IT Consultant

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Are you passionate about technology? Do you enjoy helping people make decisions? If so, a career as an IT consultant could be perfect for you.

We’ll guide you through an IT consultant’s job description, role, responsibilities and much more by outlining:

What is an IT consultant?
What does an IT consultant do?
IT consultant career path
Average salaries
Qualifications and training
Skills you’ll need
Pros and cons of being an IT consultant
Work-life balance
Employers hiring IT consultants
Related jobs

What is an IT consultant?

An IT consultant is a professional who provides technical support and expert advice.

The IT consultant job title is broad and applies to different specialisms. For example, some consultants focus on data analytics or cybersecurity. Others work more generally.

An IT consultant’s job description will vary depending on the specialism. However, generally, an IT consultant job role involves using your understanding of IT systems to help organisations implement and use them.

Some IT consultants work in-house, meaning they advise their employer on how to best use technology within the organisation. Others work for consulting firms and support their employers’ clients. Meanwhile, some experienced IT consultants work independently as freelancers and have their own client list.

What does an IT consultant do?

While the exact tasks you do will depend on your job description, some typical IT consultant job responsibilities include:

Meeting with clients and listening to why they want new systems, what they need them for and what the end users’ requirements are
Designing and producing IT systems to solve issues
Adjusting existing systems based on users’ needs and your ideas
Presenting your suggestions and discussing potential changes
Setting up IT systems
Teaching people to use new systems while making sure they understand their purposes
Writing reports to summarise your work and why it was successful

IT consultant career path

There are various career paths you could follow as an IT consultant.

After gaining some experience, you may decide to move away from a client-facing role and become a software engineer. Alternatively, you may switch sideways to product management for a software company.

Of course, you could realise that working as an IT consultant is your dream job and stay focused in this area. There’s no right or wrong path.

Everyone’s career journey is unique, but here’s an example of a possible career path in IT consultancy:

Entry-level

You begin your career as a junior IT consultant in a consulting firm.

As a junior IT consultant, you work with your assigned clients to make the systems that best suit their needs and set them up for them.

You’ll likely discuss your ideas with more senior members of your firm and ask them for advice.

You’ll report back to your team on a weekly basis, so they’ll know your progress and help you if necessary.

Career progression

If you impress as a junior IT consultant, you can go on to become a mid-level IT consultant.

With any promotion comes more responsibility. Once you’re in a mid-level role, you’ll likely work with larger firms making more complex IT systems.

You’ll still need to report your work to your firm, but you'll need less help from senior team members. With your experience, you’ll now be the one helping junior colleagues.

Future career

The highest level in the IT consulting career path is senior IT consultant.

As a senior IT consultant, you’ll likely work on complex systems for high-profile clients. You’ll represent your consulting firm and will probably be in high demand by clients.

If you want to reach these heights, you’ll need to have a thorough understanding of IT systems and always keep up to date with technical changes.

IT consultant salaries

How much you could earn as an IT consultant will depend on many factors, including your role, seniority, experience, specialism, location and employer.

Typically, IT consultants will begin their careers working in junior positions for more modest salaries and will then earn higher amounts in senior roles.

Here are the average salaries of an IT consultant at different levels:

As a graduate IT consultant in a junior role, you’ll likely earn between £24,000 and £30,000.
With some experience as a mid-level IT consultant, it’s reasonable to expect a salary between £32,000 and £40,000.
As a senior IT consultant, you could earn between £40,000 and £80,000.

Some of the highest earning positions in consulting firms involve handling the day-to-day running of the firm, rather than working with technology. Some people prefer to progress towards managerial roles, while others want to stay focused on tech.

Qualifications and training

You don’t need a specific qualification to become an IT consultant. However, you can get a head start in your career by studying relevant subjects and taking on related work experience. Plus, apprenticeships offer a formalised training programme.

