New Ebook for Consulting Resumes and Cover Letters
To say that the number of inquiries we get about how to write winning consulting applications is numerous is an understatement. As top-tier consulting companies immediately reject poorly constructed applications, many aspiring consultants are trying to unearth the best possible ways to impress their prospective firms.
Your resume and cover letter are undeniably the most significant and potentially lucrative tools you can use to market yourself. If crafted well, they can open doors to numerous opportunities, including the one that leads to your much anticipated interview. Recruiters use your consulting application as the main basis for making decisions during preliminary screening. Your resume and cover letter will determine if you make it through the first round of candidate selection.
The successful applicant who can present his or her work and educational experiences in a clear and interesting way will likely move on to the next round of screening. The importance of a well-written resume and cover letter is inestimable. Below are some reasons why you need to submit a winning consulting application:
It Conveys Your Readiness for the Vacant Position
A well designed application will demonstrate to recruiters that you are the best person for the job. By effectively identifying your relevant educational achievements and highlighting your significant work experience and credentials, you will demonstrate your qualifications in a way that will impress your potential employer.
It Summarizes Your Knowledge, Skills, and Attitude
An effective management consulting application is concise yet comprehensive. A well-written resume contains necessary details about you and is structured in a simple and organized manner to facilitate easy reading. It clearly summarizes your major academic accomplishments, work expertise, core competencies, set of skills, and recognitions and awards. Remember, consulting firms only review your application for 30 to 60 seconds, especially if they are screening many other applications. Therefore, it is essential that you prove your value up front.
Your resume and cover letter can also reveal a lot about your character. The way you have prepared your application can reflect your personality. As your application automatically makes an impression to your prospective employer, you don’t want to hurt your candidacy by submitting a sloppy resume.
It Presents Your Accomplishments
Graduating from a prestigious university or previous experience at one of the world’s leading companies, together with a proven record of a strong performance and flawless analytical skills will surely make you a top candidate for any consulting firm. However, the challenge is how to present these achievements properly. A good application effectively showcases your attainments and other relevant skills such as strong social and leadership skills.
As many applicants vie for a single consulting position, recruiters will assemble their shortlist based on the knowledge, skills, and accomplishments stated in the candidates’ resumes. They are most likely to look at your educational and/or work-related achievements. An intelligently written application conveys the key accomplishments and responsibilities of a candidate.
It Explains Your Career Motivation
Knowing how to clearly convey your career motivation will take your application to the next level. If your resume exudes enthusiasm about working in the consulting industry, then your prospective firm will be highly encouraged to learn more about you. Nothing can beat genuine passion and gusto. Defining your goals is critical to landing a consulting job.
It Indicates Your Professionalism
How you communicate your qualifications in your application is also crucial. Your language usage can reflect your proficiencies. A professionally written resume uses industry standard language and is free from grammatical errors and misspelled words. Being meticulous about every detail in your application is an appealing characteristic. Top-tier consulting firms cater to the world’s most prominent businesses; they choose candidates who can expertly represent them.
The importance of an attractive and well-written management consulting application cannot be overstated. As reputable firms receive hundreds of responses for one vacancy, only the application which contains the most relevant information and is correctly structured will garner the recruiter’s attention.
Download Consulting Resume and Cover Letter Guide
The competition for management consulting positions is very tough. To help you sail through the process, we have written a new Management Consulting Resume and Cover Letter Guide that shows you, step-by-step, how to write a great application. Find out how to impress top-tier consulting firms such as McKinsey, Bain, BCG, and Booz through this helpful guide.