Mr. Russ Hagey, the chief talent officer of Bain, told the Wall Street Journal that his firm rewards candidates who can demonstrate logical thinking, articulate their ideas, and collaborate with colleagues.  Evidently, these three qualities are essential to applying good judgment to every business scenario.

When You Are Interviewed

If you are invited to sit for a Bain case interview, it means you have been shortlisted; you are one among  thousands of candidates who apply to the management consulting firm each year who passed the following preliminary criteria:

• Possesses a strong and consistent academic background;
• Demonstrates team skills;
• Submitted an effective cover letter;
• Involved with extracurricular activities outside academics;
• Has creative ability; and
• Earned awards and recognition.

What Bain Expects

During the Bain case interview, you are expected to formulate, present, and discuss your recommendations for solving real-life business challenges. The interviewer will provide PowerPoint slides containing relevant information for your analysis. After approximately one hour, a 40 minute discussion will follow. The interviewer may question your assumptions and interpretations in order to assess your logic, communication skills, and ability to handle a real client situation.

Interviewers expect you to possess excellent problem solving skills. They look for the following competencies in your answer:

• Understand the problem and break it into component parts;
• Ask valuable questions for clarification and/or to confirm the data; and
• Think outside the box for innovative, practical, and actionable solutions.

How to Prepare

Even without industry experience, you can still ace a Bain case interview—how you analyze the problem is given more emphasis than what you already know. However, this doesn’t mean you can show up without serious preparation. The competition in this industry is intense; make the most of this opportunity to prove that you have what it takes to be a consultant. Below are some preparation tips:

Remember that no two Bain case interviews are alike. If the case presented to you is unfamiliar despite your extensive practice, don’t panic. Focus and give it your best shot.

Learn More

Download this management consulting guide for more techniques on how to ace a Bain case interview. It explains the three types of questions that may be presented to you. Tips on how to analyze each question and project yourself confidently are also provided. It also includes an interview script that illustrates how to present your answer in a clear and comprehensive manner.

References

• How to Win a Job at Bain & Co
• Bain’s Recruiting Process
• Bain Interview Preparation
• How to Ace the Case Interview

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.

If you ace the case during the interview, you’ve proven that you’re capable of analyzing and resolving a business dilemma in a reasonable manner. There’s actually no correct answer for the case; what’s essential is using logic in generating recommendations for the problem.

Practice Resolving Business Cases

A great deal of preparation is necessary to ace the case, which includes the following:

Understand the Problem Carefully

When the interviewer presents the case, listen to him or her attentively. If necessary, take down notes, paraphrase statements to validate your understanding, and ask probing questions for more details. Absorb the problem carefully; otherwise, your reasoning on how you arrived at the answer won’t make any sense. Don’t assume you have reviewed the same case during your preparation; the moment you become too certain is when you overlook important details.

Think Aloud

Don’t keep your thoughts to yourself. When you analyze the problem and come up with assumptions, discuss how you generated your statements, reasons for rejecting an idea, and recommendations for solving the problem. Thinking aloud is an excellent way to demonstrate your potential as a consultant because the interviewer can measure your problem solving, communication, and organization skills.

Watch Your Nonverbal Cues

Interviewers don’t only assess your cognitive processes; they also observe your confidence and grace under pressure. It’s vital that you maintain an upright posture, make eye contact, and use body gestures that communicate professionalism. Tapping your fingers or feet, playing with your hair, and cold facial expressions convey uneasiness, insincerity, and a lack of sociability. Be mindful of how you behave in front of the interviewer; your demeanor is crucial because you’ll be dealing with clients once you become a professional consultant. Sending the wrong signals will make the interviewers conclude that you won’t be able to competently represent the firm.

Believe that You Can Ace the Case

Sometimes, all it takes is the right mindset to ace the case. If you believe you can nail the interview, you will be more confident and do everything right. If you have apprehensions, chances are you will feel terrified and get lost in the process. When you have faith in yourself, you’ll stay calm, enjoy the process, and learn from your experience.

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If you’re an Asian student or experienced working professional who aims to break into management consulting, there’s no need to travel to the USA to apply for a position. Most top tier firms have satellite offices in major cities in the region, and some consultants have established their own organizations.

