Ryan first contacted me in the height of recruiting season. He’d landed 3 consulting offers at leading firms including Deloitte, Towers Perrin, and PwC and wanted to get my perspective on his options.

Needless to say, I was very impressed. In this economy, it’s tough to land interviews much less multiple job offers. To top it off, he’s an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison – a strong school but a non-target for many top consulting firms.

It was obvious that interviewing Ryan would be a tremendous benefit to readers looking to break into consulting. His story highlights much of the advice I’ve repeatedly offered prospective applicants – to land consulting jobs, you need to focus on the following:

• Aggressive networking – cold emails, cold calls, and building recruiter contacts wherever you can
• Online job search and networking tools – LinkedIn is the 800-pound gorilla
• Pursuit of relevant work experience wherever/whenever you can – for undergrads, this means school-year/part-time jobs. For current professionals, this means augmenting your fulltime job with additional training, professional organizations, and/or seeking better job opportunities

Please note, the personal views and opinions expressed are strictly those of the interviewee and do not reflect the views of the interviewee’s employers or affiliated entities.

1. For the benefit of readers, can you give us a summary of your background?

I grew up in Wisconsin and decided to take 4 years off before going straight to college after high school. I chose to serve in the US Army and was stationed in Germany and deployed to Kosovo, Macedonia, Bosnia, Kuwait, and one year in Iraq. I came back to the states and enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison because of their strong business school. I am currently a first year senior with a triple major in Finance, Actuarial Science, and Risk Management and will graduate next December.

While in school I knew it was important to an internship as soon as possible, so I was an intern at Scottrade (discount online broker) during the summer and continued working for them during my sophomore year. The following summer I worked at a small niche insurance company as an Actuarial Intern. During my junior year I interned at Merrill Lynch (PWM) in the fall working for a few portfolio managers. In the spring I worked at another insurance company in their actuarial department. Last summer I was a Summer Analyst at Credit Suisse and they extended my internship through the fall semester. So, I worked part-time in Chicago and went to school full-time in Madison, WI. Currently I am working for Abbott Labs as a Risk Management Intern in Chicago and still going to school full-time.

Three of these internships were through campus postings/on campus recruiting, while the other three were through networking and cold calling companies to create an internship for me. Each internship allowed me to gain valuable skills in all aspects of consulting and landed me numerous interviews and job offers for this summer.

His advice here is invaluable – the value of school-year/part-time internships, and the opportunities that can be created through effective networking and cold-calling

2. University of Wisconsin – Madison School of Business is a “non-target” school, which can make consulting recruitment more challenging. What’s been your recruiting experience, and what advice can you give others at similar schools?

Depending on what rankings a company or student goes by, it ranks anywhere from 13 to 35 overall. However, the school has top ranked business programs (majors) in Actuarial Science, Risk Management, and Operations Technology & Management. These are the programs that bring in top ranked and well known companies worldwide. So, when these companies come to campus, it is best to network with them at career fairs or information sessions. Or, if a company has a job posting for a position outside your major or a position you are not interested, I would still apply to meet the recruiter to see how I could network my way into another job that I wanted. (example: If your engineering school is the best on campus, get into their career services and tap into their companies.)

Overall, work experience, involvement in clubs on campus, and leadership positions has been a driving force that has moved my resume from the bottom of the pile to the top. Start your internships as soon as you can. If you study abroad or do not have solid internships, it is worth delaying your graduation a semester or two (especially if you are working and going to school at the same time, most recruiters understand).

I did receive my Credit Suisse offer through on campus recruiting. But this was driven by having 3 UW alumni in the office to push the firm to include the school in its target school recruiting effort. Credit Suisse said they prefer Wisconsin kids over Ivy, Northwestern, or U of Chicago kids because they are hard working and do not have big egos. Stay close to your alumni base and use them as your primary source of networking and outreach.

