Learn About Management Consultant Salary In India in 2024

The jet-set life of a management consultant makes it highly aspirational among students and young professionals. There is the charm of travelling to different places, a high-paced job with multiple perks, and not to mention the salary. Let us break down what exactly a consultant does and what the management consultant's salary is in India.

Who are management consultants?

Management consultants are advisors and experts who manage multiple projects for a company to help in improving its performance. They use their problem-solving skills, industry insights, and logical abilities to prepare results and solve the issues a company is facing.

A management consultant specializes in an industry or domain and is assigned the task of providing feasible and profitable solutions. The consulting industry is extremely competitive in nature. 

Life of management consultants

1. It's all about travel 

If you've ever wondered, why do consultants travel so much, it's because of the widespread nature of their clients and scope of work. Traveling is a major part of a consultant's job description. Most consultants, depending on the firm they work for and its portfolio, are always switching between countries/cities to cater to the needs of the company and its clients. Traveling for work sounds like a lot of fun and it is for the most part, but it can also be hectic and difficult to constantly live out of a suitcase. Not to mention that while management consultant is on the move, they still have to be accountable for their day-to-day deliverables. Rest assured, there is never a dull moment in management consulting.

2. Constantly adapting

Consulting is one field that helps you learn about a diverse set of industries and their problems. It makes sure that by the end of the project, a consultant becomes an expert in the area the project was related to. It hones the human resources in myriad domains. If you are a consultant then it is not necessary that the projects you will get are as per your area of expertise. There are times when a consultant works on multiple sets of projects and business proposals as diverse as marketing, finance, and IT in a single day. Therefore you are required to constantly learn and adapt and be flexible to excel in this field.

3. Moving out of the comfort zone

The life of a consultant is one where a term like comfort zone does not exist. With every project, you will have a new team and new clients to whom you have to prove that you are a valuable asset. A lot of time in consulting is dedicated to networking as you are meeting a new set of people every day which requires excellent communication skills. It is important for you to gel with your team and get comfortable with them at the earliest so that you can share all your ideas, views, and insights about the project easily with them and contribute actively to the task. Hence, the management salary in India is based on this challenging aspect of the job.

4. Be a self-starter

If you have plans of joining a consulting firm then you should be a self-starter. This field is really challenging and as a consultant, you should be ready to take up any challenge that comes your way. There are plenty of opportunities in a consulting firm and you should remain aware of your capabilities and take up the responsibility with the objective of doing justice to them. It’s advisable to not wait for the right task but take them up as and when they are offered to you. It will help you in brushing up on your skills. There are multiple preparation resources and business resources to prepare for this journey. 

5. A precarious work-life balance

Since a consultant is mostly traveling, questions and concerns about work-life balance will always be raised. In addition to this, it is not a 9-5 job wherein you have to work for 40-45 hrs. Their job is such that many times, they have to work for an additional number of hours just to provide the best results to their clients. Hence, a considerable time remains unaccounted for. For these extra hours put in by them, the management consultant's salary in India is usually high. Every project has a deadline and the set standards that it is supposed to meet which further makes the job of the consultant stressful. Even when they are on leave or break, their mind is occupied with work to meet deadlines in time, leaving next to no time for relaxation.

6. Competition

High competition is responsible for lucrative management consultant salary in India. Consulting is a competitive field where you have to prove your capabilities every day and with every project. A consultant often faces situations like when he is asked to work on a project which is not per his expertise or the project he wanted to work on is given to someone else. In such situations, the motive is to work hard and give your best shot as every positive feedback can have an impact on a consultant’s salary, promotion, and other incentives. Competition among consultants is really common as everyone wants to work on the best project with the best team. Therefore, they are ready to showcase their capabilities. Cutting-edge business training can help gain that edge and attract lucrative management consultant salary.

Salary of management consultant in India

A high-paying role where you offer your expertise to companies to help them in cutting costs and multiplying profits. Companies like McKinsey, Bain, PwC, Accenture, Infosys, EY, Boston Consulting Group, etc, which are a dream companies more many, offer some of the highest remunerations to their consultants. The average annual management consultant salary is given in the table below: 

For the expertise and services offered by management consultants, they usually get an average annual salary of ₹11,28,850 but management consultant salary varies on the basis of company, region, skill set, educational qualification, and experience.

If you are a fresher or have an experience of less than a year and are hired for a management consultant profile, you can expect an annual average pay of ₹6,45,841. Experience of 1-4 years will fetch you an annual average salary of ₹8,72,252 and 5-9 years of experience will help you in making a jump to an average salary of ₹13,06,183. If you are a senior-level management consultant and have an experience of 10+ years then an average annual package of ₹19.5-23 lacs per annum is what you can expect to earn.

Experience is probably the most important factor when it comes to determining a salary. Then comes the location factor.

Usually, consultants in Delhi earn 21% more than the national average. A management consultant in Gurgaon earns 14.5% more, Bangalore earns 9.8% more, Pune earns 24.1% less and Chennai earns 12.6% less than the average.

Factors affecting the salary of management consultant in India

If you want to be a management consultant, there are certain skills that you need to excel in the profession. These skills also have a significant impact on the salary of management consultant in India. The list is as follows:

• Business Strategy: An effective business strategy has the ability to transform the business completely. It is an important skill to attract high management consultant salary. It is because all the projects handled by a management consultant require a proper understanding of functions like operations, sales, distribution, marketing, etc. to make a good business strategy.
• Strategic Thinking: Strategic and critical thinking skills determines the way a person thinks, assesses, views, and creates a future for themselves and others. Here, the focus is on creating strategies that can cope with the changing environment and even serve as a solution for the challenges being faced.
• Project Management: A consultant manages multiple projects in the domain they are specialized in. Project management skill refers to the ability to start a project from the very beginning and then finish it. The focus here is on multitasking and being an effective problem solver. Therefore, management consultant salary is competitive in India. 
• Business Analysis: Business analysis is all about improving the operations, products, services etc. of a business by using the data and creating hypotheses to come at solutions for the problems being faced by a company. The insights shared are data blacked which makes them more reliable for the clients.
• Process Improvement: This skill involves the adoption of a systematic approach to identify, analyze and bring improvement in the existing processes and operations. Here, the focus is on optimizing and meeting the new standards set by the companies.

Conclusion

The work of a management consultant is stressful and demands a lot of effort and dedication. Hence, management consultant salary in India is high in India. Every person wants to live the life of a consultant and earn the salary of management consultant in India but very few realize the hours put in and the compromises made by them to create a mark for themselves in the field. It surely is an attractive career opportunity. If you have similar plans too, then start preparing yourself now for the adventure.

You might also be interested in reading:

1. What the Management Consulting domain looks like at Bain & Company -With Raghaw Jhunjhunwala from IIM Ahmedabad
2. Why do most MBA grads look for jobs with The Big Three consulting firms?
3. How to approach product management after tech consulting - Banreet Kaur, Product @ Microsoft
4. Consulting conundrum cleared!