We compiled a list of the top 33 management consulting firms in Asia to help you research the firm that matches your interests, personality, or goals. We encourage you to click the link beside each firm to view their website and read their profile, objectives, and services before you finalize your career plans. This article also features three firms that originated in Asia.

ABeam Consulting

ABeam Consulting, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, currently has 4,200 employees throughout its offices in Asia, Europe, and America. Its three main services include business consulting, enterprise application, and outsourcing. It has worked with a variety of industries including banking, securities, high technology, and transportation.

Avalon Consulting

Avalon Consulting, set up in 1989, is one of the three entities of Avalon Group. It currently has offices in Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai and also serves clients in Asia, Europe, the Middle-East, and the USA. Its three main practice areas are strategy, transformation, and innovation and its fields of expertise include agribusiness, education, and metals, among others.

Tata Consultancy Services

Tata Consultancy Services is an Indian firm that offers IT, business consulting, and outsourcing services. It’s currently headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India with more than 200 thousand employees across 183 offices in 43 countries. Consulting services include information risk management, program management, and business process. Its consultants have worked for numerous industries such as manufacturing, insurance, and financial services.

Other Consulting Firms in Asia

The other consulting firms in Asia are listed in the table below:

Vault’s Ranking

The results of a Vault.com survey state that since 2012, McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Booz, and AT Kearney have remained the best consulting firms in Asia based on prestige. For specific categories see the table below.

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Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has been recognized as one of the most prominent consulting firms in the world. Its prestige places it, along with McKinsey and Bain, in what’s known as the “Big Three” of the industry. Currently it has approximately 78 offices located in 43 countries across the world.

The firm recruits exceptional graduates and working professionals to join their team. They visit colleges and universities to find passionate individuals who are capable of developing recommendations after thoroughly analyzing a business case. Recruiters employ various tools for screening applicants, but the first document they check is your BCG cover letter.

If you’re in the process of crafting an impressive cover letter, here are some pointers to follow:

Research and Network

In order to write a letter that creates value to BCG, research the firm and network with people who are or were connected with the firm. The information you learn from the firm’s website, books, magazines, and employees will guide you in finalizing the content of your letter. A letter will only pique the interest of the recruiter if it’s customized to the company’s direction, goals. and needs.

Think of a Structure

Before you turn on your computer and start typing, think about how you will structure your BCG cover letter. To simplify things, follow this outline:

A cover letter must only contain relevant information. Remember, BCG receives numerous applications each year. Recruiters only have a short time to review your document so it must expertly convey your qualifications.

Namedrop

Mentioning the name of a key person in the management consulting firm or industry can make your cover letter unique. However, when you do this, explain how your encounter with the consultant has convinced you to pursue a career at BCG. Were you motivated by his or her description of the company’s culture and goals? Are you interested in the challenging working environment? Recruiters are interested in this type of information.

Explain Issues

If your work history listed on your resume has noticeable gaps, or if you are shifting careers, you should explain these issues in your BCG cover letter. Recruiters might question why you stopped working for a couple of years or why you decided to leave sales and pursue a career in management consulting. Your explanation will help recruiters understand where you came from and how you can contribute to their goals. Everything must be clear from the beginning; otherwise, you could be instantly rejected for the opening.

Proofread Your Letter

Review your cover letter a few times before you send it to BCG. Make sure the content is relevant, interesting, and substantial. Furthermore, it must be free from spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors. Mistakes give recruiters the impression that you are not meticulous with details and/or you have poor communication skills. If you want objective feedback about your BCG cover letter, ask a friend for help or contact an expert.

You’ll need a well-crafted job application whether you’re seeking for a position as a teacher, engineer, or receptionist. The cover letter is a very useful document for this. You’ll have a far better chance of finding your dream job if you include a professional cover letter with your CV.

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When you are called for a management consulting fit interview, that means your application stood out above other candidates. If you are fortunate enough to be in this situation, get ready for the next challenge by preparing answers to the behavioral questions we listed below.

In management consulting case interviews, recruiters assess your capability to think in a logical way. They give you questions on actual business problems, brain teasers and estimation questions to figure out how technically prepared you are. During fit interviews, they assess if you:

• Are emotionally ready to take the position
• Have a personality that matches with their corporate culture
• Can handle the work-related pressure
• Can deal with colleagues smoothly
• Have the right motivation

We never know what questions you will get. So to help you in the best way we can, we listed the main areas that management consulting recruiters usually deep dive into and enumerated at least five possible questions under each category. Try to practice your answers to develop your confidence for the actual interview.

