How To Become A Senior Business Consultant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior business consultant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Robin Cormier

A senior business consultant analyzes business projects. They oversee the timely delivery of key projects and contribute innovative ideas to the team to develop new services for clients. They are responsible for implementing, analyzing, managing, and tracking projects. This earns senior business consultants an impressive salary of $99,000 annually or $48 per hour.

Senior business consultants are vastly knowledgeable in company operations. They help clients solve issues, which builds trust in the relationship. They also manage budgets and assist the consulting team in developing solutions. The senior business consultant on a project establishes analysis frameworks within the procedures.

Individuals in this position mostly hold a bachelor's degree in business, finance, or a related field. However, some firms prefer their senior business consultants to have a master's degree, plus a few years of experience in consulting. Proficiency in software, such as Microsoft Powerpoint and Excel, may also be required.

What general advice would you give to a senior business consultant?

Robin Cormier

Assistant Professor, Montana State University - Billings

While college graduates begin to launch their careers, they also face uncertainty about job opportunities. This can be a daunting time in their life. First and foremost, they should be proud of their achievements. There are many steps they can take to prepare for a future career, such as developing a network and building a strong resume. However, in my opinion, the most important advice I would offer new graduates is to pursue their passion. When you are passionate about your career, your life is more fulfilling, and you are more determined to achieve success. Passion shows through how you communicate, develop working relationships, and your level of career investment.

ScoreSenior Business ConsultantUS Average

Salary

7.7

Avg. Salary $105,184

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.8

Growth rate 11%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.16%

Asian 14.20%

Black or African American 7.38%

Hispanic or Latino 8.41%

Unknown 4.44%

White 65.42%

Gender

female 30.76%

male 69.24%

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

Key steps to become a senior business consultant

Explore senior business consultant education requirements

Most common senior business consultant degrees

Bachelor's

69.0 %

Master's

21.7 %

Associate

5.5 %

Start to develop specific senior business consultant skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Analysis	11.73%
Healthcare	7.39%
Project Management	6.72%
SR	6.19%
Analytics	5.80%

Complete relevant senior business consultant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior business consultants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior business consultant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior business consultant resumes.

Research senior business consultant duties and responsibilities

Develop and manage a testing strategy for client QA units to ensure compliance regarding requirements.
Manage enhancements to a windows system enabling medical claims processing of a new product line.
Achieve significant improvements in business alignment, application innovation, world-class infrastructure technology, customer service and stakeholder value.
Develop PMO policies and artifacts, including change management best practices.

Get senior business consultant experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior business consultant. The most common roles before becoming a senior business consultant include business analyst, business consultant team lead and consultant.

Prepare your senior business consultant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior business 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 a senior business consultant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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