What’s interesting here is that Ryan networked with recruiters even if he wasn’t a fit for any of their current jobs or targeted majors. In addition, his advice about postponing graduation to continue accessing on-campus recruiting is the right decision in a tough economy. Finally, he’s right on the mark with respect to what matters on a consulting-focused resume

3. You received multiple internship offers in a tough economy – an impressive accomplishment. Can you discuss each of these offers and the pros/cons of each in your mind?

I did not interview or apply for Accenture. (I do not think this is the best route to get into MBB or Katzenbach.) Accenture, IBM and other tech consultants can box their career path in quickly. However, going back for an MBA can get you out of that career path) But I wanted to let the readers know that they are reneging offers for internships and full-time over the past 3 months. Insiders at Accenture have told me that they are laying off people that are underperforming.

A. Towers Perrin – If you want to work in Actuarial Services, Employee Benefits, Enterprise Risk Management, HR Function Effectiveness, Design & Implementation, HR Service Delivery & Technology, Insurance & Financial Services, Mergers, Acquisitions & Restructuring, Organization & Employee Research, or Reinsurance Services…this is the place to be a consultant.

They have the best clients of all the competitors and are gaining new ones on a daily basis from Milliman and Mercer. I was very attracted to the M&A and Risk Management consulting and pursued their Tillinghast division. I thought this is where I was going to end up working if it did not pan out at MBB, Katzenbach, ATK, Booz, etc. I started networking with this firm back in October of 2007 and kept in contact with them to ensure I could get an interview with them. Towers came to our campus for initial screening, and would identify top students for second rounds for all offices globally. This is one of the few firms that recruit on campus that is recruiting for all their offices. (most firms focus on Midwest). I was selected for a second round interview, but my top 3 choices for locations were no longer available. This dragged the recruiting process out for 9 weeks. Since I interview at an office that was not on my preference sheet, I had to go through 2 additional phone screens to show interest in their Philadelphia office.
The interview was an all day event and consisted mostly of fit questions, and why I wanted to work for them.

Cons: They were concerned that I had too many internships and would be bored doing entry level work. This tipped me off that the work was not going to challenging or provide me a chance to make an impact. Office culture: Tillinghast was being rebranded as Towers Perrin, but there was a huge information wall and clash between the practices. Employees were not from top tier universities. Their office was driven on finding hard working talent from non-ivy league schools (that is why they wanted a Wisconsin kid). I picked Philadelphia because I was hoping to go to Wharton. However, Towers does not send employees back for their MBA and does not have any relations with UPenn. HR was very secretive about pay and promotional information and would not tell me what grade I would come in as. However, employees were open about this and told me stats without me even asking. The overall summer pay/housing was $3400 per month plus $1000 for living expenses. But, I heard that entry levels can make up to 72K out of school.

B. PricewaterhouseCoopers – They came to campus this year to recruit for Actuarial Consultants for their Chicago office. After an easy second round, they made an offer. They did not test my intellect nor challenge me during the interview process. This offer would have been more attractive, if the process was more selective.

I was trying to use this interview to get into their advisory consulting service (M&A) for the summer. But, they do not allow interns in this department. And for full-time employees it takes 2-3 years before they let you transfer into this department. One of the positive thing about PwC is they let you be a generalist in the actuary world and you get exposure to all the practices. Most actuarial jobs slot you in one field (P/C, Life, Health, Pension, Compensation, etc.). The office culture was very laid back, but I did not feel the right connection. Also, a few of the younger consultants were bashing their competitors and assured me that they were not firing anyone. If they are not cutting their bottom 10% on a yearly basis, how is this work environment going to be competitive? A Big 4 Accounting firm that does not have a separate consulting firm like Deloitte would not put me in a good position for full-time interviews next year.

The summer pay was a little bit below average ($23.80 per hour plus a $2,000 sign on bonus), and they were not certain if they could offer subsidized housing this year.

