Five Things to Remember in a Consulting Cover Letter
Before the management consulting recruiter allows you to take the tests and appear for interviews, he or she would read your cover letter first and answer the reject-or-process question. To get through this step, read this article and learn five tips you must keep in mind while writing one.
As an aspiring applicant, you wouldn’t want your application to be discarded right away. To prevent this from happening, the very first step is for you to write and proofread an excellent management consulting cover letter. As a vital marketing tool, it summarizes your suitability for a job in a one-page personalized document. To guide you in the process, enumerated below are five tips you should remember during cover letter preparation.
Tip 1: Writing Complete and Accurate Contact Information
Your application letter may be easily detached from your well-written consulting resume. Hence, it should include your complete name, home address, mobile and landline numbers, email address and other contact information for the recruiter or hiring manager to be able to contact you even without referring to your resume. If you want to get a call from the management consulting firm, be sure to include this information.
Tip 2: Addressing the Letter to the Right Person
Take one more step further and figure out who the letter should be addressed to. It would be better to write the name of the Human Resources (HR) Manager since its the HR Department that conducts the preliminary screening. Using the the general salutation, “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Sir/Madam” is too trite and will therefore not distinguish you from the rest. If you have the exact name, it will give the impression that you are truly interested in the company and this may push you on top of the others.
Tip 3: Making the First Paragraph Attention-Grabbing
The first paragraph of your management consulting cover letter sets the recruiter’s mood. If you can get hold of his or her attention, he or she will most likely finish reading the entire document. You can begin by describing how you stumbled upon the job advertisement. If you were referred by somebody from the company, you can state it in this part. End it with a sentence that describes why you are the perfect match for this position.
Tip 4: Elaborating Relevant Skills and Qualifications
In the next two paragraphs, you can highlight your core competencies for the position. Do you have previous work experience that will support your application for Deloitte? What are your skills, abilities, interests, trainings and certifications that will prove you have the best qualifications for a BCG position? Elaborate them in a way that seems beneficial for the management consulting firm. Provide a link between your qualifications and the requirements for the position.
Tip 5: Ending the Letter Smartly
There are a few things you can state towards the end of the letter. You can thank them for considering you for the position or you can reiterate your interest to be a part of the management consulting company. You can say you are willing to provide references, certifications, recommendation letters and other details should it be necessary. You can also ask for an interview to be able to prove your worth. Here’s an article on what answers to give to some experiential fit interview questions.
Finally, use a formal closing such as ‘Sincerely,’ ‘Respectfully’ and “Kind regards.” Don’t forget to sign the letter if you’re sending a hard copy of your application.
The cover letter is a printed reference that recruiters look into when screening applicants.