Management consultants provide business advice to public, private and not-for-profit organisations. This usually involves helping them solve a challenge of some kind, such as how to grow their business, how to make it more efficient or how to organise and structure itself in a different way. Some specialist consultancies have a particular focus – for example, how to write proposals for new work, or how to change an organisation or how to develop their workforce. Others are more generalist and you could work across several different types of project. Working on client site away from your office is a possibility, while hours are varied and often depend on the project.
Tasks can be varied. You might be involved in conducting research, analysing and interpreting data or be responsible for organising the logistics of the project. As you develop and progress, you might be involved in contributing to report writing which uses statistical evidence to support recommendations and conclusions, or support the creation of slide decks to deliver key messages to clients. You might also become more focused on a particular type of service offering (financial, strategic, operational, etc.) or industry (financial services, public sector, telecommunications etc.).