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Other management, finance and insurance professionals

How to become a Management Consultant

Also called: Business adviser (chamber of commerce), Certified SME management consultant

Proposes business strategy, organisation and people strategy, marketing and process improvements to companies, and advises and supports them in putting these into practice.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say university is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

New graduates usually become management consultants by graduating from a university or graduate school in business, commerce or engineering (industrial and management engineering) and joining a consulting firm. At foreign consulting firms, a high proportion of consultants hold an MBA. Qualifications related to management consulting include certified SME management consultant and certified management consultant (keieishi). However, you can become a management consultant without them. Some licensed professionals such as tax accountants also use their expertise to move into management consulting. Some people gain experience in specialist areas such as finance, accounting, international business, technology or HR at a large company and then use it to become a management consultant. In that case, what specialist work you have done matters more than your education. Some consultants specialise and use titles that show their field, such as ISO consultant. Many fairly young consultants in their thirties and forties work in digital transformation (DX) consulting. Management consultants must keep gathering information in many fields, especially their specialism, to keep up with changes in the business environment. A wide range of abilities and qualities is needed, including logical thinking, analytical skills, the ability to express your ideas, and good character.

Ways in

Pay · Job openings · AI and this job

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Management Consultant?

New graduates usually become management consultants by graduating from a university or graduate school in business, commerce or engineering (industrial and management engineering) and joining a consulting firm. At foreign consulting firms, a high proportion of consultants hold an MBA. Qualifications related to management consulting include certified SME management consultant and certified management consultant (keieishi). However, you can become a management consultant without them. Some licensed professionals such as tax accountants also use their expertise to move into management consulting. Some people gain experience in specialist areas such as finance, accounting, international business, technology or HR at a large company and then use it to become a management consultant. In that case, what specialist work you have done matters more than your education. Some consultants specialise and use titles that show their field, such as ISO consultant. Many fairly young consultants in their thirties and forties work in digital transformation (DX) consulting. Management consultants must keep gathering information in many fields, especially their specialism, to keep up with changes in the business environment. A wide range of abilities and qualities is needed, including logical thinking, analytical skills, the ability to express your ideas, and good character.

How much does a Management Consultant earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥11,346,400 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Other management, finance and insurance professionals, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Management Consultant?

Usually. In this job's census occupation group, 83% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of a Management Consultant?

Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026