Personal Qualities and Background

• Tell me something about yourself.
• What inspired you to pursue a consulting career?
• Why do you want to work in this consulting firm?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• How prepared are you for a management consulting position in our firm?

Decision Making

• What was the most challenging or most difficult decision you’ve ever made? Tell me the details about it.
• How do you come up with a decision? Do you prefer to consult other people or do you want to decide on your own? Why?
• Think about an experience when you had to choose from several options. How did you come up with your final decision?
• What will you do if you need to decide on something that’s beyond your technical knowledge or area of responsibility within a limited amount of time?
• Before you went to university, what programs were you considering? What made you decide to pursue your degree?

Communication

• How should management consultants communicate effectively?
• Tell me an incident when your boss wasn’t convinced with your proposal or idea. How did you explain your side?
• Share an experience when you received a negative feedback about your work output. How did you manage it?
• Recall an experience when you needed to develop and present an idea in front of a large or small group. How would you rate your presentation skills that time?
• What was the most challenging report you’ve ever written? How did you accomplish it?

Interpersonal Skills

• How did you relate with your colleagues and supervisors on your first day at work in your previous job? (How did you relate with the club members and officers during the first club activity you’ve joined?)
• Tell me about a time when you had to coordinate with someone whom you were not comfortable? How did you manage it?
• How do you deal with different personalities?
• In which situation are you more productive or effective: working on your own or working on a team?
• When you’re working with your close friends, what guidelines do you follow to maintain objectivity and professionalism?

Other Areas

• (Time Management) How will you maintain work-life balance when your job requires you to work for 60 to 80 hours per week?
• (Commitment) Tell me about community involvement project in which you volunteered. What was your role in the team?
• (Stress Management) What do you usually do when you’re frustrated, anxious or under stress?  Illustrate your answer with an experience.
• (Productivity) If you get the management consulting job, what possible factors will pull your productivity level down?
• (Organizational Skill) How do you usually organize a project to ensure success at the end of the day? Cite an experience.

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Shortlisted McKinsey applicants undergo two types of interviews: experience and case interviews. In the former, your work history, education, and skills are assessed, and in the latter you will be given a business case to resolve within a limited period of time.

What the Interview is Used For

The McKinsey case interview is a tool to measure your capability to analyze a problem, break down complex components, and generate sound recommendations for a client. Most of the problems presented are actual cases that have been handled by professional consultants. The interviewers don’t expect you to provide accurate answers; they evaluate your thought processes and ability to communicate ideas in a stressful situation—attributes that are essential in the everyday life of a McKinsey consultant.

Practice

McKinsey has provided a few cases on their website for applicants to review. To ace the McKinsey case interview, take note of the following:

Case Frameworks

In order to structure your ideas logically for the McKinsey case interview, you should master various consulting frameworks which consist of detailed steps to guide you in approaching the problem. Three of the firm’s classic frameworks include:

When you practice resolving cases, apply various frameworks. The more frameworks you master, the easier it will be to identify the appropriate structure to use for a specific problem. However, during the actual interview, make sure you listen carefully to the presented business dilemma and don’t immediately relate the problem to a framework you have practiced; otherwise you will overlook essential details.

References

• McKinsey Classic Frameworks

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Although Booz doesn’t belong to MBB, it has established itself as a reputable organization in the management consulting industry. In fact, some people would add another B to the acronym to include Booz with the Big Three.

The history of Booz dates back to 1914 when founder Edwin Booz began researching and solving problems for several clients in Chicago. He believed that organizations would improve their performance if they incorporated objective recommendations from experts. Eventually, his theory developed into the practice of management consulting, and his company opened satellite offices in countries all over the world.

Get to Know Booz

To break into Booz, you should familiarize yourself with the firm’s goals, services, values, corporate culture, and industries. Your company knowledge will guide you in writing your job application and answering questions during job interviews. Here are some tips to apply during your research:

Write an Effective Job Application

Your consulting application plays a vital role in your dream to break into Booz. Your cover letter and resume summarize your qualifications and motivation for the management consulting position. These marketing tools serve as recruiters’ basis for deciding whether or not you should be on the interview shortlist. Therefore, make sure that you include your experience, quantified accomplishments, and other relevant information in a comprehensive manner.

