Consulting experience in resume

Question

Hi,

I have two question.

I'm PhD candidate in life science field and now preparing my resume.

I do not have any experience relating to business, but have working experience in academia for 3 years and industry 2 years before PhD program.

My first question is,

if I have pro bono consulting experience at online website or somewhere else, does it can be considered as “Consulting experience?"

2nd,

Like I said above, I have 3 years of working experience in academia (as scientist in research institute) before my PhD. Should I apply to experienced hire or fresh advanced degree holder? Do the firms count my working experiences if I apply to advanced degree holder?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi there,

You should mention all of your relevant experience, including the “consulting” work you did.

Whether or not it can be considered as such is ultimately irrelevant. Just make sure you capture the essence and your accomplishments best possible and let the employer judge for themselves.

If you're unsure about how to put together a killer CV, feel free to reach out. This is crucial and professional coaches with MBB background can add a lot of value here!

Hope this helps a bit. Best of luck!

Answer 2

Hi there,

from my experience as a trainer of a newly joined BCGers, I would estimate half of the candidates are not coming from a business background or business education which is the strength of the MBB.

To your questions:

1. yes from my point of view it would count

2. at least at BCG fresh PhD. starts as Associate/Senior Associate

Lucie

Was this answer helpful?

Answer 3

Hi there,

here my thoughts…

1. Can pro-bono consulting be considered as Consulting experience?

It won't be considered a fully-fledged consulting experience, but definitely allows you to look dedicated with genuine interest in the industry. In short, it helps a bit, but not too much. At the same time, prior consulting experience is not a pre-requisite for a strong consulting candidate profile anyway, so don't worry too much.

2. Do firms count work experience / advanced degree?

Yes, that calibration happens, and consultancies are quite experienced at doing so, i.e. identifying the appropriate career level and tenure for a given profile with certain academic as well as work experience. In your specific case, you'd likely be equalized to a post-MBA / pre-manager level across most consulting firms.

If you have further questions or would like to know how to polish your CV to optimize your chances to secure interviews with your given profile, please feel free to reach out via PM. Happy to take a quick look and discuss.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Andi

Answer 4

Hi there,

Interesting background. Let me take them one by one.

1. Yes, pro bono counts and you don't need to proactively mention it was pro bono on your resume. Just highlight that it was a consulting gig and what was your impact there. That's an important element to have on your CV.

2. Academic doesn't really count unless you're going for some expert track. Most likely since you have a PhD you'll be going in as an Associate. You can always reach out to HR and discuss your profile with them and they can recommend the most appropriate track for you.

Best of luck!

Answer 5

Hello!

For sure you should mention your consulting experience, even if was a rather small side gig.

Regarding the experience, I would apply to what in McK would be a junior Associate, and take it from there. If HR likes your CV, they can re-direct the application to the opening they consider most appropiate.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Answer 6

Hi there,

1) Yes 100%! In fact, this is something I always recommend to my candidates who don't have particularly consulting-related resumes/backgrounds. Getting a few pro-bono consulting projects to put on there is one of the best/quickest things you can do to boost your resume.

2) There are a number of PhD programs (like Bridge to BCG). I highly recommend you try to become a part of these PhD to consulting “bridging” programs