If you fancy a career in IT consultancy, here are some steps you can take to make your CV stand out:

Education

To go into IT consultancy as a grad, you typically need an undergraduate degree in an IT-based subject. Studying IT, computing, computer science, data science or another related degree course will show employers you know your stuff. If you want to specialise as a consultant, having a degree in a specific area (like cybersecurity) will come in handy.

Having a master’s degree isn’t necessary for a career as an IT consultant. However, you might still want to study for one. For example, you could undertake a more general IT-based undergraduate degree and then specialise at master’s level to boost your skills.

Another route into IT consulting is an apprenticeship. An IT consultant apprenticeship involves studying while working for a consulting company. You’ll gain practical experience along with theoretical understanding. Essentially, you’ll earn while you learn.

You can explore the apprenticeships available through the government's apprenticeship listings. One example is the University of West London’s IT Consultant Degree Apprenticeship.

Work experience

Having work experience is a fantastic way of getting to grips with the tasks IT consultants do. It also helps you understand the working environment.

To get experience in IT consulting, you could shadow an IT consultant or undertake an internship.

For available opportunities, explore our list of IT and technology internships.

Networking can also unlock access to work experience opportunities that aren’t advertised. Read up on our guide to networking and find out how to improve your chances of securing work experience.

IT consultant skills

As IT consulting is an area with many specialisms, the ideal skills for each IT consultant job vary. However, here are some skills that are useful in any IT consultant role:

Hard skills

Coding. While coding won’t always come up in day-to-day IT consulting, you still need to understand how it works. Having an idea of coding will help you implement systems which are ideal for your client and help you fix problems.

Soft skills

Communication. Having great communication skills is important for your career in IT consulting. You’ll need to explain your ideas and the benefits of changing systems. You’ll also have to use your communication skills to explain to people how to use new technology in clear terms that everyone will understand.
Eagerness to learn. Being eager to learn is a great skill to have as an IT consultant. Performing well in your job requires you to know the best software to recommend to your clients and how to use it. Being eager to learn means you’ll teach yourself about innovations, which will help you perform better.

Pros and cons of being an IT consultant

Being an IT consultant is an excellent career for many, but it’s not for everyone. Here are some things to consider:

Pros

You’ll explore the latest software, so it’s great if you’re fascinated by new tech.
There’s the potential to earn a respectable salary within IT consulting.
Seeing your projects from start (ie. suggesting a new IT system) to finish (ie. watching end users adapt to a tech change) is satisfying.
If you work for a consulting firm, you’ll get to collaborate with a variety of companies, giving you a wide range of experiences.
As IT consulting is varied, your daily work tends to be interesting as you’ll often have new challenges to work through.
If you work with clients, you’ll develop a wide network of companies and people.
As you progress in your career, you’ll typically gain more control over the projects that you work on – particularly if you work for yourself.

Cons

Keeping up to date with technology can be difficult to do during working hours, so you might spend some of your free time researching developments.
Some clients will have unreasonable demands, such as requiring lots of work in a short amount of time, which can make work stressful.
You’ll sometimes need to work to strict deadlines, which can also be stressful.
You may have to travel to work at a client’s location. While some people love the experience, working away has some downsides. For example, you may have practical concerns such as having to find someone to look after your pets. You also might feel lonely when away from friends and family.
If you work on a short-term contract for a consulting firm or are a freelancer, you may not have certainty over your next project. The lack of job security in certain roles can cause worry.

IT consultant work-life balance

If you’re employed as an IT consultant, you’ll typically work standard office hours, like Monday to Friday, 9 to 5.

However, you may need to work longer hours or even weekends near a deadline.

Independent IT consultants will choose their own hours. However, they’ll still need to consider their clients’ needs when doing so.

While you can do some IT work remotely, an IT consultant often needs to work in their clients’ offices to design systems for them. Having to travel can affect your work-life balance.

Employers hiring IT consultants

Some of the consulting firms hiring IT consultants include:

Related jobs to IT consultant

More information

If you’re interested in starting your career in IT consulting, explore the consulting jobs and technology and IT infrastructure opportunities available right now.