Management Consulting Resume Sample

Management
Management
Consulting
Consulting
Resume
Resume Sample
Sample

Strike a tone in your resume
In order to reach your goal of becoming a
management consultant, you need to strike
a tone in your resume. In one of the most
competitive fields in the working world,
breaking into management consulting
requires substantial work and a perfect
resume.

Recruiters assume that your management
consulting resume is an accurate
representation of who you are. If it’s too
superficial and commonplace, it might
suggest that you won’t be able to make a
valuable contribution to the consulting firm
and your resume will therefore be put aside
after a short assessment.
Breaking into management consulting is a
serious goal and you have to craft your
resume with quality, value and uniqueness.
It must be effective enough to pique the
interest of the recruiters and convince them
to schedule you for testing, interviews, and
other assessments.

In this presentation, you will learn:

•
•
•

How to write your consulting resume
How to review the content and form of your resume
Common resume mistakes

All rights reserved by ConsultingFact.com. More free consulting career advice on www.consultingfact.com.

2

Before writing your resume
Before you turn on the computer and start typing, allot some time to investigate your target firm. Your
knowledge will guide you in writing your management consulting resume; it will help you build a
connection between you and your potential employer and enable you to construct a unique and
personalized marketing tool. Below are some techniques on how to do this:
Website

Visit the firm’s website. You will find their history, goals, values, and culture and
learn the fundamental information about the organization.

Social Media

Follow their LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media accounts. They
post links to industry trends, activities, events, and other company updates. Keep
yourself abreast of these matters. If you can’t use this information for resume
writing, you will benefit from it during job interviews.

Networking

Communicate with professionals who have worked or are working for the firm.
Network with them in order to access information from an insider’s point of view.
Some, if not all, will be eager to lend you a hand.

How do these activities distinctly help you tailor your resume? You will be able to phrase your resume so
it resonates with the individual company. Two firms may have the same values, stated in different terms.
Alternate the terms in your resume to correspond with each firm you apply with. Moreover, you can
emphasize content based on an individual firm’s goals. For instance, if a particular firm values
leadership, it’s wise to list previous work experience and accomplishments highlighting your
achievements in this area.


3

Writing your resume
Your cover letter serves as a knock at the consulting firm’s door. It may be key to your invitation to
interview, but your resume deepens the picture your resume reviewer gets of your experience and
background. The reviewer will probably only look at this document for a short time. All consulting firms
receive many applications – this includes both boutique consulting firms as well as top tier consulting
firms such as McKinsey, Bain, Boston Consulting Group and Booz. Therefore, your management consulting
resume needs to provide high impact and be of a high quality. The key is preparation and outline work
before you get started with the writing process.
Go through the full resume preparation and planning process. Craft a structure of your resume by
brainstorming about your educational, work and volunteer (or other relevant) experiences and listing
them. From there, start to narrow down the experience that is pertinent to your desired career path.
Then come up with something like our resume outline (as shown below). This outline is our suggestion,
based on our experience with successful management consulting applications.

You can, however, use a structure that best
highlights your experience in the most
compelling way for you. The most important
point is to offer clarity and strong, actionoriented results and achievement
descriptions.


4

Parts of your management consulting resume
Management consulting resumes can be organized in
many different ways, and many follow a pattern similar
to the diagram shown.
The way you choose to organize it will depend on
several factors. Your personal experience and what you
want to emphasize in your resume will come into play.
New graduates will probably place greater emphasis on
education, academic performance and involvement in
relevant extracurricular activities and
internships. Experienced consultants will rely heavily
on professional experience and skills.
Some of what you write may depend on the firm to
which you are applying. Some firms have preferences
about what you should highlight in your resume. Tailor
your management consulting resume to follow any
guidance you have about what the firm wants to see.
Edit and revise your resume multiple times in the
process. Tailor and virtually rewrite it for each new
application. Your resume is a living document that
changes as you gain more experience but also when you
apply for different positions.


5

Contact
Information

This is the section where you will provide basic information about yourself. It may
sound easy, but here are a few techniques and reminders you may find useful:

Name

The font size for your name must be larger than the rest of the
text so recruiters can easily read and remember it.

Contact
number

Check the accuracy of your contact number. Mixing up numbers
is a huge mistake—you will never be contacted.

Links

Provide a link to your online portfolio, public LinkedIn profile,
or blog so the recruiter can further assess you.

Email address

Use a professional email address. The recruiter won’t take you
seriously if you use iscmhievousconsultant@example.com
or sarcasticman@example.com.


6

Summary or
Objective

A summary is a brief statement of your major qualifications, expertise, and
experience; an objective refers to your career goals and motivation. The former is
often utilized by applicants with professional experience, while recent graduates
employ the latter. When you write this section, make sure that:
•

It is written concisely but substantially. It should not exceed two to three
sentences.

