The screening process for a management consulting position starts with resume evaluation. The recruiter goes through the competence and experience you stated on your document to assess how qualified you are to take the responsibility.
Well-written and well-structured resumes pique the interest of recruiters. Since they can’t spend much time for a single document, they prioritize applications that grab their attention within 30 seconds. Second, they are usually impressed with applicants who have excellent communication skills. Being able to summarize your credentials in a one to two-page document is an indicator of that.
To be able to write this marketing tool effectively, start with research about the firm. Some applicants do not realize how significant this step is in their application; hence, their qualifications are often overlooked. If you also commit the same mistake, chances are you won’t be able to establish a connection between your personal objective and the consulting firm’s goals. Your knowledge guides you in determining the content of your resume. If it values teamwork, you must include past incidents where your collaboration was an asset. If the sense of achievement is a priority, your resume must indicate a few important accomplishments as an employee or as a student.
In writing your resume, choose the right information carefully. Everything you include must help the recruiters evaluate you for the position. It’s not just enough to enumerate everything you’ve experienced or accomplished. A good resume isn’t about length; it’s about quality. Choose only those details that are relevant to the position. If you’ve just received your diploma, dwell on your intellectual and social formation at the university. If you are a professional applicant, dwell on your role and achievements in your previous jobs. Many recruiters would also like to know about your problem-solving capability, leadership ability and communication skills as these are basic requirements for a consulting position.
When describing your previous job and accomplishments, use verbs and other quantitative information to create a better impact. The sentence, “Responsible for analyzing and providing solutions to clients” has a mind-numbing effect. You can rather say, “Generated feasible solutions to a manufacturing client that increased their production to 30%.” The verb directly implies your direct contribution to the company and the number makes it quite measurable. The more specific you are, the more efficient the recruiters can evaluate your performance.
Another key to writing a winning resume is your structure. The information should be arranged in an organized, reader-friendly way. With the features of today’s processors, this is much easier to do. Below are some suggestions you will find helpful:
- Use subtitles per set of information. This way, it would be easier for the recruiters to jump from one sentence to another. The truth is they just skim, not read the details word for word.
- Make sure the words don’t appear too crowded. Use white space in between categories or sentences if necessary.
- Use Times New Roman, Verdana, Tahoma and other clear fonts. Font size should be neither too small nor too large. Maximize both space and readability.
- List your achievenments using bullets. It breaks long sentences, so ideas are easier to understand.
- Do not submit a resume with more than two pages. Management consulting recruiters do not have the luxury of time to go through each line of information.
After writing your resume, proofread it before sending it out to firms. Management consulting recruiters receive hundreds of applicants for a single position, so applications with grammar mistakes and spelling errors will be definitely rejected. You may use an online spelling and grammar checker but don’t rely entirely on it. Since it’s just application software, it doesn’t know all grammar rules and at times, it has strange suggestions, too. Better yet, ask help from a friend. He or she can give you some well-thought feedback on the content and structure of this marketing tool. Some websites also offer professional resume review services. You might also want to consider that.
For a more detailed explanation on how to write a winning resume for management consulting, refer to ConsultingFact.com’s Guide to Management Consulting Cover Letters and Resumes . Reading the material can help you identify the key points that must emphasized on your written marketing tool.
