Do you know that contract and freelance consulting has become one of the fastest growing occupations in the United States? Organizations across all sectors of the economy are turning to consultants to improve customer satisfaction, enhance employee performance, trim operations, and increase profits. Contract & freelance consulting is a competitive field, but the opportunities are virtually endless. With the right education and skills, you can excel in this lucrative career.
Consultants are currently needed in the areas of finance, healthcare, marketing, and government contracting:
Financial Consulting
Financial consulting typically focuses on improving accounting procedures, reducing financial risk, and enhancing monetary operations. Financial consultants not only review activities and ensure they meet governmental regulations and industry standards, but they also suggest opportunities for cost reductions, expense control, and tax savings.
The best applicants for financial consulting positions have earned at least a bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, auditing, tax laws, or financial management. Applicants with graduate degrees and professional certifications possess the highest rate of employment and success.
Healthcare Consulting
A second expanding contract & freelance consulting field is healthcare consulting. Healthcare consultants may either work on the medical side of operations—pharmaceutical research and development, surgical best practices, patient welfare, etc.—or the business side—hospital policy development, expansion planning, cost-cutting measures, and so on.
Healthcare administration or business administration are the most popular degree choices for generalist healthcare consultants, while more specific majors permit consultants to focus on a particular area. Due to the high level of competition, advanced degrees such as an MBA or Masters in Healthcare Management are recommended.
Marketing Consulting
Marketing consultants typically work with brand promotion, customer identification and classification, sales generation, and media buying strategies. A marketing consultant may even be called in to handle a public relations fiasco or plan a joint venture with a celebrity. A person in the marketing consulting field may work with data or people, one company or several, and one area of marketing or multiple areas.
Marketing consulting presents opportunities to work as an employee or as a self-employed freelancer. In either case, a bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, advertising, public relations, or a similar major is mandatory. Consultants with graduate-level degrees in similar majors are more likely to be hired quickly and paid higher wages.
Government Contracting
The final growth area for consultants is government contracting. Working with either people or paperwork, government contractors are employed at the state, local, and national levels for a variety of purposes. For example, a government contractor may negotiate multi-million dollar purchase agreements, oversee security operations and procedures, subcontract staff to complete a particular project, or research the consequences of a policy change.
Some schools offer a degree dedicated to this area, while others integrate government contracting principles into a business, accounting, or public administration degree. Due to the lucrative nature of government contracts, candidates with advanced degrees in areas such as Government Contracting, Public Administration, and Business Administration (MBA) are most likely to be hired. A security clearance is required for most positions.