•

It must be related to the desired position and target firm.

•

It must be catchy enough to encourage the recruiters to read the rest of
your management consulting resume.

Example of an objective:

Example of a longer summary:

Seeking management consulting role that
requires proven negotiation and strategy
planning skills.

Experienced management consultant and strategy
expert with over a decade of experience. Successful
projects include providing and guiding strategy for
merger between X and Y firms, leading the new firm
to profitability within one year, and managing a team
of junior analysts. They successfully launched a new
product and guided it to become the leading product
in the X sector and generated a 32 percent increase in
revenue for parent company.

Example of a summary:
Senior management analyst with experience in
global logistics industry. Dual MBA and MS
Logistics Management.


7

Professional
Experience

A key consideration when you write about your professional experience is to
measure whether or not it is relevant. Is the experience you list directly relevant
to the desired position? Activities that are unnecessary to your career path only
waste the limited space you have to make your case for being hired. It adds
nothing and erases prime ―application real estate‖.
For every position you mention, describe your key responsibilities, followed by
quantifiable accomplishments in bullet form. Hiring managers want results first
and foremost. Use powerful terms such as verbs and numbers—they make your
statements more results-oriented. Some of the suggested action words are listed in
the table below:
Addressed

Coordinated

Interviewed

Persuaded

Analyzed

Executed

Interpreted

Planned

Communicated

Guided

Led

Promoted

Conceptualized

Influenced

Managed

Recommended

Reviewed

Supervised

Summarized

Written


8

Professional
Experience

Management consulting resume for experienced professionals would most probably
state the experience section this way:
Executive Vice President, B2B Sales and Marketing
June 2007 – November 2010, ABS Sales Enterpising, New York City
Managed a team of 65 sales and marketing executives in a B2B sales structure.
Guided product sales and marketing development efforts and managed sales
operations. Led expansion to Southeast Asian market and selected and managed
a sales team for developing Asian operations.
•

Increased annual revenue by 22 percent year over year over three years.

•

Expanded market for software products from Europe to North America and
Asia and increased sales by 27%.

•

Increased annual revenue by 1.3 million USD and achieved profitability and
market share.


9

Professional
Experience

Here’s an example for fresh graduates:
Project Analyst, Internship Program
STU Consulting Firm, August – September 2012
Assisted a team of management consultants in collecting, analyzing, and
presenting market-related information to the client. Brainstormed with experts
in creating the design for market researches. Analyzed industry trends and
customer preferences on women’s apparel. Notable accomplishments are the
following:
•

Designed a questionnaire that yielded a 80% response rate within one
week.

•

Conducted a field interview in shops and boutiques with only 1% data
collection error.

•

Wrote a qualitative analysis of research results after thorough
brainstorming.


10

Education

For recent graduates, education plays an important role in the resume. Showing
stellar academic achievement and involvement in activities that conferred new
strengths and skills will help show preparation for a career in management
consulting. It serves as your foundation for entering the competitive industry of
management consulting. It’s the indicator of your knowledge, competencies, and
values.
Example:
2001-2003 Harvard University, Cambridge, MA USA
Master of Business Administration/Master of Public Administration
Key achievements: Graduated summa cum laude


11

Education

You can include the following information in this section:

Name of
institution

You do not have to be an Ivy League grad to compete for a
place at an elite consulting firm, but a big-name university
with a superb reputation does not hurt. You may want to get
the most mileage you can get from your school’s name.

Degree earned

This indicates what you learned over the past four years. It
tells recruiters whether you have knowledge of
accounting, management, marketing, economics, or law.

Grade Point
Average (GPA)

Include your GPA if it’s remarkably high or if it meets the
minimum requirement of the management consulting firm.

Remarkable
academic
achievements

If you graduated with honors or you received any distinctions,
state it in your resume. Your determination and hard work to
achieve these accolades will be taken into consideration.

Significant
extracurricular
activities

Your participation in various club activities will alert the
recruiter that you have developed skills, discipline, and
values that are necessary in management consulting.


12

Skills

Focus on relevance when adding skills. You may have a number of practical skills,
but they might not be practical for management consulting. Think carefully about
what skills you have, such as languages, software, negotiation/communication,
and how they fit into your future career. Consider how and why a consulting firm
would need or want these skills. If in doubt, find tangible examples of how a less
obvious connection can be made between your skill(s) and the consulting career or
leave that particular skill out of your resume.
Example:
•

Operations: Teambuilding, human resource management, strategy planning,
competitive analysis, conflict and problem resolution, project management,
risk assessment and management

•

Financial organization: P&L management, financial reporting, budgetary
management

•

Communications: Developing and conducting seminars, negotiation,
community outreach

•

Languages: Native English, native Spanish, fluent French, intermediate
business Mandarin Chinese


