Consultancy is the hot new area to be in for middle to upper-middle level executives.

….

Talk about things that you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask. One of the most exciting professions today might just be consultancy. Look around. These are the days of management consultants, sports consultants, media consultants, human resource (HR) consultants, public relation (PR) consultants and corporate consultants, to name just a few. But the original claim to fame rests with consultancy firms. Here we take a look at both — consultancy firms and experienced professionals who are now consultants. So how does one get started?

For youngsters looking for an entry into some of the biggest consultancy firms such as Ernst & Young, KPMG or PricewaterhouseCoopers, a good first degree in commerce or economics is helpful, though many entrants are chartered accountants or MBA holders or studying management part-time while working. For the non-MBA or finance set of people, a further degree in mass communications is an added advantage, while good communication skills and any prior work experience are a plus. One then applies to various consultancy agencies depending on one’s interests — say in PR, HR, or management consultancy firms. Most successful candidates then undergo a three to six months’ training and probation period, after which they get confirmed.

Though candidates with further backgrounds or degrees in chartered accountancy, company secretaryship or articleship also begin with a bit of an edge, a relevant degree, says Sandeep Kohli, national director, human resources, Ernst & Young India, is just a good springboard. To succeed in a consultancy firm you need much more. “A sharp business sense is an absolute primary skill. That comes with education plus work experience. Some key attributes a potential employee must have are energy, enthusiasm, focus and teamwork,” he says.

But even that is not enough. The bottom line for a consultant is client satisfaction. “A person with a consultancy firm must know exactly what the client wants. It means doing your homework right and even anticipating the client’s needs. One must have the hunger to learn more and make a positive difference to the client’s business,” says Kohli.

Ernst & Young advises clients on a spectrum of issues — ranging from transactions to business to hiring people and auditing. Fresh employees, depending upon their background and interests, get exposed to the different types of work being done, before picking one area. In the beginning, they do “shadow” work in big teams with more experienced colleagues — which essentially means learning on the job — before being given more specific tasks.

However, the ones getting into the top consultancy firms are not just people with a strong finance or business studies grounding. Top consultancy firms also hire MBAs with engineering degrees.

Sangeeta Singh, executive director, HR, KPMG, says consultancy firms have always had people from various backgrounds. “MBAs with a primary degree in engineering, for instance, work on areas such as software and hardware risk advisory or would even work with a client that is setting up an engineering firm.” Similarly, says Singh, a firm like KPMG employs people with PhDs in areas such as company law or investment security.

As far as the big consultancy firms go, freshers with an MBA or chartered accountancy degree can expect a salary of Rs 7 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per annum. Freshers in very specialised and highly competitive areas such as investment consultancy (which usually requires an MBA with a finance specialisation) can even expect a starting salary of Rs 1 lakh a month. A junior employee in HR or PR working in a consultancy firm could start at a salary of Rs 10,000-20,000.

On the other end of the consultancy spectrum are individual consultants. However, these are middle to senior-level professionals who have years, sometimes decades, of experience in their own area. Here too, there are two kinds of consultants. The first category has professionals who work with or set up consultancy firms — former business journalist Sanjay Pillai, for example, is a partner at the Chennai-based IPN Consultancy Management Services. Other consultants are similar to freelancers, often working out of home or sometimes with teams on a project-to-project basis — such as journalist turned development consultant Usha Rai or actor turned corporate consultant Jayant Kripalani.

“Most big organisations will require a varied set of professional skills that aren’t required all the time,” says Vinod Megharajani, services head in Delhi at Ma Foi, the leading Chennai-based management consultancy and headhunting firm.

“Companies outsource a lot of important work to consultancies — PR for example — as it doesn’t make business sense to maintain an in-house team that deals with just that. You do need experts who work on areas such as image building and branding for a company, but not on a 24/7 basis. This is where consultants step in.”

The work demands are diverse and depend on the industry. In most cases, these are individuals who’ve been with consulting firms after stints in the media or any other trade relevant to their current consultancy.

Rai hit upon consultancy after her stints with the World Wildlife Fund and the United Nations Population Fund — and decades in journalism. “I got the confidence to go on my own, and now I even conduct environment and development related workshops. But my writing and journalism still continues. In fact, a good amount of my work is just that,” she explains. “But the new dimension I had to cultivate as a consultant was ideating and man-management,” she explains.

To be a consultant, you have to know your subject well — so that your clients benefit from your expertise. Sanjay Pillai, for instance, deals with real estate “transaction management” for his clients. “A transaction could be anything — be it a sale or purchase of real estate or a joint venture agreement. Simply put, we handle and manage the transaction for our clients.” A transaction, he explains, typically entails commercial, financial, legal and regulatory issues.

Consultants agree that the money is good — especially if you manage to carve out a lucrative niche for yourself. But Pillai warns that “there are no weekend breaks and the client is almost always very demanding”. As for Rai, she says, “It’s very rare that the money is little, but I also earn a lot of goodwill.”

Kriplani has the last word. “Although consultancy is a lot of work, I’m paid for being me. Money-wise, consultancy seems to be better than acting.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)