Cover Letter Detail - Citing an article

Question

I am currently in the process of writing out a cover letter which I aim to send to an MBB firm. A piece of advice I have gotten from multiple consultants is to do my due diligence when it comes to the cover letter. Specifically, they explain that I should identify why that particular firm interests me. It is with this part that I am having a bit of difficulty, as I find it hard to really differentiate the three MBB firms.

A suggestion for this process was to find an article written by a consultant from one of these firms that catches my eye. I was wondering if there was more information on this particular detail:

1) Where could I find these articles? My primary resource has been LinkedIn and I haven't found an abundance of articles on there. I've seen articles on their websites, but I was wondering if there was a better source for such articles.
2) If I prompt an article, how much detail should/could I give in the cover letter. I'd like to keep the cover letter quite short and to-the-point, so would it suffice to just mention my reading and enjoying the article? Or is there maybe a good systematic way to approach this?
3) I'd also appreciate any other advice concerning showing my interest for a particular firm, instead of being broad and expressing my interest for MBB in general. I have already gathered a couple of reasons that are personal to me, but I'd really appreciate some inspiration.

Thank you, and have a great day guys!
E.

Answer 1

Hi,

To be honest - nobody is really reading your cover letter. However, answering your questions:

1) MBB websites have tons of articles

2) As briefly as possible

3) It should be your personal research since the reasons may vary in different geographies. Here are some ideas of what you can use to structure your thoughts:

You can start with general facts about the local office. Something like “Sidney office is the fastest growing McKinsey office worldwide.”
If you have an interest in a particular industry or client this may also be a great reason. For example, McK can be the only consulting firm working with airlines in your region.
You may address the different Global opportunities and office initiatives. E.g. international staffing can be a good opportunity to learn about business in a particular country
Try to combine professional and Non-business rational. If you have friends working in that company, don’t forget to mention them and what you’ve learned from their experience.
You may use your other personal experiences like working with this McKinsey, it's deliverables or as it's client
You can provide your personal experience of working with McKinsey Alums

Good luck!