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Project consultant vs implementation consultant

The differences between project consultants and implementation consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a project consultant and an implementation consultant. Additionally, a project consultant has an average salary of $86,654, which is higher than the $80,195 average annual salary of an implementation consultant.

The top three skills for a project consultant include customer service, project management and client facing. The most important skills for an implementation consultant are technical support, customer service, and erp implementation.

Project consultant vs implementation consultant overview

Project ConsultantImplementation Consultant
Yearly salary$86,654$80,195
Hourly rate$41.66$38.56
Growth rate11%11%
Number of jobs113,01370,450
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

What does a project consultant do?

A project consultant is responsible for communicating with the clients for their specific needs, develop strategic plans, and determine project resources to achieve their business goals and objectives. Project consultants are employed across various industries, offering their knowledge and expertise to facilitate clients' requests and propositions. They also collaborate with different development teams to discuss project parameters and analyze opportunities to improve plans and progress efficiency. A project consultant must have excellent communication and critical-thinking skills, responding to clients' inquiries and concerns, and providing recommendations to ensure successful project completion.

What does an implementation consultant do?

An implementation consultant is an individual who travels to various job sites to help clients with the installation of different software and hardware solutions. Implementation consultants must be knowledgeable of the software application so that they can conduct training sessions for internal and external customers. They develop system teaching aids such as training handbooks, demonstration models, and multimedia visual aids. Implementation consultants must also obtain technical certification, particularly on the specific software and hardware they install.

Project consultant vs implementation consultant salary

Project consultants and implementation consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Project ConsultantImplementation Consultant
Average salary$86,654$80,195
Salary rangeBetween $59,000 And $126,000Between $59,000 And $108,000
Highest paying CityNewark, NJWashington, DC
Highest paying stateNew JerseyNew York
Best paying companyDellMcKinsey & Company Inc
Best paying industry-Pharmaceutical

Differences between project consultant and implementation consultant education

There are a few differences between a project consultant and an implementation consultant in terms of educational background:

Project ConsultantImplementation Consultant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityNorthwestern University

Project consultant vs implementation consultant demographics

Here are the differences between project consultants' and implementation consultants' demographics:

Project ConsultantImplementation Consultant
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 61.9% Female, 38.1%Male, 53.8% Female, 46.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian, 14.4% White, 65.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 12.5% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage12%12%

Differences between project consultant and implementation consultant duties and responsibilities

Project consultant example responsibilities.

  • Lead a pilot project to introduce strong document management features to support document repositories in SharePoint.
  • Manage a team responsible for designing service-orient application architecture, standards and best practices guidelines, security and data access frameworks.
  • Create SQL scripts to implement test unit cases and ensure data quality.
  • Gather all systems, applications and processes documentation into one repository on SharePoint to enable incoming vendor education.
  • Implement strategic initiatives for operational transformation, including SDLC processes, role specialization, order tracking and labor tracking.
  • Develop amendment projection and confirmations user interfaces using JavaScript and XML and develop PL/SQL procedures and packages to handle business logic.
  • Show more

Implementation consultant example responsibilities.

  • Facilitate teams, working directly with healthcare materials managers and executives to achieve non-salary expense reduction.
  • Utilize extensive payroll and human resource knowledge to coordinate and manage multiple complex implementation projects simultaneously.
  • Leverage industry experience, negotiation skills and communication competency to engage stakeholders to accomplish a trading system upgrade and database conversion.
  • Design and written custom reports and product reports using SQL and iReport report designer.
  • Create and deliver virtual training programs to be deliver via webinar using WebEx technology.
  • Prioritize user feedback and issues after UAT.
  • Show more

Project consultant vs implementation consultant skills

Common project consultant skills
  • Customer Service, 16%
  • Project Management, 12%
  • Client Facing, 6%
  • Project Scope, 5%
  • Process Improvement, 5%
  • Healthcare, 4%
Common implementation consultant skills
  • Technical Support, 11%
  • Customer Service, 5%
  • Erp Implementation, 4%
  • Implementation Process, 4%
  • Client Facing, 4%
  • Project Management, 4%

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