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that professional consultant responsibilities requires skills like "customer satisfaction," "c #," "hire training," and "internal audit." But a small business consultant might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "business clients," "outbound calls," "strong computer," and "business solutions."
In general, small business consultants achieve similar levels of education than professional consultants. They're 4.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for professional consultants in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Brian Simmons
Associate Provost, Columbia International University
Professional consultant vs. Contractor/consultant
A contractor is a self-employed businessperson who agrees to work for a fixed price. His/her job involves the evaluation of clients' needs and actual performance of work. On the other hand, a consultant is a skilled independent businessperson who provides expert teaching and training in a specific market by assisting existing staff for the improvement of operations, problem-solving, and development of strategies. His/her role is to assess clients' needs and provide expert advice and opinion. However, both individuals are not employees, since they came from outside of the organization to perform such services.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from professional consultant resumes include skills like "customer satisfaction," "customer service," "hire training," and "internal audit," whereas a contractor/consultant is more likely to list skills in "healthcare," "post implementation," "project management," and "medicaid. "
Contractor/consultants make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $88,122. On the other hand, professional consultants are paid the highest salary in the finance industry, with average annual pay of $89,968.contractor/consultants typically earn similar educational levels compared to professional consultants. Specifically, they're 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Professional consultant vs. Management consultant
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.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between professional consultants and management consultants, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a professional consultant might have more use for skills like "c #," "hire training," "internal audit," and "regulatory compliance." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of management consultants require skills like "healthcare," "project management," "portfolio," and "business strategy. "
Management consultants enjoy the best pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $102,527. For comparison, professional consultants earn the highest salary in the finance industry.In general, management consultants hold higher degree levels compared to professional consultants. Management consultants are 5.7% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of professional consultant
Updated January 8, 2025
