Most management, scientific, and technical consulting services are fairly specialized; still, the industry comprises a variety of occupations. Some of these occupations, such as environmental engineers, are specific to only one segment of the industry, whereas others, such as secretaries and administrative assistants, can be found throughout the industry.

Compared with other industries, the management, scientific, and technical consulting services industry has a relatively high proportion of highly educated workers. About 43 percent have a bachelor’s degree, compared with 19 percent of the workers throughout the entire economy. Nearly 30 percent have a master’s degree or higher, compared with 9 percent of the workers throughout the economy. Certain jobs may have stringent entry requirements. For example, some management consulting firms prefer to hire only workers who have a master’s degree in business administration (MBA). Other positions can be attained only after many years of related experience.

In management, scientific, and technical consulting services, workers in management and business and financial operations occupations and in professional and related occupations make up 57 percent of employment. These same occupations account for about 30 percent of workers across the entire economy. This group of workers makes up a disproportionate share of jobs in the industry, because workers with education and experience in business management and workers with scientific, engineering, and other technical backgrounds conduct most of the consulting work in the industry.

Top executives, the largest managerial occupation in the industry, includes both the highest-level managers-such as chief executive officers and vice presidents-and many top managers with diverse duties. In consulting firms, top executives with partial ownership and profit-sharing privileges might be referred to as partners. Top-level managers or partners shape company policy, often with the help of other executives or a board of directors. They oversee all activities of the firm, coordinate the duties of subordinate executives and managers, and often bear ultimate responsibility for a firm’s performance. Midlevel managers or partners may oversee all the activities of one department or all the activities of one or more clients.

Management analysts, also called management consultants, is the largest occupation in the management consulting industry. Their work is quite varied, depending on the nature of the project and the client’s needs. In general, consultants study and analyze business-related problems, synthesizing information from many sources, and recommend solutions. The solutions can include overhauling a client’s computer systems, offering early retirement incentives to middle managers, recommending a switch in health plans, improving just-in-time inventory systems, hiring public-relations firms, or selling troublesome parts of businesses. Because of the varied nature of these jobs, firms hire workers with diverse backgrounds, such as engineering, finance, actuarial science, chemistry, and business. Many firms require consultants to have MBA’s, whereas others hire workers who have only bachelor’s degrees. Many workers have experience in other industries prior to entering management consulting work.

Other management and business and financial operations occupations include administrative services managers, who typically administer a consulting firm’s support services. These managers oversee secretaries, data entry keyers, bookkeepers, and other clerical staff. In the management consulting services industry, they also often supervise a client’s clerical and support staff and do consulting work in that area. Advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales managers oversee the consulting firm’s marketing and sales departments, researching and targeting new clients and also helping on consulting projects having to do with marketing. Computer and information systems managers ensure that the consulting firm’s computer and network systems are fully operational and oversee other computer and technical workers, such as computer support specialists. These managers might also supervise certain consulting projects involving computer and information technology. Financial managers prepare financial statements and assess the financial health of firms. Often, they must have at least a bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance. Human resources, training, and labor relations managers and specialists supervise the activities of a consulting firm’s human resources department, managing personnel records, payroll, benefits, and employee recruitment and training. These managers might also supervise projects for clients in the human resources consulting industry. In scientific and technical consulting firms, engineering and natural sciences managers oversee the engineers and scientists working for their consulting firms. Accountants and auditors monitor firms’ financial transactions and often report to financial managersf. More recently, accountants and auditors have been involved in consulting projects for clients involving the preparation of financial statements, tax strategy, budget or retirement planning, and the implementation of accounting software.

Workers in professional and related occupations are employed mainly in the scientific and technical consulting portion of the industry. Many of these workers are engineers and scientists who utilize their expertise through consulting. For example, environmental engineers and environmental scientists and geoscientists are employed by environmental consulting firms to evaluate environmental damage or assess compliance with environmental laws and regulations. Other engineers, such as agricultural, biomedical, chemical, mining and geological, nuclear, and petroleum engineers, and physical and life scientists, such as agricultural and food scientists, biological scientists, chemists and materials scientists, as well as physicists and astronomers, are employed by consulting firms specializing in their scientific disciplines. Architects and civil and industrial engineers are sometimes employed by safety and security consulting firms to assess the construction of buildings and other structures, such as bridges, and to make recommendations regarding reinforcing these structures against damage.

Other professional and related workers include economists, market and survey researchers, and lawyers. Economists are employed by economic consulting firms to conduct economic research and advise clients on economic trends. Market and survey researchers are mainly employed by marketing consulting firms to conduct surveys and research on various topics. Lawyers are employed in virtually all management, scientific, and technical consulting industries to represent their consulting firms in case of a lawsuit and to advise the firms, as well as clients, on changes in laws and regulations pertaining to their areas of expertise.

Designers in this industry are mostly graphic designers who use a variety of print, electronic, and film media to create designs that meet clients' commercial needs. Using computer software, these workers develop the overall layout and design of magazines, newspapers, journals, corporate reports, and other publications. They also may produce promotional displays and marketing brochures for products and services and may design distinctive company logos for products and businesses. An increasing number of graphic designers develop material to appear on Internet homepages.

The rapid spread of computers and information technology has generated a need for highly trained computer specialists to design and develop new hardware and software systems and to incorporate new technologies. Systems analysts design new computer systems or redesign old systems for new applications. They solve computer problems and enable computer technology to meet their organization’s particular needs. For example, a systems analyst from a management consulting firm might be hired by a wholesale firm to implement an online inventory database. Computer software engineers, by contrast, can be involved in the design and development of software systems for the control and automation of manufacturing, business, and management processes. Other computer specialists include computer support specialists, who provide technical assistance, support, and advice to customers and users, and database administrators, who work with database management systems software and determine ways to organize and store data. Computer specialists such as systems analysts, computer scientists, and computer engineers sometimes are referred to simply as “consultants.”

Technical workers also include computer programmers, who write programs and create software-often in close conjunction with systems analysts-and engineering technicians, who aid engineers in research and development. Like systems analysts and engineers, these workers are found primarily in the business and management consulting segments of the industry.

Administrative support positions in management, scientific, and technical consulting services resemble those in other industries, and account for 27 percent of industry employment. Particularly numerous are secretaries and administrative assistants and bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, who record and classify financial data. The industry also employs many supervisors and managers of office and administrative support workers, who oversee the support staff, often reporting to administrative services managers.

Management, scientific, and technical consulting services firms do not produce any goods and, as a result, employ relatively few services, sales, and production workers, who, together with the remaining occupational groups, make up only about 11 percent of industry employment.