All questions tagged CV - Consulting Q&A - PrepLounge.com

Either is fine - just look professional.

Hey there,

So I am always of the view that you must give your best in every situation. You then gracefully accept whatever the outcome but knowing you gave your best.

I suggest you check with HR if sending a refreshed CV would make any difference. If yes, send it. If not, then focus on the final interview. The interview feedback from earlier stages matters more. They shortlisted your CV anyway so clearly its good.

Have your new CV handy for the partner interview anyway and should any questions arise, offer to send him your new CV.

Just share your sanitized document in this blog post and you will receive some comments on that!

Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind to give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

Hi Ukasha,

My general/quick (not full review) thoughts are as follows:

Consulting-Specific

• Yes, your resume has enough consulting-focused verbiage here

Template

• You need a new template - there is a LOT of work to be done to make this professional...a few examples:
  • Education should not be 1 line...each educational experience should look like your work experience
  • Should put company, then role below
  • Should put date then country below
  • Dates should include months
  • etc.

Content

• Not enough skills. Either add more or cut
• Any extracirriculars?
• Try not to use the same verbs frequently next to each other (Led, Devleoped)
• Need to improve bullet points to be more precise, concise, and value/action-drive

Hi Ukasha,

short answer: yes I think it is a bit long.

What I like about your cover letter is that it is very structured. However, not all points are equally relevant. Try to focus on the most important ones. Try to simplify the language to make it an easy read. Try to also think from the recruiter point of view. This is a cover letter and not a CV, i.e. list your skills, abilities, value to the company and do not put your past experience & achievements in the focus -> instead use your past as evidence for the value that you can bring in the future. This is a small but very important difference!

Furthermore, you need to improve the formatting. Either you consistently bold important aspects or you don't, but don't mix the style between paragraphs.

Please let me know if you have further questions or need a more detailed revision.

Cheers, Florian

Hi Ukasha,

It's hard to help when it hurts my eyes to read! Kindly upload a clear image :)

Hey,

as you might imagine, a CV optimization is always a very delicate and personal matter (besides obvious grammar, formatting etc mistakes). Therefore, it would be extremly helpful if you'd provide some more background on the firm, role and also location etc youre applying for. If you don't feel comfortable sharing this publicly, feel free to reach out to me directly.

In the meantime, some first glance advice:

• If you're applying in the EU (in particular Germany), most firms would like still like to see your high school grades
• If you're applying to a role outside of France, defintely more explanation needed on the grand ecole prep (vs. bachelor)
• Dates: I would always include full date (Jan 2020 - July 2020 instead of Jan - July 2020), as it makes it easier to read
• You're inconsistend with the amount and content of bullet points
• You're inconsistend with the wording of your titles, e.g. why is the M&A role the only role where you don't have a description of the firm?
• Again, depending on location you would want to put a place, date and signature at the bottom of the page

Lastly, I'm a fan of a short introduction of yoursef in 2-3 sentences at the very top of the page

Let me know if this helps. Best,

Torben

Hi there,

A few things stand out to me

1) CV - I'm not sure who reviewed it, but send it to me...I'll check that it's optimal

2) Networking - before applying, aim to network a bit (even if it doesn't result in a formal referral, at least try to get put in touch with HR)

3) You're right next door to Strategy&! Once inside PwC, network your way around, get to know people, build a good reputation, and in 1-2 years look to move internally via connections

4) MBA - always a good route to take to get funneled directly into the recruiting pipeline.

Good luck!

Hello there!

No second thoughts, definitely YES!:)

It's a really great experience from which I'm sure you gained much experience useful in consulting like leadership, negotiations, project management skills and so on.

Do you need any further help?

GB

Hello,

Feel free to send me a message to discuss it together.

I also started as an aerospace engineer before joining McK.

Best,

Antonello

I would not add this information. It is mosly irrelevant for your application, so you can better use the real estate for something that actually strengthens your profile. Having said that, it also doesn't do any harm.

Hey there,

In general referral > no referral (stating the obvious), however, if your profile is strong + you are applying at the beginning of the year (fewer slots filled), you should be fine even without.

With the introduction of the Imbellus, McKinsey has started to widen the funnel a bit and get more people into the process because they can administer the test at no additional cost.

Go for it :-)

Cheers,

Florian

Hi there,

Feel free to send it my way. Happy to take a look.

Cheers,

Emily

Hey there,

There is no hard cap, however, 1-pagers are preferred.

How to deal with this?

My experience shows almost all candidates can keep the same level of information, however, can trim the content down significantly to fit on one page.

• Go over your CV with a critical perspective and get rid of every sentence, phrase, word that does not add value
• Stick to the core information and prioritize experience based on the impact on your resume and adjust the space it takes on the CV accordingly (for instance: 3 years of top-tier university > 1-week leadership experience)
• Think about reformatting (font size, margins, alignment, moving pieces of information to the same level, etc.)

Happy to help you here. Reach out if you are interested.

Cheers,

Florian

Hi there,

My first observation is that you need significant rework on your actual experience bullet points. First, there need to be more (it's quite sparse). Second, you don't describe your work in a way that has "punch"...i.e. shows clear activites/responsibilites/skills and impact.

This can be improved but requires live, verbal, editing!

Some other quick observations:

• Remove High School
• Don't include coursework
• Include city/country on the RHS
• Need experience bullet points for all work experience
• Condense certs & achievements - i.e. can do 1 row for Tech/IT skills, 1 spot for languages, etc.

Certainly more to update/change but this is the quick and dirty review!

Hi there,

Both could work well. M&A may have some more transferable skills, but the answer also depends on:

1. Brand of the two firms
2. What exactly you are going to do in market research
3. Possibility to show skills required in consulting with the two experiences (eg teamwork, problem-solving, opportunity to interact with top management)

In the end, I would also consider the general fit you find with the companies and which experience would genuinely interest you the most.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hi Marc,

It depends on whether such courses compliment your current education background and working experience or not. If you have no business/management background or experience so far, then putting those courses could be a plus point, as it shows you have real interest and is willing to pay the extra effort to develop yourself.

Of course the courses should be from a credible organization.

Hope it helps,

Emily

Hello!

First of all, it´s good that you look at this with time. Furthermore, don´t you worry too much when it does not work in the 1st try, is the normal thing to happen! There is a lot of insights gained by trying.

This said, it´s not so much about the sector/industry but about the:

• Skillset developed
• Scope
• Exposure

Of course, there are some places where this is clarly met:

• Big 4 consulting
• Boutique consulting
• Big tech (product management, project management, etc.)
• IB/PE

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara