What Is A Metaverse Consultant and How To Become One

The world of technology is advancing rapidly—and the job market is trying to keep up. Between the growth of artificial intelligence, blockchain, and 3D printing, technologies that were once science fiction are quickly becoming realities. One such technology is none other than the metaverse.

In many ways, the metaverse is still being defined, but the idea behind the metaverse is that you can experience a virtual world through augmented and virtual reality, creating a space where you can game, shop, build community, and more—all outside of the physical world. As the metaverse develops and becomes a reality, it has the potential to have various and widespread impacts, from human interaction and relationships to omnichannel sales and marketing.

The metaverse market is growing in popularity because, while Statista estimates its value to be $32.1 billion in 2025, it projects the value to increase by an annual growth rate of 37.76 percent, reaching a market volume of $159.2 billion in 2030 [1]. Statista also claims the total number of users may be 197.1 million by 2030 [1].

As the metaverse develops and grows, job opportunities tied to the metaverse may increase as well. Explore the roles and responsibilities of a metaverse consultant, as well as how much you could earn in that role and how to start your metaverse career today.

What is the metaverse?

A 3D-enabled digital platform similar to the idea of cyberspace, the metaverse uses advanced technology—such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and semiconductor technology—to create a virtual environment where people can have “lifelike” experiences that are beyond the physical world. Though some think of the metaverse in regard to the gaming industry, the metaverse is much more expansive, seen as the evolution of today’s internet and as a potential commercial space for consumers and companies.

The metaverse relies on a sense of immersion, real-time interactivity, and user agency, as well as a more advanced vision of platforms and devices working seamlessly together and the simultaneous connection of thousands of people interacting virtually. However, the metaverse itself is hard to define—the technology is so new and developing that the use cases are many and always changing.

For example, the metaverse could look like a virtual reality video game where you can build an avatar that lives in a virtual world, and in that game, you’d have an immersive “reality-like” experience. Currently, you can sample the metaverse in games like Pokémon Go or Batman: Arkham Shadow. However, the metaverse also has educational opportunities, with tools like Google Arts & Culture, or in retail, like the IKEA Place app, where you can see an item represented digitally in your physical space.

What is a metaverse consultant?

A metaverse consultant is still a new and upcoming job with the growth and development of the metaverse, helping companies develop their strategies for how they interact and approach technology related to the metaverse. 

A metaverse consultant’s job is to develop methods and virtual experiences that allow companies to interact with their customers in new and transformative ways. This can look like solving business challenges with the use of innovative technologies, shaping an industry-driven approach to digital twins, augmented reality, generative AI, and more. Metaverse consultants can also play a first-hand role in building actual products, experiences, and applications for their clients, bringing a company's metaverse vision to life.

What does a metaverse consultant do?

Metaverse consultants help businesses and clients develop and implement metaverse strategies by using their data to build new ways of interacting and working. As the role of metaverse consultant develops, the duties and responsibilities can look like:

• Building simulations: Metaverse consultants can contribute to businesses by visualizing, testing, and optimizing virtual replicas of real-world objects and environments. These “digital twin” simulations can make businesses more efficient by identifying and solving problems such as predicting downtime, proactively addressing needs, and creating interactive visuals for scenario testing.

• Creating immersive experiences: Metaverse consultants can work with employers to create interactive and personalized experiences for customers and the workforce alike. For example, you could empower employees with real-time contextual data and interactive support to help them be more efficient in their job responsibilities, or you could create experiences where customers can interact with your brand in new, visual ways.

• Develop metaverse strategy: As a metaverse consultant, you would help companies strategize and navigate their unique role in the metaverse world, helping them plan a roadmap to accomplish their vision from beginning to end, outlining capabilities, operations, and initiatives.

• Guiding metaverse investment: As the metaverse grows in popularity and use, so do metaverse mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Metaverse consultants can evaluate targets, analyze investment themes, and acquire new talent for and from metaverse companies. 

• Infrastructure enablement: Metaverse consultants help build and scale products and applications, creating blueprints for businesses to design and implement their visions. This involves understanding and finding the proper technical infrastructure, assessing capabilities, and creating a development plan. 

