A day in as a knowledge analyst

Hi there,

Knowledge Analysts are the “support” role for consultants. They do significant research to support teams and are the “experts” for the field. Day to day, they find and synthesize market, company, and industry information, maintain internal knowledge, and help case teams turn that research into useful analysis. They may also support proposals and knowledge products.

The short answer that that the consultants do a lot of research, they just do different research. Think about it as a delineation/segmentation of roles across the type of research.

When you think about it, speaking to domain experts is research - a consultant can't become an expert in a few weeks/months so they need to pull knowledge from the expert, client, internet, etc. For time-intensive research, or institution-based research, they can reach out to company experts to get the data/info. But, of course, the consultants need to know what to ask for, how to ask for it, and then what to do with it.

PowerPoint skills are useful, but you don't need to arrive as a perfect slide maker. Strong research, domain expertise, synthesis, and clear communication matter more. The firm can train you on its tools and formatting standards.

See below for answers + prior Q&As for you!

1- What are knowledge analysts? what is their career pathway? & 3- What are the differences between them and consultants?

The are the “support” role for consultants. They do significant research to support teams and are the “experts” for the field.

Knowledge analyst
From consultant to knowledge center analyst
McKinsey expert track vs generalist track

2- What is the average salary of knowledge analysts? In short, lower, but exact salary depends on country/office!

4- Is interview process the same like consultants? Yes, for the most part, but often with greater emphasis on your domain expertise.

Knowledge/research analyst interview format

Hi there,

The PowerPoint question is the one I would worry about least, and the perception question is the one I would think about hardest, because the two are more connected than they look.

A few things I would hold on to:

• A KA is staffed on a topic rather than on a case. You are usually feeding several teams at once with benchmarks, market data, precedent work and expert input, so the week is fragmented in a way a consultant's week is not. Whether that reads as variety or as thrash is the real self-test, more than anything about status.
• Slide skills matter, but not as craft. The bar is whether what you hand over can go in front of a client without a consultant rebuilding it. Output that needs rework every time gets you treated as a search service. Output that lands in the deck as written gets you treated as a co-author, and the perception question largely answers itself there.
• The resources are less exotic than people expect: the firm's own archive of past work and benchmarks, subscription data providers, expert networks and whatever proprietary data the practice has built. Every KA has the same access, so the differentiator is knowing which past case is genuinely comparable, not finding it.
• Client exposure varies by firm, by practice and by seniority, so I would put that question to the interviewer rather than trying to settle it from outside.

A consultant's currency is being able to run any problem. A KA's currency is being the person on the topic the team cannot replace. Those are two different careers rather than a ranked pair, and the people who take the role while quietly hoping it converts into the other one are usually the ones who end up unhappy.

Hi there,

I see you've received several great answers already. 

One thing I'd add - engage in actual conversation on this point with consultants working as KA. Reach out to them via LinkedIn and ask them politely for a ten minute chat explaining that you're interested in this role and want to understand it better. 

Sharing here a link for how to conduct these conversations:

• • Expert Guide: How To Handle Networking Calls and Get Referrals 

That's going to give you the best feel for what to expect. Especially if you manage to speak with a couple of them so you get different perspective, from different firms and offices.

From my experience in McKinsey, the people in the Knowledge team were essential. I'm not sure how 'regular' consultants could do their work without them.  

Best,
Cristian

hey there :)

A Knowledge Analyst is basically the expert support behind the consulting team. You might research a market, find data, speak to industry experts, build analyses or bring together knowledge that helps the consultants answer a client question. The work can vary a lot depending on the practice.

You don’t need to be a PowerPoint wizard. It’s useful, but being able to find the right information, analyse it and communicate the key takeaway clearly is much more important. In terms of perception, KAs are generally seen as specialists rather than “junior consultants”. Good KAs can be extremely valuable to a case team and often have deep expertise that consultants rely on.

If you’re considering the role, I’d be happy to answer more specific questions about the day to day!

best,
Alessa :)

Hi! 

There are usually two levels as KA: Either fully expert or a combined knowledge/consultant role. The latter one is also partly staffed on projects, usually for one specific module, whilst the former is usually not working directly with the client. 

The KA can leverage: 
1) All previous cases done in this area
2) internal knowledgebase
3) Subscription to all major databases 
4) use project budget to buy dedicated market reports etc. 
5) AI & internet :) 

The role can be very interesting for people who want to learn consulting skills while maintaing a better work life balance. 

PPTX skills are usually not the criteria to get hired. However, a strong KA will deliver also PPTX slides and not only the raw data. 

Hope that helps!
Vincent

Fair question, and under discussed. A KA spends most of their day doing deep research and data work, market sizing, company profiles, benchmarking, using paid databases like Factiva, Capital IQ, or internal knowledge repositories the consultants don't always have direct access to. You're supporting the case team's content, not owning client delivery.

PowerPoint matters, but less than search skill and judgment on what's actually relevant. Clients rarely see you directly. Internally, perception varies by firm, some treat KAs as core team members, others keep it more siloed. It's a real path in, just know it's support, not case leadership, from day one.