CV support

Hi there,

With a PhD and several years of experience you absolutely have a strong profile for MBB, but CV screening is very unforgiving – especially in London where competition is intense. A few suggestions:

1. Consulting-style CV: MBB CVs are different from academic or industry ones. They want a one-page, impact-driven document that highlights results, not just responsibilities. Use quantified achievements (e.g. “Led X-person project, delivered Y% improvement in Z metric”).
2. Transferable skills: Show evidence of problem-solving, leadership, teamwork, and communication. For PhDs, emphasize where you applied analytical rigor to solve complex problems, simplified technical insights for non-experts, or managed cross-functional collaborations.
3. Formatting & structure: Keep it clean and standardized: Education, Professional Experience, Leadership/Extra-curricular, Skills. MBB reviewers often skim in 30 seconds – clarity matters more than length.
4. Referrals are not enough: An internal referral may push your CV into review but won’t guarantee passage if the document doesn’t hit the consulting markers. It’s worth investing time to rewrite it in the right style.
5. Targeted feedback: Get a experienced coach to review your CV. The difference between an academic-style CV and a consulting-ready CV is often why strong candidates get filtered out.

If you’d like, I can help you reframe your CV into the MBB format so it can significantly improve probability it passes screening.

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

Vasilis

Hi Sunny,

Q: I found it very difficult to make my CV pass through the screening, honestly just failed the BCG screening even with internal refer, any suggestions?

It’s difficult to comment without having a look at the CV. Possible options are:

• Free alternative: Look for good CV templates and improve your current version.
• Paid alternative: Look for a coach here and ask if they can help improve the CV.

As general tips, I would recommend the following:

1. Use action verbs to describe experiences (e.g., “Led…,” “Analyzed…”) and follow an Action → Results structure.
2. Quantify results. If it’s challenging to define numbers, use the number of countries/clients or forecasted results.
3. Show experience related to leadership or teamwork. Many candidates highlight problem-solving and drive to achieve results but lack examples of working in a team.

BONUS: Show relevant extracurricular activities and interests. They make the profile more interesting and might help demonstrate leadership skills as well.

You can find additional tips at the link below:

How to Get a Consulting Interview Invitation

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi Sunny,

People have already given great answers, adding my two cents:
- Keep it to one page. The applications are likely being skimmed

- Include the keywords and quantify your results

- Don't discount non-working experience, especially if you are able to quantify your results and highlight leadership, problem-solving, and teamwork (You can check McKinsey's PEI structure for the kind of 'soft skills' MBBs generally look for, which you may want to touch on in your Resume/CL)

- Play to your strengths - if you are applying for an industry-specific role with your academic experience, highlight this and what you can bring to the table that few others can

Additionally, it's generally been a tougher job market out there the last couple of years. Don't be discouraged. For context, an internal referral may only add a few 'points' to your application and not necessarily line you up for an interview, especially if there are less positions available. If your referrer is able to follow up internally, I would recommend reaching out to them.

Feel free to reach out as well, happy to help!

Hi Sunny,

Breaking into MBB is very competitive, and having a PhD plus work experience definitely gives you strong potential – but the CV for consulting applications needs to follow a very specific “consulting style” to get past screening. Even with a referral, if the CV doesn’t meet the expected format and highlight the right skills, it can get rejected. Here are some concrete steps you can take:

1. Consulting CV format

• Keep it strictly one page (London office is very strict on this).
• Use a clear structure: Education, Professional Experience, and Selected Achievements / Extracurriculars.
• Each bullet point should start with a strong action verb (e.g., “Led”, “Developed”, “Designed”, “Quantified”).
• Quantify results wherever possible (e.g., “Improved process efficiency by 20%”, “Managed $2M budget”, “Supervised 3 analysts”). Numbers and impact are critical.

2. Translate PhD/academic experience into consulting language

• Show problem-solving, analytical rigor, and leadership – not just technical detail.
• For example, instead of “Researched advanced materials for 4 years,” write “Led 3-year project designing advanced materials, managing €500k funding, coordinating 5 researchers, and publishing 3 papers in top-tier journals.”
• Highlight collaboration, cross-functional work, and influencing non-experts – these are directly relevant to consulting.

3. Position professional experience correctly

• If you’ve worked in industry, emphasize transferable skills: strategy, analytics, client-facing work, leading teams, delivering results.
• Avoid too much detail about technical processes unless they link clearly to business impact.

4. Tailor for MBB

• CV should show evidence of the three things MBB looks for:
  a) Leadership (initiatives, teaching, mentoring, leading projects/teams).
  b) Impact (clear results, efficiency gains, cost savings, recognition).
  c) Analytical horsepower (solving complex problems, dealing with ambiguity, quant-heavy achievements).
• Even extracurriculars should reflect leadership/impact – e.g., volunteering, organizing events, or mentoring.

5. Get external eyes on it

• Having someone experienced in consulting CVs review your draft can make a huge difference – sometimes it’s just about reframing existing achievements.
• Consider reaching out to current MBB consultants, coaches, or alumni from your PhD program who broke into consulting.