Ultimately, the services offered by metaverse consultants differ depending on the needs of their clients. Other duties and responsibilities may also include:

• Training and providing education on virtual worlds 

• Planning and executing virtual events

• Identifying monetization strategies for businesses in the virtual world

Metaverse consultant skills

In order to build a career working in the metaverse and as a metaverse consultant, you will need a combination of technical and workplace skills. Below are some of the primary skills you may need to develop:

Technical skills

• 3D modeling

• Animation tools

• Augmented reality technologies

• Virtual reality technologies

• Computer programming languages, such as Python and C++

• Blockchain/NFT engineering

• Marketing and business knowledge

• UI/UX design

Workplace skills

• Creativity

• Storytelling

• Teamwork

• Communication

• Problem-solving

Metaverse consultant job outlook and salary

Job opportunities connected to the metaverse will continue to grow as new technologies, such as quantum computing, continue to emerge. Though the position of a metaverse consultant is a fairly new position with a lack of current salary information, other similar positions earn high salaries. For example, the similar position of a web3 consultant—someone who helps businesses understand and implement blockchain technology—earns an average salary of $86,430 per year [2].

Below is a breakdown of other jobs that are relevant to the metaverse and their salaries:

• Full-stack web developer: $117,880 [3]

• Virtual event planner: $63,335 [4]

• Virtual reality engineer: $115,350 [5]

• Game designer: $149,118 [6]

Who hires metaverse consultants?

Because the metaverse is still developing, many industries, such as media, retail, and education, are finding opportunities in the metaverse and require the guidance of metaverse consultants. Whether they are looking to create next-generation customer experiences, develop new ways to collaborate and engage employees, or build augmented operations, the metaverse can have applications across a variety of businesses. 

Some businesses that might look to hire metaverse consultants are:

• Media and entertainment: Media companies might look to gain metaverse consulting on how to plan and run virtual events, as well as how to create content partnerships between metaverse organizations and products. Entertainment can also look different. Imagine 3D storytelling, immersive virtual reality games, or concerts and sporting events being more accessible and viewed through the metaverse.

• Retail: From virtual storefronts to a metaverse economy where you can purchase physical goods, metaverse consultants can guide retail businesses on how to navigate the consumption of their products in digital spaces. The metaverse also holds opportunities for retail products and goods, such as digital fashion for avatars and virtual marketing and branding opportunities.

• Education: Metaverse consultants can guide schools and businesses on how to implement virtual reality into education practices, such as virtual classrooms and immersive tutorials.

• Automotive and manufacturing: The automotive industry can lean into the metaverse by offering virtual test drives and showrooms, as well as utilizing augmented reality for complex manufacturing of cars.

Metaverse consultant career path

Even though the metaverse consultant position is new, you can begin to develop the skill set to succeed in this role by attending a university offering courses in metaverse-related subjects such as 3D animation, software engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and NFT engineering, VR/AR development, and UI/UX design. 

Education

To be more specific, since the metaverse is built by software engineers, it can be beneficial to earn a degree in computer science or software engineering. Other helpful degrees could be game design or UX design, as you will need to know how to build games or user experience, depending on your client and industry as a metaverse consultant.

Additional training: Internship and mentorship

You can then pursue an internship at a metaverse-focused company to further sharpen your skills, which may also lead to a permanent job offer. Another option to enhance your abilities in this field is to work with a mentor who shares your enthusiasm about the metaverse.

As far as needing prerequisites to work in this industry, Zippia reports that the degree breakdown for virtual reality specialists—a related job—is 58 percent have a bachelor’s degree, 18 percent associate, and 11 percent have a high school diploma [7].

Certifications 

Another route that you can take to get experience is to seek a metaverse certification. Getting a certification can give you credibility in the field, as well as provide you with the necessary skills and abilities needed to succeed as a metaverse consultant. 

For example, you can complete certifications such as the 101 Blockchains Certified Metaverse Professional (CMP) credential, which gives you a comprehensive understanding of the metaverse and teaches you technical skills, such as the basics of blockchain and NFTs. You need to take an online course and then pass an exam to receive the CMP certification. Other certifications to look into include Blockchain Council’s Certified Metaverse Expert certification, which takes about five hours of online training and an exam to complete, or Global Skill Development Council’s (GSDC) Certified Metaverse Professional certification, which covers virtual reality, augmented reality, AI, and more. You’ll need to pass an exam to earn the certification.

Learn about the metaverse with Coursera

The metaverse is full of exciting opportunities, and as a metaverse consultant, you would have the chance to work with various industries on unique projects in the virtual and augmented world.

You can begin your career in the metaverse with training through courses and Professional Certificates offered on Coursera by accredited businesses and universities. For example, you can earn your Meta Front-End Developer Professional Certificate, where you can learn how to create webpages with the Bootstrap CSS Framework, how to use React in relation to JavaScript libraries, and more.