C. Deloitte Consulting – In the end I accepted with Deloitte, because they are the one who offered me the chance to work across multiple disciplines and would not put me into one type of consulting role. They have the most flexibility that will allow me to work from a human capital role and be able to work on projects with strategy and operations. Their reputation does not say management consulting, but they have a strong name brand and the work that I will be doing will have an impact and be interesting. The culture was extremely important to me, and Deloitte’s culture is a great fit.

The interview process was challenging with individual case questions and group case questions as well. During the group case question, they would have partners in the room watching how you work in a team and come to a final solution. Then as a team we had to present to senior partners. The process was intense and challenging, and that is what I was looking for. After they gave me the offer, I was still trying to get into MBB, so a different person from Deloitte called everyday until I accepted. This was the biggest selling point to hear from so many consultants that I did not interview with and find out why they are working at Deloitte.

The summer pay is $5,000 per month plus $2,000 sign on bonus. Starting salary can be up to 69K with a $10,000 sign on bonus.

I pursued almost every management consulting firm that you can think of, and they all say the same thing: you do not go to a target school, our internship program is in its pilot stage or too small, please apply for a fulltime position next year. However, this have led me to securing interviews with McKinsey for full-time positions.

The more people you get your resume in front of, the more people you will have on the inside pulling for you.

It’s worth repeating Ryan’s last point – the more people that review your resume (provided it’s high-quality) – the better your chances. Securing a McKinsey fulltime interview is no small feat, and Ryan accomplished this through aggressive networking and a consistent focus on building quality work experience. Finally, if your ultimate interest is top strategy consulting, careers in IT consulting may limit your options

4. What general tips about the recruiting process – resumes, interviews, networking – can you share with readers?

Use your alumni network to its fullest capability. If you have no alumni at a firm, look for someone on LinkedIn. Send them an email or cold call them at work and find out how they got to their current role. I get 1 out of 2 people who I email to respond to me, but a phone call you will get a live person on the line, who you can talk to and build a rapport with.

Your resume is the most important piece of paper, so this must be immaculate and tell your story. Join a club at school and be a leader that makes a difference in that organization. Look for internships and other meaningful work while you are in school as well. Consulting firms are looking for someone that can balance school with work and other meaningful activities.

Be yourself in interviews – some interviewers do not want to hear the canned answers that you read in a book or rehearsed the night prior. Come across as a yourself and be relaxed.

The people who hesitate to cold call are the same ones who won’t get job offers. My personal recommendation is to introduce yourself via email first, and then followup with a call and reference the email

5. Any last words of advice to prospective consultants?

I knew that in the economic down turn I would have to start early in getting my resume and name out to the prospective firms. I started in August looking up alumni on LinkedIn.com and through school’s alumni database. In addition, I have started lining up interviews with firms for full-time recruiting in Fall. For the firms that do not have a strong undergrad internship program, do not give up and keep on pursuing them for a full-time offer. Start contacting companies now for next years recruiting cycle – it is never too early, and networking cannot be done overnight. Doostang.com is another site that I used to apply to jobs that are not posted on my campus’s career website.

Be relentless and never give up on your dream of becoming a consultant.

Online recruiting tools such as Doostang and LinkedIn are invaluable if you’re looking for an edge

Are you a current consultant or someone who recruited successfully? Interested in being interviewed? Please get in touch to be featured in the Life as a Consultant series.

Coming soon: Launch of the Consulting Bible, 2nd edition

Stay connected:

Here’s a roundup of reader questions – covering topics including role play consulting interviews, consulting interview dress code, consulting lingo, and cover letters.

To start, I found an online copy of the Wetfeet Guide to the Top 25 Consulting Firms – worth a quick browse as their company profiles are strong on the basics.

Now onto the questions:

I have an interview coming up, and the recruiter just informed me that there will be a role play portion to my case study. I’ve never done one before, any advice?

Role plays are not uncommon in management consulting interviews. Generally, you play a consultant presenting information to a client (played by the interviewer). Your job is to present your findings and recommendations in an analytical, persuasive manner. The client may throw up roadblocks, be difficult to deal with, and it’s up to you to stay calm, confident, and present your points with good reasoning and data.

