Management Consultants are responsible for providing an objective and unbiased advice as regards strategy, management and operations as well as the structure of a business. The goals of management consultants are twofold:
1. Identify the problems afflicting the business, and
2. Provide or propose solutions to these problems.
The work of management consultants revolve around a wide spectrum of services that include marketing, business strategy, supply-chain management, financial and management control, information technology, and e-business and operations.
However, not all management consultants offer all of these services. In contrast to those offering end-to-end solutions, some specialist firms, often called niche firms, offer specialized services.
Essentially, consultancy is project-based and therefore entrepreneurial in nature. Depending on the type of consultancy, company and client’s demands, the length of projects would vary considerably. Consultancy projects may involve a large team of management consultants or just a single individual. A large team of consultants may be based at one location or they may be scattered across the globe.
Here’s a typical set of consultancy tasks:
• Analyzing and identifying problems,
• Formulation of hypotheses in relation to identified issues,
• Research and data collection,
• Interviewing client’s employees, stakeholders as well as the management team,
• Preparing business proposals and presentations,
• Conducting workshops,
• Managing projects and programs, and
• To see that the client gets adequate assistance in implementing solutions.
Management consultants are needed when a business is unable to resolve certain issues on its own as regards reorganizing the business, filling in of a temporary vacancy or in building a start-up business. Consultants take an unbiased view of the business to help them identify crucial issues plaguing the business, which are often hard to see from the vantage point of the business owner.
 

• Ability to work independently
• Analytical skills
• Organized or methodical
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Creative thinker
• Flexibility
• Great mathematical skills
• An eye for detail
• Ability to work under pressure

Generally, there is no requirement as to what Bachelor’s Degree one has received to become a management consultant. However, certain courses, such as the following, may have inherent advantages over others:
•    Economics,
•    Mathematics,
•    Engineering and other sciences,
•    Business, and
•    Finance.
Employers will also be checking your grades whether you did well in school or not. Grades matter a lot. If you’re a holder of a postgraduate degree that could help too but not necessary in initially getting you hired as a management consultant.  Eventually, as you gain more experience in consultancy, your postgraduate degree will now begin to matter as you aim for a position higher up the corporate ladder.