what is a graduate consultant?
As a graduate consultant, you learn the ropes from veterans to analyse a company's problems and develop valuable solutions. You provide a fresh perspective to an organisation and help them expand or gain a competitive advantage in the market. You are involved in consultations, collecting information and preparing briefing materials for consulting teams.
what do graduate consultants do?
In the fact-finding stages, you work closely with the client teams to gather information through interviews. Your job is to schedule interviews, write up the findings for clients and keep the consultation team up to date with the progress of the research. You participate in brainstorming sessions and make recommendations to solve issues. If your client's employees need training, you organise sessions for them.
A graduate consultant career is intellectually stimulating, and you work in your preferred field of study. For instance, you can work in engineering consultancy or management consultancy firms.
Would working as a graduate consultant suit your analytical skills? Then read on to find out what competencies and qualifications you need to thrive in a graduate consultant role.
graduate consultant salary
According to ONS, the median salary of a graduate consultant is £27,167 annually. A graduate consultant joining the profession receives a starting salary of £21,704 per year. When you have a few years of experience, you earn around £45,000 yearly. The take-home salary varies depending on the employer and the company's size.
Apart from the base salary, you also receive multiple benefits and allowances. For instance, some employers offer private health cover and performance bonuses. You may also enjoy complimentary breakfasts or lunch and subsidised gym membership or yoga sessions.
what factors affect a graduate consultant's salary?
Graduate consultants join the profession after completing university education. That means your experience level and educational qualification will not influence your salary. However, having prior experience gives you an added advantage in landing a job. External factors often influence the take-home salaries of graduate consultants. For instance, the company size and business sector impact your compensation package significantly.
Working in large companies improves your earning potential since they have unlimited resources and can afford to pay more. Small start-ups usually have lower salaries and benefits. Some consultancy firms also pay more depending on your field of study. For instance, graduate consultants in engineering or accounting are likely to earn more than those in human resources or management firms.
types of graduate consultant
Graduate consultants can specialise in various roles, including:
- management graduate consultants: as a graduate consultant in management consultancy, your job revolves around improving multiple aspects of an organisation, from strategy to operations and expansion plans. You assist the company in developing strategic decisions and identifying expansion areas.
- operations graduate consultants: your job is to help your client optimise business operations like marketing, sales and production. You work alongside operations or marketing teams to formulate strategies that improve productivity and revenue for your client.
- finance advisory graduate consultant: your role involves researching and addressing the financial capabilities of a company. You analyse assets and liabilities and help companies optimise their use of resources. If a company needs restructuring, you ensure the financial decisions will help the company grow. You also advise on mergers and acquisitions and analyse the risks associated with investments.
- IT graduate consultant: in the IT sector, you assist clients with acquiring information technology infrastructure. For instance, you can help businesses implement ERP systems applications and introduce cyber security features and IT forensics.
working as a graduate consultant
A graduate consultant often performs research and analysis and comes up with recommendations to help a business grow. Let's explore the specific tasks and work schedules of a graduate consultant.
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graduate consultant job description
Some of the typical day-to-day functions of a graduate consultant involve:
- assessing business models: as a graduate consultant, you work under the consultant's supervision to investigate your client's business model. Learning and evaluating the business model involves evaluating the company's position in the market and its strategies to retain and attract new customers.
- analysing the financial position: when you are collating information on a client company, financial data is significant. As a graduate consultant, you find out where the organisations spend most of their money. You also analyse the incomes and ways to cut back overheads and improve profit margins. This information helps the managers make better investment decisions.
- collecting and reviewing findings: as a graduate consultant, you gather information relating to the objectives of the consultancy team. At the beginning of a project, the team identifies issues they need to tackle in the business. Your job is to conduct research and submit findings that consultants can use to develop recommendations. Sometimes, you conduct interviews to collect data.
- proposing action plans and recommendations: as a graduate consultant, you participate in brainstorming sessions and propose recommendations to help the company perform better. For instance, you can recommend staff training and development schemes or rewards to boost productivity. You can also suggest optimising production processes to minimise overheads and increase income.
- monitoring the implementation of recommendations: you spend time at your client's company to supervise the implementation of strategies. Your job is to ensure the employees adhere to the recommendations and provide guidance on unclear strategies.