These situations come up frequently on the job, and interviewers want to know that you have the presence to handle yourself adeptly.

How come consultants like to use so much lingo? Is this also true in the Fortune 500s?

Management consulting terms is a topic I’ve covered extensively here. It’s simply a function of the industry, and successful management consultants are masters of consulting lingo. To a lesser extent, these phrases are used in Fortune 500s – although I’d say your bigger concern there is unique, company-specific acronyms, nicknames, and terms. The better you are at it, the more natural you appear.

Okay, so I am in my sophomore year and I am trying to position myself for a consulting gig next year. What are some good summer internships for a sophomore that will look good come recruiting season?

I cover consulting summer internship recruiting here, but if you’re unable to land a consulting job, aim for two criteria: prestige and skill development. Prestige is more important if you want to ultimately work at a McKBain Group. As an example, I’d choose Goldman Sachs Asset Management over Gallup’s consulting group, even if you’ll acquire more consulting-like skills at Gallup.

What career paths are available when you’re leaving management consulting?

I postponed answering this question because of my last 2 posts, both covering management consulting exit opportunities. There are lots! From business to public sector, from non-profit to grad school, one of the biggest attractions to management consulting over investment banking is its breadth of opportunities.

What’s the proper attire for management consulting interviews?

I briefly covered consulting interview dress code before. On this topic, everyone has an opinion. To keep it simple: wear something nice but not flashy, and keep your outfit neat (eg, no wrinkles).

What other sources besides your blog would you recommend to understand the job better?

I’ve interviewed 2 big bloggers in this space – Marquis from McKinsey and Steve Shu from Nortel. Both of their sites have tons of high-quality information about the industry.

For case study questions and preparation, I’d look at www.caseinterview.com

Check out my blogroll for more resources.

Finally, I recommend some books and periodicals for consulting applicants.

Can you do an update to your day in the life of a management consultant?

One of my most popular posts is A Day In The Life Of A Management Consultant. It took a long time to craft that post, but I’m planning at least one more version (and if current consultants are interested in guest posting on that topic, please contact me!).

The next 3 questions are a series from a very dedicated reader…

1. I’m very tempted to contact my past interviewers at Accenture for the coming September fulltime recruitment season, but I’m not sure if that would be a good idea since my final round interviewers never replied to my emails when I requested their feedbacks after I got rejected. Should I email the consultants who interviewed me for the earlier rounds and let them know that I’m still interested?

If your final round interviewers did not respond to feedback emails, it’s ok to email your first round interviewers to followup briefly. It’s important not to push your luck – at most, I’d thank them for the opportunity, briefly update them on final rounds, and tell them you’ll be applying again for fulltime recruiting. If you receive no response, wait until 1-2 months before fulltime recruiting starts to re-initiate contact and jog their memory.

2. Besides Accenture, I was never offered interviews from other firms. During last September recruitment season I emailed a Deloitte Consultant after the campus info session, and he answered a lot of my questions. I told him about my CGPA concern, and he advised me to briefly say why I underperformed in my cover letter, but in the end I didn’t take his advice since I was too afraid to risk highlighting a major weakness. Do you think I should mention reasons for my low CGPA in my cover letter?

If it’s very low, you should briefly mention it in your cover letter. Keep in mind that most consulting cover letters are scanned briefly, if at all. My advice here is to work hard on your grades and get a higher GPA! Think about graduate programs that offer an opportunity to “reset” your GPA for recruiting.

3. As you’ve mentioned in your blog – too much downtime or getting a job in another field (ie: accounting, marketing) could remove me completely from the consulting track. I’m no longer in school and unemployed, but also not suitable for graduate school yet. I feel like I’m stuck in the most unfavorable position, and I don’t know what I can do now so I can increase my chances for the coming September recruitment season. I’ve already tried applying to various jobs such as Business Analyst positions within banks and mid-small size consulting firms but still no luck. What type of jobs do you think I should also consider if I still want to get into consulting in the very near future – research analyst, marketing management, CRM?

