Non-traditional background looking to enter consulting

Hi Richard,

Q: I would be incredibly grateful for any advice on how to best position myself to be competitive in a pool of so many incredibly talented people.

You will need three main things to pass the screening: 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 and can help to compensate for a lack of relevant experience. 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 ask for 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 only
• 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 Richard,

What a fantastic post!

I appreciate the callout to both question-askers and question-answerers.

Secondly, I appreciate how well you have articulated yourself (not surprised you went to an Ivy league). 

Questions like these get better answers. Networking messages written this way get better results. 

Now, without knowing much and just reading between the lines, my gut tells me you are a strong candidate and can absolutely get there if you do the following:

1. Get consulting experience! How? Sign up for pro bono/experiential learning programs…there's a million! If you can get a few consulting projects on your resume yu'll address this gap well and tell a story better.
2. Get more consulting-related experience in your current role. How? Volunteer, raise your hand, identify/propose/launch initiatives, etc. Example: I went to my MBA program at Stern and said I wanted to launch a data-based approach to recruiting. I proposed that I grab their data, run a survey, and run various multi-variate regression analyses to determine the key factors to getting and passing interview.
3. Network, network, network. See my point #2? Well, it turns out that the #1 thing that can change your fate it networking. Get out there, get in touch with people, and get referrals.
4. Get a killer resume. Highly recommend you pay for a review to build a 10/10 resume (after points 1 and 2 are done)

Hi there,

Sharing a couple of points from my own experience - I studied History in undergrad, from a non-target school, and had zero internships when I applied. 

• Your ‘non-traditional’ background and experience can often become a very strong point if you manage to differentiate yourself with a compelling story
  • When I was interviewing, my interviewers later told me that my Fit responses had stuck in their minds due to their distinctiveness and freshness
  • I had a clear answer when I asked myself “what really differentiates me from all the other business/engineering students applying?” ; “What will the firm get from me that they cant get from others?”
• Consulting firms are looking for a track record of high performance and exceptional achievement - this is something that is still possible to highlight regardless of the background
• Lastly, networking played a big role in helping me to get half a foot in the door - it was hard work but the kindness of consultants helped to push my CVs to HR on multiple occassions

All the best!

Hi Richard,

First of all, it’s great to hear you consider PrepLounge to be a useful resource, as do I!

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• First of all, since you have already applied, I feel that the only way to position yourself differently from your application files is by rephrasing the information. However, I don't think it would be necessary or meaningful to do so.
• I both am and have coached several non-traditional hires, thus I would advise you not to worry too much. Strategy consulting companies truly value diversity in all forms.
• Lastly, based on your work experience and academic background, I think your chances of making it to the interview stage are likely to be good. These experiences demonstrate your ability to perform at a high level.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Before being consultants… they were not consultants (not IB's).

Consulting firms are not looking for former consultants specifically when analyzing resumes. They are looking for any sign of excellence. So it doesn't really matter if you are coming from a different background - as long as you have some proof of excellence to show. If you don't, then it is definitely hard.