Prepare for Case Interviews

Candidates who break into Booz do well during case interviews, an instrument used to assess a candidate’s ability to think analytically and resolve problems logically. An applicant usually undergoes two rounds of interviews, with each round consisting of two 45 minute sessions. You will be presented with a business scenario based on projects Booz professionals have worked on. In order to crack the case, remember the following:

There’s no “correct” answer to the case. As long as you logically arrive at sensible conclusions, there’s a great possibility that you will break into Booz. Practice and enhance your consulting skills before the interview in order to feel prepared and confident during the interview.

Learn More

If you need more expert advice on how to break into Booz, see this management consulting ebook. It explains the qualities most top tier firms look for in applicants. These attributes should be your bases when crafting your job application. The guide also contains tips for acing pre-employment tests and case interviews. The three types of case questions you may encounter in the interview are also elaborated in the guide.

References

• Booz at Wikipedia
• Booz Website

If you are applying for a position at McKinsey, you will be competing with a large number of graduates and working professionals who are also interested in breaking into the firm. Therefore, you must be able to convince recruiters to invite you to an interview. This includes submitting a McKinsey cover letter that tells the story that you are a highly motivated and ambitious applicant with a great potential.

Remember, a resume only summarizes your skills and experience, but a cover letter tells the story about you: your career plans and the fit of consulting in these plans, your personality and your key accomplishments. You need to devote ample time to crafting your letter as it can help you stand out from the pool of highly qualified candidates.

Before Writing Your McKinsey Cover Letter

Before writing your McKinsey cover letter, you need to make a list of your qualifications and accomplishments that match the skills McKinsey seek in candidates. This will help you determine which information to include in the document. Use the table below for ideas and suggestions:

McKinsey Cover Letter Structure

The cover letter should contain three to five paragraphs and the information you present should be comprehensively written. If this document exceeds one page, recruiters will doubt your written communication skills, something all management consultants should possess.

Contact Information and Salutation

There’s only one thing you need to remember in this section: accuracy. Double check your contact information as the recruiters will use it to notify you about tests and interviews. Also, don’t forget to address the letter to the correct person and his or her position at the firm. Applicants often overlook these basic facts when writing cover letters. Committing these types of mistakes will hurt your application; recruiters will be disappointed that you omitted critical details.

Introduction

This section should be interesting enough to encourage the recruiters to read the rest of your McKinsey cover letter. It should contain your objectives, the specific job title you are interested in, and how you came across the opening. In order to convey your own voice, try the following strategies:

Here’s is an example of this section:

Here’s is another example:

Middle Paragraphs

Based on your list of qualifications, choose and highlight two or three skills or accomplishments that will push your application to the top of the pile. Select the ones that are most relevant to the position. If you are an experienced professional, focus on your quantitative achievements at your previous job. If you are a recent graduate, you can talk about your coursework, extracurricular activities, and internship program. The important thing is to establish a connection between the job and your competencies.

Here is an example of this section for experienced professionals:

Here is an example of this section for recent graduates:

In this section, you can also talk about your motivation for applying with the firm and personal interests. Make sure to present them in a manner that’s relevant to the desired position.

Closing Paragraph

The closing paragraph revolves around you as a person. Write about what you can contribute to the organization, your passion, personal values and skills. Finally, add one more sentence that indicates your high value. Avoid writing “If you have any questions about my application, please do not hesitate to contact me” as this creates no value. If recruiters find you suitable for the job, they will find a way to contact you.

Here’s an example of the closing paragraph:

Signature

It’s essential to close your McKinsey cover letter in a professional manner. You may use the following closing examples:

• Sincerely
• Best regards
• Respectfully
• Yours truly
• Most sincerely

Also, don’t forget to attach your signature in order to add sincerity to your McKinsey cover letter. If you’re uploading your letter on the Internet, consider creating a digital signature. Just sign a piece of clean, white paper, scan it, and crop the image down to the ideal size of your signature. This will help you stand out as a professional and technically-competent applicant.