Without knowing specific options available, you should think about:

1. The prestige and influence of the company
2. The skillset you’ll be developing – is it analytical? Do you build presentation skills? Functional or industry-specific expertise?
3. Career paths of people who left that company – did they enter consulting?
4. The network you’ll build – remember, networking is key for getting consulting jobs!

To an extent, #3 and #4 are the same. This is also the relative prioritization I’d have when deciding.

Like what you’re reading? Subscribe to my RSS feed here. Read my guide for consulting interview questions.

I offer resume/CV editing and mock interview preparation. I’ll help you stand out from 1000’s of other applicants, land consulting job offers, and break into management consulting.

Consultants can have a negative reputation – charging $2 million for 12 week’s work
that results in stacks of PowerPoint slides, all of which are archived into a dusty closet (digital or otherwise) soon after McKBain Group leaves the premises.

When consultants’ recommendations are implemented, employees often argue that the actions are not beneficial and don’t reflect day-to-day business realities.

That’s one side of the story.

Below, I’ll paint a more positive (and personally held) view on the 6 reasons why companies hire consultants. Through it, you’ll have a better view on business consulting and the consulting industry as a potential career.

1) Staff augmentation – the least impactful role that consultants can play and self-explanatory. Companies often have short to medium-term staffing needs (in the case of government work, this can extend for several years) due to a variety of factors (eg, recent downsizings, sudden expansion). Consultants in this situation “plug a hole” for the company by filling the role of full-time employees. While expensive, it’s common work for operational consultancies (eg, Deloitte and Accenture) and, to a lesser extent, for government consultancies (eg, Booz Allen)

Further reading: Interview with a Booz Allen consultant

2) External change force aka “political cover”. It can be hard for companies to do what’s right (sacred cows and all that jazz) – particularly when it comes to job layoffs, salary and benefit changes/reduction, major operational and strategic shifts. Hiring consultants can be a way to reach the desired conclusions with sufficient political cover in case certain parties are unhappy (eg, a displeased Board or disgruntled employees) or things go wrong (”Despite the significant cost uptick, we implemented BCG’s recommendations to the letter – I’m not sure what we could have done better”)

3) Best practices across industries and functions (eg, organization, supply chain) – consultants have the rare privilege of:

• Serving multiple clients in the same sector (eg, Beverages, Enterprise Software)
• Serving multiple clients facing similar problems across different sectors (eg, Latin American expansion, Southeast Asia outsourcing)

This enables them to recognize common attributes of effective solutions, applying lessons learned in applicable situations. This knowledge is partially institutionalized at each consulting firm (in the form of white papers, databases, post-project reviews, etc); however, much of the information exists in the collective heads of partners and to a lesser extent, senior consultants.

A former McKinsey partner put it best when he called business consultants “masters at reinventing the wheel”

4) Analytical horsepower

A corollary to staff augmentation, companies may need help solving issues and executing strategies where their skillsets and knowledge are insufficient. Consultants can be of great value given their training and capabilities. A note here on big vs boutique: big consultancies have a breadth of resources that they can bring to bear on problems (eg, data mining and analytics, primary market research). Boutiques may have specialized expertise on specific dimensions (eg, retail pricing best practices, financial industry benchmarks).

Further reading: Global consulting firms versus boutiques

5) Fresh perspective

Companies often need a fresh set of eyes – you’d be amazed at the amount of value consultants can add based on the most mundane observations and insights. Critics contend that this is an example of consultants selling “glorified common sense”, but for front-line client employees, it can be easy to fall into daily routines without a critical eye towards measurement, analysis, and improvement.

6) Training and skillset augmentation

I’d argue that every consulting project – particularly ones with heavy client interaction – incorporates client training as a major ingredient. The best recommendations are worthless if clients can’t implement and maintain suggested changes. Thus, a large part of what consultants do is educate client employees on necessary knowledge, skills, and mindsets.

