Advanced Professional Degree Candidate- Resume

Hi, thanks so much for your question. This is something that a lot of people wonder as they’re trying to come into consulting from a non-traditional background, including PhDs.
 

One thing I’d emphasize is that whether you’re a PhD candidate or another type of experienced hire, it’s less about positioning “business” experience versus research experience, and more about clearly demonstrating the core characteristics of a consultant. Firms are looking for strong problem-solving skills, leadership, teamwork, adaptability, comfort with ambiguity, and clear communication. Those are the things your resume should consistently signal.

It’s also really important to focus on impact rather than tasks. Instead of listing what you did, highlight what changed because of your work—things like efficiency improvements, decisions influenced, or outcomes achieved. This applies just as much to academic work as it does to industry or business settings.

From what you mentioned, your involvement in entrepreneurship and VC-related clubs is especially relevant. If you’ve held leadership roles, driven initiatives, or helped move projects forward, that’s absolutely worth highlighting. Strong academic performance, recognizable organizations (including pharma or Fortune 500 companies), and any brand-name institutions you’ve worked with can also help move the needle when it comes to getting interviews, particularly at MBB.

I hope this helps! Happy to talk more if useful.

Your concern is completely valid. Translating deep academic experience into the concise, impact-focused language required by MBB screeners is the single biggest hurdle for Advanced Professional Degree candidates. The reality is that the screener is often looking for proof of project management and commercial judgment, not just scientific excellence.

Forget treating this like an academic CV. Your resume needs to prove you are a sophisticated project manager who happens to have a PhD, not a researcher trying to pivot. The essential balance is this: your PhD section needs to demonstrate rigor (the complexity you manage and how you structure solutions), while your pharma, VC, and entrepreneurship work needs to demonstrate relevance (commercial instinct and stakeholder management). Do not bury the business activities—make them incredibly prominent to immediately counter the "deep scientist" stereotype.

For your research bullet points, be ruthless about cutting jargon. The formula you must follow is: Challenge, Action, Impact. Instead of listing methodology, focus on outcomes quantified by funding secured, IP filed, size of the budget managed, or the number of cross-functional stakeholders (professors, PIs, industry partners) you coordinated to achieve a goal. Your VC/commercialization experience is your secret weapon; ensure those roles highlight collaboration, quick decision-making under uncertainty, and clear communication to non-technical audiences.

All the best!

Hey there, 

Great question and first of all, you’re actually a very attractive profile for consulting.

1) PhDs are genuinely valued in consulting
Consulting firms actively look for people with diverse, non-business backgrounds, and PhDs are very welcome, especially in technical or scientific fields. Your expertise gives you instant credibility on projects related to your domain and firms value that a lot.

2) Don’t “over-business” your CV
Your CV should reflect the reality of your experience. There’s no need to artificially overemphasize business elements unless they were a core part of your work. Strong academic and research experience is absolutely fine and expected for a PhD candidate.

3) Translate your experience into transferable consulting skills
What matters most is showing how you work and what impact it generated:

• Analytical & problem-solving skills (how you approached complex problems)
• Drive & ownership (initiatives you pushed forward)
• Leadership & collaboration (teams you led or influenced)
• Impact (what changed because of your work)

Where possible, quantify this with data points, e.g. size of teams managed, funding raised, projects delivered, stakeholders involved, adoption rates, or efficiency improvements etc. you name it

4) Don’t underestimate extracurriculars
Extracurricular activities matter more than you may think. Volunteering, competitive sports, music, or other achievements all signal commitment, discipline, and excellence, all qualities firms like MBB care about.

5) Include grades (yes, even earlier ones)
Especially for MBB, academic performance still matters. Make sure to include grades all the way back to high school and things like scholarships 

If you’d like, I’m happy to review your CV with you or talk through how to position it best for consulting applications.

Hope this helps :) 

Yes. I've actually worked with multiple candidates going from a PhD into consulting (and working with a few at the moment as well, including from medicine and chemistry). 

You're right about screening being the critical step. 

Basically, you need to demonstrate that even though professionally you've been on a different track you have the sort of skills that are valuable in consulting (and you show this by highlighting examples in your CV when you did consulting like work) and that you've had a long-term interest in consulting (which you best demonstrate through membership in a consulting society or by having done consulting interships or even pro bono work in the past). 

Feel free to reach out directly if you have any questions. You might also find this guide useful when you're building your application. 

• • Expert Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy

Best,
Cristian

Hi there,

PhD candidates regularly break into consulting and the key is positioning rather than finding a perfect template. Your resume should translate your research into business relevant impact, problem solving, leadership, and results, not technical depth. Highlight commercialization work, entrepreneurship or VC involvement, and any situations where you influenced decisions, worked cross functionally, or drove outcomes. Your pharma internships are very relevant and should be framed with a consulting lens. It’s fine to show you’re a strong researcher, but the emphasis should be on skills and experiences that explain why consulting is the logical next step.

Beyond the resume, referrals and networking matter a lot for MBB, especially for advanced degree candidates, so speaking with consultants and clearly articulating your story will significantly improve interview chances.

Happy to help you prep, feel free to reach out.

Best,
Evelina

Hey there,

for PhD candidates like you, the key is showing both analytical depth and business impact. On your resume, highlight research results briefly but focus on skills that translate to consulting: problem solving, data analysis, leading projects, influencing others, and any commercialization or entrepreneurship work. Use clear metrics where possible, e.g., “led a team of 4 to commercialize X, resulting in Y outcome.” Keep the business/impact experiences visible alongside your PhD work, don’t bury them. Friends who got into MBB often tailor their resume so the first half screams “business-ready problem solver” while the second half supports it with technical depth. Networking with consultants, targeting your applications, and reaching out for informational interviews can significantly improve interview chances.

best, Alessa :)