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work environment
A graduate consultant works in an office environment reviewing business data and helping businesses resolve their issues. You can work either in a consultancy firm or in a large company with its own consultancy department. You may work in various business sectors, including IT, human resources, financial services and engineering. Most graduate consultants join the programme as management graduate consultants before branching out into diverse roles in the company. Most consultancy firms provide creative office environments to encourage creativity and improve teamwork.
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who are your colleagues?
Your colleagues are likely to include consultants, accountants and finance analysts, depending on your employer and the business sector. You will also work with business analysts and IT specialists, as well as other specialists like operations managers, data analysts and product managers.
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work schedule
As a graduate consultant, your work schedule starts from 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays. Most graduate consultants work full-time schedules, and their work hours can extend to evenings and weekends to meet deadlines. Some graduate trainee programmes are part-time and have fixed-term contracts pending review when you finish the contract. The role also involves travelling, especially if you work for a consultancy firm and you meet multiple clients each week for consultations. While remote working opportunities are available in some companies, it is advisable to work on-site to get the full learning experience. Remote work limits your role to basic research and data analysis.
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job outlook
When you join a graduate trainee programme for consultants, your objective is to become a consultant. From a graduate consultant role, you can become a junior consultant and work your way up to a senior consultant position. When you attain senior status, you can branch out to other managerial roles like finance, product and project manager. Some management consultants become vice presidents and directors in multinational companies. You can start your own consultancy firm when you have accrued sufficient experience.
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advantages of finding a graduate consultant job through randstad
Finding your graduate consultant job through Randstad provides important advantages such as:
- a wide variety of training and development opportunities
- an experienced contact person to provide help if needed
- a range of graduate consultant vacancies
- get paid weekly or monthly, depending on the job
- temporary and permanent contracts
Want a permanent contract? A temporary job as a graduate consultant is often a stepping stone to an attractive permanent job. Every year, thousands of people earn a permanent contract with great employers thanks to a temporary job found through Randstad. What's more, many companies recruit their permanent employees through Randstad too!
education and skills
Some of the academic qualifications include:
- university degree: you can become a graduate consultant with any degree. However, if you pursue an IT, economics, business or mathematics degree, you will have multiple opportunities to specialise. A bachelor's degree in a relevant subject should suffice. You should complete a master's degree if you don't meet the 2:1 (upper second class) degree required by most employers.
- experience: while you don't need work experience to qualify for a graduate trainee role, any work placement or internship boosts your application. Having other certifications also gives you a competitive advantage.
skills and competencies
As a graduate consultant, you need the following qualities:
- analytical skills: a large portion of your job involves researching and analysing information. You need to study financial data and performance metrics and come up with well-reasoned answers. Analytical skills help you develop the best recommendations for resolving various problems in the client's company.
- commercial awareness: as a graduate consultant, you need business acumen and a deep understanding of the market and industry environment. Commercial awareness helps you provide practical solutions based on an understanding of how the market operates, its major players and the position your client occupies. You also need to monitor competitors and current affairs in the business environment.
- teamworking skills: graduate consultants work in teams, and interpersonal skills help you become a good team player. You need exceptional listening skills to understand other team members' views and communication skills to communicate clearly.
- attention to detail: when presenting information to the consulting team or clients, you need to organise your findings meticulously and ensure no important information is missing. Being detail-oriented helps you make the best recommendations based on accurate financial data.
FAQs
FAQs about working as a graduate consultant
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what is a graduate consultant?
A graduate consultant is a trainee consultant who provides advice to companies to improve their business operations and optimise profits.
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how much do graduate consultants earn?
A graduate consultant earns an average salary of £27,167 per year. However, your salary can increase up to £45,000.
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is consulting a good graduate job?
A graduate consultant job is an excellent opportunity for graduates to learn the basics of consultancy work. They also practise the strategies in various business sectors, which help them discover their favourable specialism.
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do consultants make a lot of money?
Experienced consultants earn a lot of money and receive multiple benefits and bonuses for executing successful strategies.
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how do I apply for a graduate consultant vacancy?
Applying for a graduate consultant job is easy: create a Randstad profile and search our job offers for graduate consultant vacancies in your area. Then simply send us your CV and cover letter. Need help with your application? Check out all our job search tips here!