Like what you’re reading? Subscribe to my RSS feed here to learn more about management consulting jobs.

UPCOMING POSTS: Critical case study frameworks; More on networking your way into a consulting job

I offer resume editing and live interview prep to help people break into management consulting and top business jobs. We’ll prepare you to master the recruiting process, stand out from the 1000’s of other applicants, and land job offers

The key takeaways for lazy people are:

• Networking is everything – focus on a few quality channels and be proactive
• Spread your net wide – you can’t afford to be picky
• Have a Plan B but be careful that you don’t cut off future options

That said, here is an abbreviated version of our talks. Note that some of this content is from Mergers and Inquisitions.

We’re no longer in the boom years of 2004-2007

Consulting hiring has been deeply impacted. From firm-wide hiring freezes and layoffs (eg, Accenture) to reduced hiring at the Big 3, recruiting is not as easy as it used to be.

However, in the words of Jim Cramer – there’s always a bull market somewhere. Consulting firms focused on corporate restructuring are doing well in these times, and big firms such as Bain and BCG are building their expertise in these areas.

In addition, there are significant regional differences in hiring – but I’ll get to that below.

There are several things you can do to set yourself apart and break into consulting

The key here is to be proactive, rather than reactive. To get yourself in front of people, instead of waiting for them to recruit you. Even the strongest candidates with big brand names on their resumes and 3.9 GPAs aren’t guaranteed interviews, much less offers.

There are a few areas to help you standout in consulting recruiting:

1. Spread your net wide – consider all boutique consulting firms that recruit. After all, strategy consulting experience is much better than technology consulting if you want to break into MBB
2. Consider all geographies – large metropolitan markets like New York are always tough, but near impossible in these times. Look to international markets like Dubai and East Asia. If you can overcome language differences and don’t mind the travel, you stand a better chance
3. Consider adjacent jobs in corporate America and even entrepreneurship – particularly if you’re looking at summer internships

Finally, network, network, network. This is an area where few do well. I’m a believer in 80/20 – so look at your primary channels including:

• School alumni networks
• Family and friend networks – be open about what your goal is!
• Work networks

Network skillfully. See here for some more networking tips. Use the Law of Attraction to your advantage by being open about your goals to anyone and everyone.

I, like many of you, used to think networking was annoying. I didn’t do much of it. I thought it was fake and superficial. But it played a huge role in getting me to McKinsey. Don’t overlook it

Some companies have learned lessons from the last recession, but all of them are getting hit by the markets

Remember when the tech bubble burst? It was painful for companies, their employees, and new recruits. Offers were rescinded, people were fired, everything was a mess.

This time around, companies want to avoid those same mistakes. After all – who wants to recruit for a company that took away job offers and summarily fired people without warning?

Some companies have attempted to adopt hiring policies that look beyond this recession. They want to invest in people for the future, and not worry about cyclical drops in demand now that may leave them suffering from a staff shortage in 3 years.

But let’s face it. The vast majority of firms have cut hiring. BearingPoint even filed for bankruptcy protection.

You’ll need backup options.

Have a Plan B, C, and D…but be careful when pulling the trigger

Everyone has different passions – you may think this is the perfect time to go to Japan and teach English, or pickup surfing in Hawaii.

Be careful – too much time off, and you may never get back on the management consulting track if that’s your goal. It’s tough because no one knows when markets will recover – but if we learned anything from the last recession, we know that the pain won’t disappear immediately.

Business school is a bad idea without work experience. Consider a Master’s program at a top institution instead. It buys time, you learn something you’re interested in, and you get another chance at recruiting.

Anecdote: a friend of mine was unsuccessful recruiting for MBB at Stanford. She enrolled in a Yale master’s program, re-recruited, and received offers to all 3. Masters programs can be a great option, but don’t do it for the sake of recruiting alone

Lastly, consider long-term ramifications of your decisions. If you pursue marketing or accounting, it may be difficult to get back on the strategy consulting train. Entrepreneurship is another option – but unless you’re obscenely successful, you may need to go back to school if you want to work at Bain.

