What Makes Great Talent in Consulting and Market Research?

Avomind
Sep 29
4 min read

Consulting and market research are industries built on people. Unlike product-driven sectors, the true value in these fields lies in the minds, skills, and creativity of professionals who can transform complexity into clarity. Yet, finding and keeping exceptional individuals has never been more difficult. Organizations across the globe face a persistent “talent crunch” — a shortage of professionals with the expertise, adaptability, and drive required to succeed in increasingly complex environments.

What makes great talent in consulting and market research is not a single quality, but a unique combination of technical mastery, strategic thinking, and human skills that together create lasting impact. For recruitment firms, employers, and professionals alike, understanding this mix is critical.

The Talent Crunch and Its Impact

The modern workforce is shaped by powerful forces: digitalization, automation, globalization, and shifting generational expectations. For consulting and research firms, this creates both opportunity and risk. On one hand, there is growing demand for strategic insight and data-driven solutions. On the other, the pool of professionals who can meet this demand is stretched thin.

Many organizations find themselves competing not just with direct industry rivals, but also with technology companies, financial institutions, and even start-ups for the same profiles. A data analyst or consultant may be equally sought after by a global consulting firm and a fintech disruptor. Ignoring this reality creates blind spots that can cost organizations their most valuable resource.

Moreover, candidates themselves are changing. Where previous generations might have prioritized prestige and stability, today’s professionals increasingly value flexibility, work-life balance, and meaningful career development. Companies that fail to adapt risk alienating top talent, regardless of the salaries they offer.

The Evolving Role of the Consultant

The image of the consultant as a supplier of slide decks and spreadsheets is outdated. Clients now expect much more: a trusted advisor who can help them understand their environment, shape decisions, and navigate uncertainty. This has elevated the role of the consultant and, with it, the profile of the professional who thrives in this space.

Today’s consultants and researchers must blend technical acumen with interpersonal excellence. They are not only experts in their fields but also translators — turning raw data into stories that leaders can act on. They must be confident enough to challenge assumptions, creative enough to design innovative approaches, and resilient enough to work through ambiguity.

The most successful consultants and researchers are those who see themselves not as service providers, but as partners in their clients’ growth. This evolution has profound implications for recruitment: identifying such talent requires looking beyond CVs and evaluating how individuals think, communicate, and build trust.

What Defines Great Consultants and Researchers?

While technical skills are critical, they do not alone define greatness in consulting and market research. The best professionals distinguish themselves through qualities that elevate their work and create lasting value for clients. These typically include:

The ability to tell compelling stories — transforming charts, statistics, and numbers into clear narratives that inspire action.
Leadership in problem-solving — guiding clients with confidence, even when it means challenging established assumptions.
Passion and curiosity — approaching projects with energy, asking deeper questions, and going beyond the obvious to uncover new insights.
Trustworthiness — consistently demonstrating integrity, reliability, and a genuine commitment to the client’s best interest.

These qualities set apart professionals who merely “deliver” from those who truly “transform.”

Retention: The Other Half of the Equation

Recruitment often dominates the conversation around talent, but retention is equally — if not more — important. Hiring exceptional professionals only to lose them to burnout or dissatisfaction creates costly cycles of attrition. The consulting and market research sectors have seen this firsthand.

In the UK, for example, a culture of overwork, understaffing, and uncompetitive pay in the research sector led to widespread burnout. Professionals who felt unsupported left in droves, despite the industry’s reliance on their expertise. This illustrates a simple reality: attracting talent without addressing culture, workload, and rewards is unsustainable.

Forward-looking organizations now recognize that employee experience is central to retention. This includes not just compensation, but opportunities for growth, psychological safety, and work-life balance. Some firms are also experimenting with internal talent marketplaces, which allow employees to move into new projects or departments without leaving the company. By doing so, they keep talent engaged while meeting evolving organizational needs.

Retention is ultimately about creating an environment where professionals want to stay — and where they can continue to grow.

Building Great Talent Strategies

For recruitment firms and employers alike, identifying and nurturing great talent requires a strategic approach. This goes beyond filling roles to building long-term systems that attract, assess, and retain high-caliber individuals. Successful strategies often include:

Proactively developing talent pipelines through partnerships with universities and professional networks.
Crafting authentic employer brands that align with actual employee experiences.
Conducting competitor analysis to understand where else target talent is going and why.
Designing rigorous, structured hiring processes that reduce bias and ensure strong cultural fit.

When combined, these practices allow organizations to remain competitive in an increasingly tight talent market.

Great talent in consulting and market research is more than a combination of technical knowledge and years of experience. It is the rare mix of analytical rigor, storytelling, leadership, passion, and trust that enables professionals to transform data into decisions and decisions into results.

Organizations that thrive in today’s environment will be those that adopt a holistic approach to talent: proactively sourcing candidates, building authentic brands, investing in retention, and creating workplaces where people can grow. For consulting and research, where human expertise is the ultimate product, this is not simply a matter of HR strategy — it is a foundation of long-term success.

In the end, great talent is not just found. It is cultivated, empowered, and trusted to make a difference.

At Avomind, we understand that consulting and market research talent is both scarce and invaluable. That’s why we’ve built a global network spanning universities, MBA programs, and tech institutions to connect clients with professionals who not only meet the technical requirements but also bring the passion, leadership, and trust that define great consultants and researchers. With our speed, precision, and people-first approach, we help firms overcome the talent crunch and secure the individuals who will drive their businesses forward.