Searching for an Internship Opportunity.

Hi there,

Q: Actively looking for a job in any consulting firm, but don't know how to go about it. I've sent my CV and letter application out to some companies last year, but no reply. I'm stuck in my career path please what can I do?

It seems there could be two issues in your current approach: you may either be applying to companies that don’t have openings for internships or your application material is missing something.

Assuming it is the second, you will need 3 things to maximize your chances to be invited for interviews: a great CV, a great Cover and a referral.

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1) CV

The key elements they will look for and that you should structure correctly are:

• Work experience
• Education (university brand, major, GPA, experience abroad)
• Extracurriculars and volunteer experience

Common red flags include:

• Low GPA
• Bad formatting / typos
• 3-4 pages in length
• Lack of clear action --> results structure for the bullets of the experiences
• Long paragraphs (3-4 lines) for the bullets of the experiences with irrelevant details
• Long time gaps without explanation

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2) COVER LETTER

You can structure a cover with 4 parts:

1. Introduction, mentioning the position you are interested in and a specific element you find attractive for that company
2. Why you are qualified for the job, where you can report 3 skills/stories from your CV
3. Why you are interested in that particular firm, with additional 1-2 specific reasons
4. Final remarks, mentioning again your interest and contacts

In part 2 you can write about experiences that show skills useful in consulting such as drive, problem-solving, leadership, teamwork and convincing others.

It is important that in part 3 you make your cover specific to a particular firm – the rule of thumb is, can you send the exact same cover to another consulting company if you change the name? If that’s the case, your cover is too generic.

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3) REFERRALS

This is probably the most important point. In your case, would be great to connect with current consultants with experience in the industries you worked in.

To find a referral, you should follow three main steps:

1. Identify the people that can help you (most of the time, the best bet is Alumni of your university)
2. Write to them a customized email
3. Have a call and indirectly ask for a referral

As general tips:

• Don’t use LinkedIn for your communication – emails work better. You should target 30% conversion for your messages; if you are not achieving that, there is space for improvement
• When sending emails, your goal should be to organize a call, not to ask questions – you can then use the call for the questions
• You need to close the call with an indirect request for a referral – don’t leave that to chances. There are specific ways to phrase it

You should prepare three main things before the call:

• Your own pitch. 3-4 lines should be enough
• 3-4 questions on the personal experiences of the person. Avoid to ask questions about the company
• A closing question for the referral. It should be an indirect request to avoid being too pushy

You can find more information on networking and referrals here:

▶ How to Get an MBB Invitation 

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BONUS: CASE INTERVIEW PREP

In terms of the interview itself, you can find some tips below:

▶ How to Prepare for a Consulting Interview

If you need more help please feel free to PM me.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi there,

You're submitted a few resumes to companies…

That's not enough!

You need to network, network, network. Apply to dozens and dozens of firms (not just “some”). Build up your resume and get as much experience as you can.

If you're stuck, consider hiring professional help to guide you in the journey (a coach)

Hello,

Happy to take a quick look at your CV and do a free introductory call to give you some direction! If needed, we could work together and I could coach you for your applications and interviews :)

Feel free to reach out to me via chat.

Best,

Rushabh 

Hi there,

• make a list of companies you are interested in 
• research their application windows and any information you can get on what they say they are looking for in their candidates (will be largely the some characteristics)
• tailor your CV to the consulting industry and your cover letter to the specific company as much as possible (it's probably a good idea to get together with a coach on here to review and fine-tune these documents)
• try to network with consultants from the firms you intend to apply to in order to get referrals (you want to have your CV ready to show at this point)
• start preparing for case interviews for when you do hear back from HR

Best of luck and feel free to reach out if you have any questions

The best option you have is to look for a coach to whom you can ask for a review of your CV and some help with networking.

Just applying randomly to any firm is a recipe for a disaster. You need to craft a good application material and have someone who refers you. 
 

Feel free to reach out. 

Companies tend to open internship opportunities in a certain time window, normally in September and October for the summer after. Full time positions for MBB tend to be open all year round.

You should look for openings at the websites of the companies you want to apply for rather than just sending your CV and Cover Letter.

It's a good question - but to be honest, this requires in-depth analysis. You need to network a bit and find someone who can help you (and networking is not “making connections”, but rather talking with people so you can find someone who is in consulting and can guide you, give you advice, or point you to other people who can help you).

Hi there, 

Sharing with you a free guide that might help you reassess your application strategy:

Free Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy

Best,
Cristian