I encourage people to think about their 5-year plan. Does management and strategy consulting play a clear role? If not, start pursuing your longer-term dreams now. If it does, then follow my advice above, continue recruiting and networking, and you’ll get your chance. You can also contact me if you need more extensive help

Like what you’re reading? Subscribe to my RSS feed here to learn more about management consulting jobs.

For the majority of business consulting firms, the cover letter is the least important document in your application. You have a greater risk of making a mistake than of standing out

1) Your opening paragraph should include:

• The position you’re applying for
• Qualities that make you a good fit (eg, leadership experience, analytical thinking skills)
• Optional: very brief highlights on work experience

2) Your body paragraphs (no more than 2) should include:

• Work highlights if not in the opening paragraph
• A section to describe one experience in detail (work, student group, etc). Focus on the impact you had and the skills you learned that would make you a good consultant. This should be your “star” experience and the one you want every reader to remember
• A section or paragraph on your interest in the job, your career goals, the research you’ve done to learn more about the firm

3) The closing paragraph should be brief and restate why you’d make a good consultant. Include your contact information here as well:

Please do not hesitate to contact me with further questions. I can be reached at (123) 456-7890 or via email at name@gmail.com.

4) Avoid an elaborate discussion of your educational background. A sentence about your school and major should suffice. It’s OK to expand this section if you have a very high GPA, nationally-recognized scholarships and fellowships, etc

5) It’s OK to drop names of current firm employees – but integrate them well.

Here’s a poor example:

I had a conversation with Sarah Foster, a current case team leader at Bain, at the on-campus presentation. I learned a lot from her about consulting and gained a deeper appreciation for the company.

Why is this a poor example? It doesn’t make a point. The interaction was generic, and it feels like a setup to name-drop.

Here’s a good example:

Bain is not only a prestigious firm, but one that really invests in the development of its consultants. My conversations with Sarah Foster, a current case team leader, reinforced my belief that this separates Bain from the other firms, and is my central reason for applying.

Why is this a good example? The name-dropping occurs in the context of a broader point – that Bain focuses on the development of its people.

6) Use anecdotes in consulting cover letters. Instead of saying “my past experiences have allowed me to become a strong leader of teams”, say this:

My projects at Oracle – where I led groups of up to 5 analysts on implementation projects – have made me a strong team leader and partner for my colleagues

7) Include current contact information at the top. Don’t assume it’s unnecessary because the information is on your resume.

8) Never use more than one page and use PDF format when possible. In the words of Consultant99 (a kind commenter):

Resumes and CLs should be submitted in PDF whenever allowed. Every resume screen finds us holding a half-dozen resumes where the font isn’t found, the margins are messed-up, it’s set for A4 rather than 8.5 x 11, or any of a million other problems that wreck havoc on your careful formatting. Worst of all, “track changes” might be turned on! Putting it in PDF avoids all these problems.

9) If it doesn’t fit with size 12 font and 1″ margins, it’s too long. This is not an iron-clad rule but a guiding principle. Cover letters with size 10 font, 0.5″ margins, and minute paragraph spacing hurt the reader’s eyes and hurt your candidacy.

10) Make sure the consulting cover letter is addressed to the right firm and person. Back to my initial thought – the risk is greater of messing up than standing out, and this is mistake number one. Label and save each cover letter by firm, and double-check to ensure the firm name, address, and position applied for (eg, Associate vs Senior Consultant) is correct.

The last thing you want to happen is for an Accenture recruiter or consultant open your cover letter and see that it’s addressed to Deloitte HR. At best, you’re incompetent. At worst, your application may not see the light of day

Click here for more on management consulting resumes.

Stay connected:

I offer resume editing and interview prep. Through one-on-one sessions, I’ll help you stand out from 1000’s of other applicants and land consulting jobs