Consulting is a broad field to get into - whether as an employee, a contractor, or self-employed. Either way, you need to become an expert in a particular field, and build up your knowledge, certifications, and business acumen. A degree is a good start, but as a consultant myself, consulting usually comes after about 3-5 years of experience if not more, and usually into your late 20's unless you're really good. For example in my industry, most business analysts become consultants in enterprise software and ERP after a few years; however, if you are smart enough to be a solution architect or a project delivery lead, you might get to get into pure consulting earlier. My lead and I graduated at the same time and are the same age; him from a tech college and I from the U of C business school. He knows way more than I do, and I hope to equal him one day in terms of tech knowledge.
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