Management consultants provide advice to companies on areas such as strategic direction, cost-cutting and streamlining operations.
The role of an analyst, which is the beginning of a management consultant's career, involves research and assisting senior consultants in preparatory work, which contributes to their recommendations for clients, according to Levina Poon, director for banking and financial services at Hudson Hong Kong.
Research is a major part of an analyst's job. Analysts scour online databases for relevant trade journals, market reports and media articles. They interview executives, make observations through site visits, and do preliminary analytical work which goes into a consultant's research report.
Thomas Tang, president of the Institute of Management Consultants Hong Kong, says one of the job's challenges is having to critically analyse an over-abundance of information.
'In the past, whatever information we got was quite valuable. But now, there is just so much information out there. You need to sift through it and [choose] things that are relevant,' Tang says.
He says that analysts at the institute who want to become consultants must have at least three years' experience. Consultants generally become senior and then principal consultants.
