What is educational consultancy?
An Educational Consultant (EC) is a consultant who helps parents/students and organizations with educational planning. An EC offers similar services to school counselors, but is normally self-employed or employed by consulting firms, while school counselors are employed by schools. An educational consultant is a professional in the field of education who uses their experience in teaching to help with curriculum development and other issues that schools, organizations, and parents may face. If you have taught in the past or you are interested in learning about careers you can pursue after you have gained teaching experience, it is important to educate yourself on what educational consultants do. One of the confusing things about the professional term educational consultant is that it can be used to describe three very different career paths within the field of education. Some use the term educational consulting to refer to state employees who have an expertise and consult for government agencies. Others use the term for professionals who work on their own and help parents with their child’s educational planning. These professionals are termed educational planners as well. Finally, some use the term to refer to independent contractors who are hired by schools, educational organizations or parents to help them develop content or skills in a specific area of studies. A majority of professionals who are interested in working in consultancy are interested in working as independent consultants.
What Does an Educational Consulting Professional Do?
Consultants play an important role in the education system because they often help school’s maintain a specific school or district’s curriculum. It is the consultant’s job to work with administrators and alongside educators in an effort to identify student need, monitor a teacher’s method of instruction and improve school programs that are currently being rolled out. Here are some of the other duties of a consultant: Assessment of student performance in a specific subject area. Implementing changes to the curriculum based on where the students need to place more emphasis. Surveying students to change programs or curriculum. Purchasing new books and supplies for new school programs. Designing new training programs for teachers to improve their teaching. Meetings with administrators and teachers to discuss performance and budgets. Educational consultants are independent academic advisors that are hired by parents or schools. These professionals advise students about educational and career opportunities. They may help students make decisions about boarding schools or choosing a college major. As an educational consultant, you would provide guidance services to students, parents, teachers, school boards and other educational organizations regarding academic matters. You could work with teachers and school boards to assess areas for improvement in curricula, classrooms, technology usage or student activities.
What is the Demand for Consultants in the Field of Education?
If you are thinking about transitioning from teaching to another occupation in the sector, you should always consider projected job outlook before you start to train for the transition. In the field of consultancy, the projected outlook is about eight percent. This means that the Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates that there will be a need for 161,600 more consultants by the year 2024. The growth is average compared to all occupations in the United States. As our society becomes more complex, our schools have to adapt their methods to prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century. As an education consultant, you can help make that happen by bringing the best educational techniques and technologies to classrooms across the country. Education consultants work with schools and individual families to optimize the progress of all students. Demand for motivated, passionate education consultants just keeps growing in the increasingly competitive education sector. This guide will bring you up to speed on what it takes to become an education consultant, describing the required education, estimating the salary you’re likely to earn and sharing tips on maximizing your success in the field. Read all the way through or use these links to jump to a specific destination.
How Do You Become an Education Consultant?
If you want to work in instructional coordinating or consulting, the first step is to get experience as a teacher. Once you have experience in a public school, you can get more training at a Master’s level so that you specialize in curriculum development and other relevant areas of study. It can also help to join a professional organization like Higher Education Consultants Association so that you can access more job opportunities. There is more to the field of education than just teaching in a classroom. If you want to help teachers while they are instructing students, consultancy is a great area of work to focus on. Make sure to take the time to complete master’s curriculum and then you can compete for an educational consultant role. Certification starts by completing an application covering one's experience, education, and professional activities. CEPs must be full or part time college counselors (school-based or independent) or educational consultants, hold a Master's degree, and demonstrate, through references, high ethical standards.
Do consultants need a license?
Before becoming a consultant, do I need special licensing or certification? Some fields require a special license or certificate. Insurance, real estate, financial planning, fundraising and accounting are some of the areas where you may need special certification – whether for legal reasons or just to compete. Consultants working on state or federal government projects often require extra permits before bidding on contracts. Consultants working in particular fields, including health care management or engineering, may also require industry certification before qualifying for their business licenses. Registering for a business license brings much more to company owners than just tax bills. A licensed consulting company can register for its own taxpayer identification number from the Internal Revenue Service, enabling it to qualify for business credit, bank accounts and other professional benefits. Most prospective clients require a Taxpayer Identification Number to process end-of-year tax reports and other official documentation of professional relationships. The lack of a business license or professional permit can hinder consultants from landing legitimate clients. Certain kinds of consulting companies may need highly specialized business licenses or permits. For instance, consultants working on state or federal government projects often require extra permits before bidding on contracts. Consultants working in particular fields, including health care management or engineering, may also require industry certification before qualifying for their business licenses.
What makes a good consultant?
Good consultants always display professionalism towards you, the client, they are flexible and accommodating to your schedule and can adjust their working style to meet the culture of your organization. Good consultants possess excellent written and oral communication skills as well as good listening skills. Good consultants always display professionalism towards you, the client, they are flexible and accommodating to your schedule and can adjust their working style to meet the culture of your organization. They are confident, persistent, collaborative and are natural leaders, but leave their egos at the door. Good consultants have excellent time management skills. It is a necessity, particularly if they are juggling multiple clients. They work hard and most importantly, they work smart. Good consultants are problem solvers and possess sound judgement and will not jump to conclusions. They study, consider the facts, ask questions, challenge the norm and then make a recommendation or a decision. They use their experience from previous assignments to solve new problems and challenges in your current assignment. Bring them in and they get the work done. Good consultants possess excellent written and oral communication skills as well as good listening skills. Consultants will meet people through the course of their work with a wide range of unique characteristics, not all of them pleasant or to the consultants liking. Excellent communication skills will generally encourage engaged people to be more open, which in turn leads to a better outcome for the client. They listen first and speak second. Good consultants have a good reputation and will understand the need to protect that reputation. They recognise that Consulting is not simply contracting by another name and will be selective about the clients they will work for. If they believe the assignment is not the right fit for them, they will decline to accept it but may also recommend a colleague that is better suited.
