Job Description and Average Salary of an Image Consultant

An image consultant works to help people improve their external looks and appearance. CareerStint elaborates on the job description and the average salary of an image consultant.

“You are your greatest asset. Put your time, effort, and money into training, grooming, and encouraging your greatest asset.”
― Tom Hopkins

A decade ago, you would probably not get paranoid about not being able to carry off your best look on an important day. As of today, you would probably go crazy and turn the world upside down to ensure that you look the best. One cannot adequately stress the importance of looking good (by ‘good’, we mean ‘presentable and charming’). This is especially important at interviews, first day of work, and public events. While a good first impression can always work wonders, you might just overindulge and spoil your look for the day. Enter image consultants. What an image consultant does is he/she grooms people the way it suits them. This is vital, as a wrong look can turn your day disastrous. The job description of an image consultant is elaborated in the paragraphs below.

• As an image consultant, your primary duty is to enhance people’s wardrobe. And no, that does not mean stylish, revealing outfits. You need to look at the profession, the personality, and then select clothes.
• For instance, if you have to attend an interview for a software firm or a management company, you need to wear business suits. Your suit needs to be well-tailored and custom-made, neither tight nor loose, so that you don’t end up looking like a clown.
• If you need to attend public events like a birthday party, an anniversary party, a corporate event, a conference, etc., your clothes need to suit the occasion. Depending on your comfort, a decent cocktail dress or an elegant gown should do the trick for ladies. For men, there are plenty of choices for evening clothes.
• This, of course, is just an example as every person is different. You, as an image consultant, have to analyze your clients, make them feel at ease about their personality, check out other attributes―their features, figure, hair, complexion, etc., and accordingly select the right wardrobe.
• You also need to teach them how to space their wardrobe and dress in the right colors.

• Other aspects include hair and makeup styling.
• The terms may lead to confusion, possibly making you assume that these are just for the female population.
• Mark my words though, men need as much of hairstyle grooming as ladies do.
• The right kind of haircut is very important for any event. And to a great extent, the haircut depends on your face.
• The shape of your face and the other features matter a lot when you select the right hairstyle.
• Women need to take special care to maintain their tresses properly so that the right hairstyle can suit them. These are the points an image consultant has to address.
• She has to make sure the hair, shoes, makeup, accessories, etc., are all in proper precision for the right occasion. The right advice is very important; for instance, trying out stylish hairdos for a formal interview seems unnecessary. A simple, elegant bun may, perhaps, be a better choice.

• This is one of the most important responsibilities of an image consultant.
• She has to equip her clients with the proper verbal and non-verbal communication strategies so that they can present themselves efficiently.
• She has to teach them to communicate effectively during interviews.
• She has to teach them to use proper business etiquette―handshake, head nod, head tilt, a practiced smile, etc.
• She has to teach them how to communicate at corporate parties, how to talk with the right people, how to begin a conversation, how to politely end a conversation, the right method to eat at the table, chivalrous antics (for men), elegant mannerisms (for ladies), etc.
• All in all, she has to help people get a complete makeover and change their image.

• Creative thinking is the prime job requirement of an image consultant.
• As such, there is no standard educational requirement. You will require a good training program though.
• You have to help people look better; therefore, you will require sufficient knowledge regarding fashion, color coordination, communication, etc.
• A degree in public relations, mass communications, or advertising will help. You may also need some financial knowledge and personal management skills as well.

• The ideal image consultant salary for a beginner may be around USD 40,000.
• The average salary as per latest statistics, however, is more than USD 55,000.
• The salary is heavily dependent on your education and experience.
• Again, this may not be necessarily true. If you have been hired despite not having impressive qualifications, but for having stupendous people’s skills, you may be provided on-the-job training and paid well.
• The average, annual, state-wise salary is enlisted below.

Work Environment

• As a personal image consultant, you will mostly work regular hours.
• If you work in a consultancy, your clients will arrive as per the time slot allotted to them.
• If you work independently, you have the freedom of calling them whenever you are free.
• If you work only for one client (i.e., if your client is really important, perhaps a celebrity), you will have to work according to his/her convenience.
• Ultimately, the job is not very difficult, if you learn to use your creativity in the right manner.
• This career path has a fairly good job growth, though you need to be extremely versatile and have good contacts in order to be successful.

An image consultant needs to be in a good, presentable condition herself. It will not help boost your morale if you yourself dress shabbily and advise others to dress well. So, dress well, speak well, and then teach others to do so.