Public affairs consultant : Career development

New entrants to a public affairs consultancy spend a large proportion of their time on research, monitoring and responding to requests for information. However, face-to-face contact with clients will come quickly - initially through attending meetings, briefings and conferences alongside more senior staff - and will increase as your career develops.

A typical career path would be from account executive to account manager, heading up a small team within the consultancy and being responsible for a group of clients. The next step may be to senior account manager or account director and then associate director, handling the consultancy’s work for a range of clients, providing strategic advice and developing new business for the consultancy. At higher levels, the ability to develop and win new business, as well as servicing existing clients, becomes increasingly important.

As public affairs consultancies are generally small, it is common to move between employers to develop your career. Many consultants also move into in-house public affairs departments as public affairs managers or policy advisers. Some may move into full-time political roles, such as working for a political party or as an adviser. These moves may be permanent or may be used to further develop experience and contacts before returning to consultancy.