13

Personal Interests

Personal interests do not need to be included in a management consulting resume,
especially if you are running short on space. Interests are more often included in
European CVs than American ones. You will not be penalized for failing to add
personal interests. Some personal interests and hobbies, though, illustrate a
certain level of perseverance, motivation and passion that may set you apart from
other applicants.
Being a lifelong competitive marathon runner who trains consistently may have
very little to do with consulting but does display a level of discipline and tolerance
for hard work. A history of community service and voluntary work displays personal
integrity and commitment. These personal traits may not fit neatly into a ―skills
and experience‖ box, but you do not want to fit too neatly into a box either.
Briefly show interests where you feel it strengthens your application and makes
you stand apart from your competition.
Example:
Personal Interests: Animal illustration, playing the guitar, and landscape
photography.


14

Review the content and form
Once you have written your resume, proofread it to perfection. You may be able to think of better ways
to represent yourself the second time you go over it. Never send out a resume without checking the
content and form; your candidacy is at stake.
 Does it communicate the message you want to convey? Ensure that it proves you will be an asset to
the firm. If you miss this part, the answers to the rest of the questions are fruitless.
 Is it tailored to the goals and requirements of the management consulting firm? It is critical that
the recruiter sees that your qualities and personality match the position and the corporate culture.
 Is the data accurate? Remember that some recruiters validate the information. They sometimes
enter your name in the search box or call your previous supervisors to confirm what you’ve written.
 Is it free of typos and grammatical mistakes? These embarrassing blunders reflect poor
communication skills and lack of attention to detail. Don’t give the impression that you don’t possess
these basic qualities every consultant must have.
 Is the text legible? Don’t use a small font size to accommodate everything on one page, but don’t
make it too large because then it occupies too much space. Fancy fonts are highly discouraged. Arial,
Tahoma, Times New Roman, Calibri, and other conventional font styles are recommended.
 Does it have the correct margins? The white space around the text and in between categories
makes your document reader-friendly.
 Is the length sufficient? One page is ideal, two is acceptable, but anything more than that is too
long.


15

Common resume mistakes
One-size-fits-all
approach

Some resumes end up in the trash because applicants do not consider this as a
critical step or they find it too troublesome to follow the aforementioned
guidelines. As a result, they end up preparing an updated, generic resume they
can readily print whenever they send out an application. Is this a good idea? Yes
and no. Yes, to having an updated, generic resume ready in your hard drive
because it can serve as your main reference source each time you tailor your
resume to fit the firm you apply to. No, to the one-size-fits-all approach because
your application will always have an impersonal tone and therefore won’t catch
the recruiter’s attention.

Misrepresentation
of competencies

Another common mistake is misrepresenting oneself. True, you must project your
best self in your resume, but it doesn’t mean you can make up stories in order to
be noticed. If you do, you are fabricating information, a violation against honesty
and integrity. Even if you are successful in the preliminary screening, your
capabilities will still be evaluated during the interview. If you fail to prove you
possess the abilities you say you do, you will be rejected and you will realize that
you have wasted your and the recruiter’s time and effort.


16

The waiting time
Even if you follow all the guidelines in this post, there is still a probability that you might not be invited
to interview. Unfortunately, it’s a sad reality that there’s an abundance of applicants in this industry. You
are competing against candidates as qualified as you, so after sending out your job application, you may
want to:

Interview Practice

Start practicing for fit and case interviews. These are tough recruitment tools
which you better prepare for.

Networking

Network with people who can possibly give you a status report about your
application. It’s helpful to stay in touch with someone who can follow up for
you.

Other Options

Continue looking for other career opportunities. As long as you don’t have a
signed contract in your hand, you have to keep looking.

Resume Buildup

Take on other jobs to build up your resume. If you think your lack of experience
is the reason why other applicants are ahead of you, consider positions that can
prepare you for a management consulting career.

Remember to always be proactive in your application. Nobody said that breaking into this industry is an
easy venture. Just take things one step at a time and you will get there one day.


17

Free Guide: Learn How to Break Into Consulting

Do you want to break into consulting? Download our free PDF guide, which
will show you the necessary steps and best practices on how to prepare.

1

2

3

Consulting Interview Process: Get an overview of the
application and interview process when applying to
management consulting firms. Receive tips on how to write
your cover letter and resume and get prepared for the
written tests and interviews once you get there.
Interview Preparation: Learn what you need to practice to
receive an offer from one of the top-tier consulting firms.
See our step-by-step framework to case study solving, learn
how to develop your own frameworks and get mental math
tips.
Case Study Example: Know what to expect from a case
study interview round. Read a real-life case study interview,
which includes a variety of topics. See the practical
application of the step-by-step framework to case study
solving.

Management Consulting Resume Sample

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