Where experience can only be an asset, and entry requirements include a professional qualification of some sort (e.g. legal).

Management consultancy is the provision to management of objective advice and assistance relating to the strategy, structure, management and operations of an organisation in pursuit of its long-term purposes and objectives.

The vast majority of recruits have a few years post-qualification experience, many have an MBA. Some consultancy firms will provide in-house training combined with external courses. There has been a growth in smaller, specialist consultancies in recent years. Services are not just offered to industry, but to charities, public authorities, professions etc in fields so wide ranging as IT, finance, distribution, marketing, HR, operations, strategy, information management and of course, change management, helping transition into new working practices which may be occasioned for example by new technology or regulatory compliance.

Formed in April 2007 by the merger of the Institute of Business Advisers and the Institute of Management Consultancy, the Institute of Consulting (until 2011 it was called the Institute of Business Consulting) is the only UK professional body for business consultants and advisers. It is a division of the Chartererd Management Institute, and is divided into 12 regional centres. The website was perhaps more helpful to 'experienced hires' or career changers when it was under the guise of the Institute of Business Consulting, however the 'Qualification and Training' section of the Institute of Consulting website includes details for their entry level qualifications and training courses tailored to a level of experience. For the uninitiated, it is learning the specific diagnostic methodologies and techniques that turn an experienced professional into a management consultant.

The Management Consultancies Association is the representative trade association and has some good industry overview information, news, reports etc.