How to hire a professional services consultant

How to hire a professional services consultant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step professional services consultant hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a professional services consultant job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new professional services consultant
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a professional services consultant do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The professional services consultant hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A professional services consultant's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, professional services consultants from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   The following list breaks down different types of professional services consultants and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Professional Services Consultant	Description	Hourly rate
   Professional Services Consultant	Computer systems analysts study an organization’s current computer systems and procedures and design information systems solutions to help the organization operate more efficiently and effectively. They bring business and information technology (IT) together by understanding the needs and limitations of both.	$38-71
   Consultant/Team Lead	Consultant team leads analyze background documentation, project documents, financial reports, etc., to prepare an initial report about the projects they are working on. They gather data through interviews, research, and surveys to design proposals meant to create an inclusive environment for everyone... Show more	$34-62
   Consultant	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... Show more	$27-51

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Professional Services
   • Architecture
   • Cloud
   • Java
   • Customer Service
   • Unix
   • Project Management
   • Client Facing
   • SAN
   • Linux
   • Excellent Organizational
   • SQL Server
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Azure

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage the SDLC for a re-write of all systems for a national automobile auction house.
   • Design and manage development of SLA measurement platform to be used by service providers for performance measurements.
   • Generate maps, manage and update GIS data, perform geographic analyses, develop and update databases for clients.
   • Develop and manage database connectivity for AbInitio ETL tool.
   • Manage design and development of cloud-base billing application for streamlining payroll and invoicing, as well as offering real-time business analytics.
   • Implement several SAN and disaster recovery solutions for applications for Unix, Windows/Exchange/SQL and VMware.

   More professional services consultant duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your professional services consultant job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A professional services consultant can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, professional services consultants' average salary in hawaii is 54% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level professional services consultants 45% less than senior-level professional services consultants.
   • Certifications. A professional services consultant with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a professional services consultant's salary.

   Average professional services consultant salary

   $110,145yearly

   $52.95 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level professional services consultant salary

   $81,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average professional services consultant salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$134,936	$65
   2	Washington	$118,343	$57
   3	New Hampshire	$115,887	$56
   4	Oregon	$108,332	$52
   5	Connecticut	$107,655	$52
   6	New Jersey	$107,295	$52
   7	New York	$106,961	$51
   8	Massachusetts	$105,513	$51
   9	Utah	$103,840	$50
   10	Virginia	$103,654	$50
   11	Texas	$103,586	$50
   12	District of Columbia	$102,455	$49
   13	Arizona	$100,231	$48
   14	Ohio	$100,101	$48
   15	North Carolina	$99,414	$48
   16	Louisiana	$98,996	$48
   17	Maryland	$98,819	$48
   18	Georgia	$98,248	$47
   19	Maine	$96,732	$47
   20	Minnesota	$94,432	$45

   Average professional services consultant salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Apple	$136,772	$65.76	8
   2	Google	$130,361	$62.67	53
   3	Amazon	$126,357	$60.75	294
   4	F5	$119,178	$57.30
   5	Splunk	$118,036	$56.75
   6	Palo Alto Networks	$116,544	$56.03	46
   7	Sunrun	$116,273	$55.90
   8	VMware	$115,533	$55.54
   9	Juniper Networks	$115,348	$55.46
   10	Kronos Incorporated	$114,968	$55.27
   11	Talend	$114,775	$55.18
   12	Infoblox	$113,991	$54.80	2
   13	Navisite	$113,901	$54.76
   14	Cisco	$113,884	$54.75	7
   15	Epicor	$113,856	$54.74
   16	SecureAuth	$113,647	$54.64
   17	Adobe	$113,617	$54.62	5
   18	NetSuite	$113,010	$54.33
   19	Advent Software	$112,958	$54.31
   20	QAD	$112,942	$54.30

4. Writing a professional services consultant job description

   A good professional services consultant job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a professional services consultant job description:

   Professional services consultant job description example

   Today's growth leaders are powering their B2B selling with LeanData, the gold standard in modern revenue orchestration and an essential element of the modern RevTech stack.
   
   Our Professional Services Consultant role is an opportunity to learn SaaS implementation life cycle and consultative skills to implement LeanData as part of the Professional Services organization. We are looking for high energy candidates that are keen to learn and have an inclination towards technology and customer success. This is a strategic and highly visible role, requiring partnering with both external and internal teams including Solutions Consulting, Professional Services, Customer Success, as well as various Sales and leadership roles. The role requires to learn and develop expertise in LeanData products, business process in Lead to Account routing, putting together customer project plans, learning the LeanData implementation methodology for the successful deployment of the product to our customers.
   
   Responsibilities: Focus is learning and becoming a team contributor in a short period of time Learn about LeanData, its customers, products and managing product implementation Become an expert at Salesforce.com and gain knowledge about the Sales/Marketing operations landscape Manage implementations for our small/medium business clients with a focus on stewarding these to completion with a high level of customer satisfaction Participate in (and eventually lead) client meetings and demonstrate ability to contribute to meeting's outcomes Collaborate with other teams (Dev, Product, Sales, etc.), as needed for the implementation Learn about common customer questions and issues, and be able to troubleshoot these
   
   Requirements:1-2 years prior relevant internship or work experience in SaaS or related technology Excited about immersing yourself in the world of Revenue Operations, technology and customer evangelism Ability to understand and deconstruct technical products and platforms Excellent verbal and written communication skills Self-starter who thrives under ambiguity in a fast-paced, deadline oriented startup environment Proactive about finding learning opportunities Obsessed with going above and beyond and delivering a great customer experience Would be a plus if you have experience in customer-facing role and/or experience with Salesforce.com or marketing automation platforms
   This is a fully remote position in the Atlanta, GA or San Francisco Bay Areas.
   
   The salary range for this role is between $50,000 and $90,000 depending on skills, location and experience.
   
   We warmly welcome into the LeanData family all persons without regard to ethnic and racial identity, indigenous heritage, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status.
   
   For designated remote roles, we are open to applications from AZ, CA, DC, FL, GA, IL, MA, NV, NY, TX, UT and WA only.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right professional services consultant for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your professional services consultant job on Zippia to find and attract quality professional services consultant candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting professional services consultants requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   Sometimes, it's not enough to interview professional services consultant candidates, so you can ask them to do a test project. If you are not a technical person and don't know what a test project should be, you can use these websites:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new professional services consultant

   Once you have selected a candidate for the professional services consultant position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new professional services consultant. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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