What is Consulting? A Complete Guide to the Industry & Career Path

Overview

Consulting is one of the most sought-after career paths among students, freshers, and professionals who want exposure to real business challenges, high-impact problem-solving, and structured thinking. But despite its popularity, most people only have a vague idea of what consultants actually do. At its core, consulting is about helping organizations make better decisions, solve complex problems, and improve the way they operate. Whether it’s a startup exploring a new market, a global firm reducing costs, or a government planning large-scale reforms, consultants step in with expertise, structure, and fresh perspective. This blog will give you a clear, yet not overly technical, understanding of the consulting world, especially if you’re starting from scratch.

What is Consulting?

Consulting is a professional service where experts (consultants) help businesses identify problems, analyze them logically, and recommend actionable solutions. Companies reach out to consultants when they need outside perspective, specialized know-how, or structured problem-solving support. Consultants don’t just give advice, they work closely with clients to break down challenges, back ideas with data, and help implement decisions. You could say, a consultant is that friend who always comes with a solution.

Why Do Companies Hire Consultants?

Ever wondered why billion-dollar firms packed with top-tier talent and experienced leaders still call in consultants? If companies already know their businesses inside out, why seek guidance from outsiders? Here are some of the most common reasons firms bring in consultants:

1. Fresh, unbiased perspective: Internal teams may be too close to their problems, influenced by hierarchy, or limited by “we’ve always done it this way” thinking. Consultants offer an outsider’s viewpoint, challenge assumptions, and bring clarity without internal bias.
2. Access to industry insights and benchmarks: Consulting firms work across multiple companies and sectors. They understand what leading competitors are doing, what strategies are trending globally, and how performance should be measured. This helps clients assess where they stand and how to move ahead.
3. Validation and credibility for key decisions: Sometimes leadership already has a direction in mind, but needs validation before executing. External consultants bring research-backed support that helps secure approval from boards, investors, or stakeholders.
4. Specialized expertise for short-term needs: Companies may not have in-house teams for every strategic or technical problem. Instead of hiring full-time employees for one-off needs, they bring in consultants who already have the expertise and can jump in immediately.
5. Support during change or transformation: Whether it’s entering a new market, restructuring teams, digitizing processes, or cutting costs, consultants guide the change with structure and speed.

What Consultants Do and How the Consulting Process Works

Consultants don’t just offer advice, they guide companies through a structured approach to solving problems. From understanding the challenge and analyzing data to recommending actionable solutions and supporting implementation, consultants help firms see the full picture and take informed action. While the role varies by firm and industry, most consultants follow a similar approach:

1. Understand the Client’s Problem: They begin by talking to stakeholders, studying the situation, and identifying the real issue.
2. Analyze Data and Insights: They examine numbers, trends, and business performance to discover the root cause.
3. Develop Solutions: Using frameworks and structured thinking, they design strategies and recommendations.
4. Present Findings: Consultants prepare reports or presentations to communicate solutions clearly and convincingly.
5. Support Implementation (Sometimes): In some firms, consultants also help clients execute the solution.

Let’s Take a Sample Case to Understand the Above Process

Imagine this: You’re trying to get into a top B-school. You’ve got good grades, a decent resume, and some extracurriculars but the competition is fierce, and you know small mistakes can cost you dearly. So, you decide to get guidance and hire a mentor, someone who helps you see what you might be missing and shows you the smartest way forward. In the business world, this is exactly what a consultant does for organizations. Let’s break down the process your mentor follows because this is exactly how consultants help companies solve problems:

