How to become a Consultant after MBA?

Today’s fast-paced business world is marked by cut-throat competition and the desperate drive to succeed. Amidst these challenges, entrepreneurs constantly need to innovate to stand out from the crowd. They require expert guidance, assistance, and support at every stage of their business journey to handle complex challenges. This is where experts such as consultants step in. Consultants serve as the perfect advisor and guide to the business, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses and the way forward to success. Generally, MBA graduates are highly sought after in every industry for the job role of a consultant. This is because these students bring strong strategic thinking, analytical ability, and strong business acumen to the table. This blog encourages graduates to get on the Consultant career path after MBA for a rewarding professional life. 

Steps to become a Business Consultant

If you are considering a lucrative Consultant career path after MBA, follow the step-by-step guide below to make the right move:

Step 1: Earn a Bachelor’s degree

This is the first and the most crucial step on the journey to becoming a consultant. If you are sure of assuming this career path in the future, start the preparation right after 10+2. Choose a relevant discipline for your Bachelor’s – Economics, Business, Finance, or a related subject – to help learn the fundamental concepts. 

Step 2: Pursue a Master’s degree

The next step that can propel your consultancy career in the desired direction is pursuing a relevant Master’s degree. An MBA is the most ideal qualification to earn in this regard. You can choose to pursue a degree in a relevant and preferred field of your choice. This can be based on your academic interests or future aspirations. The Consultant career path after MBA is sure to get the desired boost by providing you with the required expertise and leadership skills to earn valuable clients.

Step 3: Develop the right skills

This is the next logical thing to do in the steps to become a business consultant. Along with the right academic credentials, you also need to develop the skills that are relevant to the consulting industry. These include the ability to analyze situations and find solutions to complex problems and challenges, effective communication, and presentation skills. Short courses and professional certifications on online learning platforms can help upskill in this area.

Step 4: Gain relevant industry experience  

Once you have industry-desirable skills and academic knowledge to move forward in the career of consulting, aim to gain sufficient work experience in the domain. This would help you get hands-on experience in the field and apply your learned knowledge and skills practically. You could apply for internships or take up freelance consulting assignments to make a start. 

Step 5: Network for career progression

This is one of the key steps to become a business consultant. Networking is crucial to career advancement and growth. Connecting with mentors, industry experts, peers, and other experienced professionals in varied industries can help unlock lucrative career avenues. Make sure to leverage them for the right progress in your consulting career path. 

Understanding the Role of a Consultant  

We learned in the above section how to become a consultant. Let us now take a closer look at some of the MBA consultant job roles and responsibilities that you can expect to assume on this path:

• Supporting strategy execution: This is one of the primary roles of a consultant. They are expected to offer complete assistance and support to the clients in implementing the suggestions proposed for the business.

• Identifying and analyzing issues: One of the key MBA consultant job roles and responsibilities is to identify and evaluate any potential challenges arising in the organization.

• Communicating with the stakeholders: Consultants are expected to clearly convey all proposed ideas and suggestions to all the concerned stakeholders. In addition to the clients, these may include the other teams working together as well as other involved executives.

• Designing innovative strategies: Consultants are always on the lookout for innovative ideas to fuel business growth. They are responsible for coming up with resourceful strategies that can contribute to business growth and advancement.

• Gathering data: An MBA consultant job roles and responsibilities involve collecting data, deriving valued insights on the current market and industry trends, and using business metrics to make informed decisions for the company.

Why MBA is a strong foundation for Consulting

We learned in the earlier sections that an MBA degree can help you succeed in your career path as a consultant. Let us now see how by understanding below the key benefits of the program for a career in consulting:

1. An MBA degree helps provide exposure to challenges in real-world business environments. The course curriculum covers a variety of consulting projects, case studies, and real-world simulations to help perform effectively in actual consulting situations.

2. The MBA program offers learners a complete business understanding by imparting knowledge on concepts such as finance, operations, strategy, marketing, and leadership. All of these are critical to solving complex business challenges. 

3. The course is a great way to acquire industry-relevant skills such as effective communication, strong leadership, problem-solving, critical analysis, and the like.

4. A career shift to consulting after MBA becomes much more seamless as several top consulting companies such as BCG, Deloitte, McKinsey, and Bain recruit MBA graduates. 

5. An MBA degree also helps unlock a high Consultant salary and growth opportunities for these skilled graduates. With the right combination of business knowledge and industry-relevant skills, MBA graduates can look forward to lucrative career prospects and hefty pay packages in varied industries. 

Salary of a Consultant in India  

As described above, an MBA program is the key to opening rewarding career avenues, with a high Consultant salary and growth opportunities aplenty for graduates. The average salary of a Consultant in India is estimated at INR 7 lakh – INR 20 lakh per annum. The figures are indicative only and may vary for professionals from one industry to another. 

For instance, the approximate salary range of a Consultant in the IT sector is expected to be INR 6 lakh – INR 17 lakh per annum, while that of a Marketing Consultant maybe somewhere between INR 5 lakh and INR 11.3 lakh per annum.

Conclusion 

A career in Consulting can be highly rewarding in today’s dynamic business landscape, where businesses are always in need of expert advice, support, and guidance. Professionals with the right knowledge and skills can help businesses compete and scale up effectively. A career shift to consulting after MBA seems the most logical step to take, as the degree equips learners with the right combination of business knowledge and skills to assume this role.

Additionally, with a rewarding Consultant salary and growth opportunities in plenty for graduates, the MBA degree seems to be a highly promising avenue for entering the consulting industry. Sikkim Manipal University offers an online MBA with dual specialization for aspiring professionals. The degree offered on the Online Manipal platform is perfect for working professionals. It allows them the flexibility to pursue studies alongside their work commitments. With the ease of studying at your own pace and time, you can comfortably earn the degree and make a hassle-free career shift to consulting after MBA with Online Manipal.