Depending on the area of personal expertise a management consulting career can take the following five paths:
• Risk and compliance consulting- Firms hire these types of management consultants to make sure that their operations and business practices are compliant with the standards and regulations that are set by regulatory authorities. A compliance consultant seeks to answer questions like; What aspects of an organization’s systems are going against industry regulations?; How can a firm function as effectively as possible without violating any regulations?; What standard operating procedures need to be established to ensure compliance with regulations.
• Financial advisory consulting- Financial advisors helps help firms make better decisions about their financial operations. These can involve capital budgeting decisions, working capital management decisions, investment decisions, etc. To become a financial consultant, one needs a strong background in finance.
• Strategy consulting- Consultants in this role, make big decisions such as focusing on new markets, creating or dissolving departments, as well as re-allocation of resources of an organization. To become a qualified strategy consultant, one needs many years of experience working in the field as well as a proven success rate in this particular field. These are extremely high-paying roles.
• Operations consulting- Operations consultants provide firms with counsel on improving efficiencies and effectiveness in their operations. This role is mainly seen in the supply chain industry where efficient operations are a big factor in achieving higher margins. Operations consultants try to find ways to reduce costs, improve quality control, etc. This is a highly competitive line of work.
• Human resources consulting- This role deals with handling internal issues of organizations. This can involve onboarding new talent, finding ways to keep current employees happy, as well as creating a working culture that benefits all employees in the organization. To work in this field, one needs a strong knowledge of HR laws and years of experience working in HR departments.