1. Understand the Problem: The mentor doesn’t just tell you “study hard.” First, they ask questions:
   a) Which schools are you targeting?
   b) What are your weak spots?
   c) How do your strengths compare to the competition?
   Just like a consultant, they dig deep to uncover the real challenges, not just the obvious ones.
2. Analyze the Data: Next, they look at everything objectively. They assess your academic record, leadership experiences, extracurricular achievements, and career story. They identify gaps: maybe your accomplishments aren’t presented in a way that shows real impact, or your leadership and growth story isn’t coming through as strongly as it could.
   Consultants do the same, they sift through information, spot gaps, trends, and hidden opportunities.
3. Develop Solutions: Now comes the plan. Your mentor suggests:
   a) Highlight accomplishments and leadership experiences in ways that clearly show impact.
   b) Refine your career story so it aligns with your goals and feels authentic.
   c) Share examples that demonstrate growth, teamwork, and problem-solving.
   d) Prepare strategically for interviews, ensuring your story comes across confidently.
   Just like a consultant, your mentor takes the insights from Step 2 and turns them into actionable solutions: a roadmap that is practical, measurable, and designed to help you succeed.
4. Present Findings & Act: After creating the plan, your mentor doesn’t just hand it over, they explain it clearly, step by step. You understand why each recommendation matters, what to prioritize, and how it fits into the bigger picture.
   Just like consultants presenting to clients, they focus on making the plan clear, practical, and easy to act on.
5. Support Implementation: The mentor now helps you put the plan into action. You follow the roadmap, track your progress, make adjustments based on results, and ensure you’re improving consistently so that at the end, you can announce with the much-awaited smile on your face:
   I finally cracked a top-tier B-school.
   This mirrors how consultants often stay involved during execution, making sure strategies actually work in practice.

That’s consulting in a nutshell: understand the problem, analyze deeply, design solutions, and help implement them effectively.

Types of Consulting

Consulting covers multiple domains. Here are some of the most common types:

1. Management Consulting: Management consultants help organizations improve overall performance. They analyze operations, identify inefficiencies, and design strategies to enhance productivity, profitability, and growth.
   Major firms: Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG.
2. Strategy Consulting: Strategy consultants focus on long-term business goals. They assist companies with market entry, competitive positioning, mergers & acquisitions, and major strategic decisions to create sustainable value.
   Major firms: McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Bain & Company.
3. Operations Consulting: Operations consultants work on the day-to-day processes of a business. They streamline supply chains, optimize workflows, improve production efficiency, and reduce costs.
   Major firms: Accenture, McKinsey & Company, and BCG often handle operations engagements. Specialized teams exist within major logistics companies like DHL and manufacturers like Boeing.
4. Financial Consulting: Financial consultants advise on budgeting, forecasting and investment decisions. They help organizations make data-driven financial decisions and ensure regulatory compliance.
   Major firms: Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG, FTI Consulting, and Alvarez & Marsal.
5. Human Resources (HR) Consulting: HR consultants help organizations manage their workforce effectively. They design talent acquisition strategies, employee engagement programs, performance management systems, and training initiatives.
   Major firms: Mercer, Willis Towers Watson, Aon, and Deloitte. 
6. IT/Technology Consulting: IT consultants guide companies on technology implementation, digital transformation, and software solutions. They help organizations leverage technology for efficiency, innovation, and competitive advantage.
   Major firms: Accenture, Deloitte, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, and Capgemini.
7. Other specialized and boutique consulting: Many firms specialize in a specific niche or industry like marketing, sustainability, healthcare, etc., offering deep subject-matter expertise. 

Career in Consulting

Consulting is often considered a top choice for students, freshers, and professionals because it offers exposure to diverse business challenges, rapid learning, and high-impact work. Consulting offers a structured path for growth. While titles may vary slightly across firms, a typical progression looks like this:

Your Journey Toward a Consulting Career

If you’re thinking about a career in consulting, you’ve probably heard about the foremost requirement: acing case interviews. A case interview is where you’re given a business problem to break down or a guesstimate to solve on the spot. This is how firms test your ability to think clearly, structure problems, work with numbers, and communicate under pressure.

You don’t need prior corporate experience to reach this stage, but you do need the clarity, logic, and confidence that case interviews demand. The best way to build those skills is by practicing case studies and guesstimates. And at the core of solving both lies one thing: structured, consultant-style thinking.

Next, we’ll explore the Problem Solving Tools required to develop the consulting-style thinking to break down problems, generate insights, and approach cases with clarity and confidence.

👉 Next: Problem-Solving Tools: The Techniques Every Consultant Must Master