How to Become a Product Consultant

Working with companies that provide consumer products, a product consultant works closely with marketing staff to evaluate and analyze customer feedback and anticipate consumer response in the improvement of current products and the development of new ones. To become one, you'll need a flexible skill set that includes business training as well as specialized knowledge of the industry you want to work in.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Product development experience
• Bachelor's degree
• Internship (recommended)
• Master of Business Administration (recommended)

1. Plan to complete your college education to at least the bachelor's level. If graduate school is not in your future, you should strongly consider doing your undergraduate degree in a field such as marketing, business or economics.

2. Consider getting a Master of Business Administration degree, particularly if you want your career path to eventually lead to a management position. While you can get your foot in the door as a product consultant without an MBA, advancement prospects will be limited if you do unless you acquire diverse and comprehensive experience.

3. Take internships as you complete your college training. It's difficult to get hired into the product development division of a company without at least some practical experience, and it's difficult to amass practical experience when you have none. A solution to the famous entry-level worker catch-22 is college internships in product development, which you can find through career counselors or your department.

4. Identify an industry you'd like to work in. It can be one that your college education gave you specialized knowledge of, or one you have gained secondary expertise in through pursuit of your personal interests. Whatever it is, you should know a lot about the different products the industry produces for the industrial or commercial marketplace.

5. Knock on doors. Send your resume to every human resources department of every company in the industry, introducing yourself and explaining that you're looking for an entry-level position. Some professional placement firms and employment agencies may also be able to help you find suitable positions, and career fairs remain a tried and true source of job opportunities.

6. Accept an entry-level position in product development. With any luck, you'll receive more than one job offer. Choose the position with the greatest potential for career advancement.

7. Gain expertise through on-the-job training and commitment to professional development. With hard work and a growing skill set, you'll soon become an integral team member, and with that will come added responsibility.

Tips & Warnings

• Seek product consulting jobs outside your immediate area with companies who offer relocation assistance packages.
• Job requirements vary wildly from industry to industry. Expect that some job postings will ask for an MBA, while others may not require advanced college training at all.