6. Next steps if you’ve already been rejected

• BCG London is strict, but rejection there doesn’t close the door – you can still apply to McKinsey and Bain, and also explore other strong firms (EY-Parthenon, Oliver Wyman, Roland Berger, LEK, Strategy&, etc.) that have strong London offices.
• If you want to reapply to BCG, you’ll typically need to wait 12–18 months, so it’s worth strengthening your profile in the meantime.

Action plan for you

• Rework your CV into strict consulting format (1 page, quantified impact, leadership focus).
• Get at least 1–2 rounds of feedback from people familiar with MBB recruiting.
• Apply to McKinsey and Bain London, as well as Tier-2 firms, while leveraging your referral network.

A referral helps get a CV looked at, but only a consulting-style CV gets it through. Once you fix the format and highlight your impact, your profile (PhD + experience) will be compelling.

Happy to help you draft it – feel free to reach out.

Best,

Evelina

Why PhDs often get screened out

• Too academic → reads like a research CV, not business-ready.
• Too descriptive → “what you did” instead of “what impact it had.”
• Not business-translatable → consulting teams need to immediately see transferable skills: problem-solving, leadership, quant impact.

What to fix

1. Optics (the hygiene factors)

• 1 page only (even with a PhD + work exp).
• Consistent, clean font & spacing.
• Legible sectioning (Education, Professional Experience, Leadership/Other).

2. Content: Every bullet must be:

• Structured → Action verb + what you did + quantified result/impact.
• Quantified → % improvement, $ saved, # people led, # analyses run.
• Concise → remove filler (“responsible for”, “helped with”).
• Achievements-focused → highlight results, not duties.
   

3. Relevancy

• Translate PhD into business terms:
   
  • “Designed experiment” → “Structured & led research project with X stakeholders.”
  • “Published paper” → “Produced deliverable recognized by top-tier journal (top 1% citations).”
  • “Data analysis” → “Built statistical model analyzing X data points; improved Y by Z%.”
     
• Show consulting traits: leadership, teamwork, client-facing exposure, analytical rigor, drive.
• If you’ve worked a few years: emphasize transferable business results (cost reduction, revenue growth, efficiency).

Quick fixes that often make the difference

• Start with consulting-ready verbs: led, analyzed, structured, drove, delivered.
• Every bullet should pass the “so what?” test — if there’s no clear impact, cut it.
• Awards, scholarships, leadership → highlight them at the bottom (they carry weight for MBB).

If you want, I can take a sample bullet from your current CV and rewrite it into an MBB-ready line, so you see the difference in style. Would you like me to do that?

Hi Sunny, thanks for sharing your situation. This is a very common challenge, even for strong profiles with advanced degrees and referrals. A PhD plus work experience is a strong foundation, but the consulting CV has its own rules that are quite different from academic or industry CVs.

1. Understand what MBB is looking for
Consulting recruiters screen for three things in seconds:

• Academic excellence (clear markers such as top grades, scholarships, publications where relevant)
• Demonstrated leadership and impact (projects, teams, initiatives where you drove change)
• Analytical and problem-solving ability (evidence you structured and solved complex problems, ideally with measurable results)

2. Tailor the CV to “consulting language”
Your achievements need to be framed in a way that matches how consultants think:

• Start each bullet with a strong action verb (e.g., led, developed, delivered, increased)
• Quantify outcomes wherever possible (percentages, savings, revenue impact, time reduction)
• Emphasize transferable skills: problem structuring, stakeholder management, data analysis, and communication

3. Be selective and concise
Unlike academic CVs, more is not better. Stick to one page, focus on what differentiates you, and cut details that don’t highlight measurable impact.

4. Do a benchmark check
Compare your CV against examples of successful MBB CVs. Often the gap is not your achievements themselves, but how they are framed and prioritized.

5. Get external feedback
It is very hard to evaluate your own CV objectively, especially when moving from academia or industry into consulting. Even with a referral, if the document does not speak the recruiter’s language, it will not pass screening.

I would be happy to review your CV in detail, help reframe your bullets into consulting language, and ensure it stands out in the London office screening process. If you like, we can set up a session together. Best of luck!

Sunny, 

This is a common problem. About 2-3% of the CV's that I see are ready to be sent out. The majority don't make the most of their potential. I would recommend you get a professional CV review. Feel free to reach out and I can explain how I do this typically with my candidates.

The other things to consider to increase the chances of your application passing screening are the cover letter and the referrals. 

Sharing below a couple of resources ot get you started on this:

• Expert Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy
• Expert Guide: How To Handle Networking Calls and Get Referrals

Best,
Cristian

Hey Sunny :)

With a PhD and work experience you definitely have the background for MBB, so it’s usually not about “hard filters” but how the CV is presented. Consulting CVs are very different from academic or industry ones: they need to be one page, super concise, and highlight impact with numbers. For example, instead of “worked on X project,” you’d want “led Y analysis that resulted in Z outcome (quantified).” Recruiters skim in seconds, so clarity and measurable achievements matter more than detail.

If you just got rejected at BCG, it doesn’t mean your profile isn’t good enough, it just means the CV needs sharpening. My advice: focus on making each bullet result-driven, structured around leadership, problem-solving, and analytical skills. Tailor the wording to consulting language.

If you want, I’m happy to take a look together and give you feedback. Sometimes a few tweaks make all the difference.

best,
Alessa :)