Review Your Cover Letter

Before sending out your McKinsey cover letter, review its content and structure. If you know someone who is qualified and willing to check it for you, ask for his or her objective feedback. After reviewing the document, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is the content relevant and interesting enough to pique the interest of the recruiter?
• Does it convey the value I can contribute to the firm?
• Are my ideas or qualifications presented in a smooth and comprehensible manner?
• Does it look reader-friendly?
• Is it free from spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors?

If you answered “yes” to all of these questions, you can submit your McKinsey cover letter with your resume and other required documents.

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Like most companies, McKinsey & Company base their preliminary screening on the information they gather from the candidate’s resume. Hence, if you dream of breaking into this management consulting giant, make sure your McKinsey resume reflects your consulting capabilities.

What McKinsey Looks For

It has been stated on their website that the firm opts to hire candidates who are problem solvers, achievers, potential leaders, and capable of creating a personal impact on their clients. Fortunately, these qualities are categorized as soft skills, which implies that non-experienced applicants may actually have an edge as long as the four basic requirements are reflected in their activities and accomplishments.

Crafting Your McKinsey Resume

In general, the information you provide in your McKinsey resume should be divided into several sections. Determining what sections to include and how they should be arranged depends on your current career status. Remember the end goal—presenting your relevant qualifications in the most effective way.

Below, we have provided a McKinsey resume sample that you can use as a guide in crafting your document:

Personal Information

In this section, include the basic details McKinsey is interested in. These often include your name, complete home address, contact numbers, and email address. The tips below will help you exhibit your professionalism more effectively:

• Add the URL to your portfolio or website if you think it will reinforce your qualifications.
• Use a larger font for your name to facilitate the recruiter’s memory recall.
• Don’t attach your headshot unless stated as one of the job application requirements.
• Use a simple email address. Reserve your hilarious email addresses for your buddies.
• Double check your contact numbers to ensure they are accurate and functional.

Check out these examples:

Education

If you are a recent graduate, this section should follow your personal information. Your educational training at school will help recruiters assess how prepared you are for the consulting role. The knowledge you acquired from your professors and your involvement in various activities are the foundation of your future career.
Below are some ideas on which information to include:

• State your highest level of education first.
• Include the name of your university, your degree, the years you attended, and relevant coursework.
• Include your GPA; SAT, GMAT, or LSAT scores; and other standardized tests you’ve taken.
• List the awards or honors you received for your academic excellence or social involvement.
• If you have an impressive transcript, attach a copy so McKinsey may view it.

Take a look at this example:

Experienced candidates need not list educational details. You can simply include your degree and the name of your university as your work history will have greater significance for the screening committee.

Professional Experience

This section contains your previous position titles, role descriptions, and work-related achievements. It would be more effective if you emphasize the results and not the process in order to convey your tangible contribution to your previous employers. Apart from this, you may also describe any experience that will give the recruiter an idea of the value you can provide to the firm.  Here’s a good example:

Here’s another example for additional reference:

If you have undergone an internship program, you can describe it in this section of your McKinsey resume. Here’s an example:

Extracurricular Activities

If you are a recent graduate, you can also add a section for your extracurricular activities, especially if they indicate the qualities McKinsey looks for in applicants. However, if you already have professional experience, this section is unnecessary.
In this section of your McKinsey resume, you can highlight any of the following:

Here’s an example for this section:

Additional Skills and Interests

If you have other qualifications for the vacant position, include this section in your McKinsey resume. Examples for this section include:

Here’s an example for this section:

Keywords

Recruiters don’t always have much time to review your McKinsey resume. They receive so many applications for a single vacancy that they speed-read your document. Despite the short time they spend on your application, they still manage to shortlist applicants for testing or interviews. Those included on the list almost always submit a McKinsey resume that contains critical keywords.

You must know some words or phrases that will capture the attention of the recruiters. For example, analysis, business judgment, problem-solving, and leadership are five of the terms recruiters look for in your application. This, however, isn’t enough as each position requires a certain level of technical expertise. If you want to be a digital expert, include some online marketing and social media terms. If you aim to become a specialist in lean construction, include words such as contracting, procurement, design optimization, and industrial engineering. Read the job advertisement and research the position carefully in order to identify your own keywords.

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