I’ll admit, Management Consulted has been somewhat stale over the past year – very little new content, no new products, no improvements to the site’s look/feel. Quite a few of you guys shared your disappointment, and it was completely deserved.

One of my favorite comments:

“Have you dropped off the face of the earth?? I sincerely hope that for the last 6 months, you haven’t been just relaxing in Bali or some other obscenely nice Pacific Island sipping coconut juice and mai thais on the beach…although that would be great marketing material for why to get a job at McKinsey!”

That’s all about to change. I mean it.

Mea culpa and an introduction

The reason why this site sort of froze over the past year was because I completely invested in a new project – creating iPhone applications! Along the way, we launched one app (CauseWorld) which has now donated more than $1M to 30+ charities. We recently launched another app (shopkick) which will revolutionize the shopping world and works with Best Buy, Macy’s, American Eagle, among others.

If you have an iPhone, download both and tell me what you think!

About a week ago, I left that team, so I could go back to building my own websites once again. And the one which I’ve neglected the most has been this one.

Along the way, I also added a few members to our team. Some of you have been fortunate enough to work directly with them already through resume editing and interview prep. They are:

Jenny Rae – Jenny joined our team this year. She graduated from the University of Virginia and then joined Bain Consulting after traveling around the world, writing a book, working on financial public policy in South Africa and sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. In short, she’s done everything we all wish we could do, but never get around to :) At Bain, Jenny Rae worked primarily in the U.S. for companies covering health care to entertainment to financial services to death care, and since leaving to co-found a company she has pursued global entrepreneurship and advised over 45 different early- and mid-phase companies around the world.

Jerry Chi – I’ve known Jerry since our Stanford undergraduate days, where he majored in Management Science & Engineering. He joined Management Consulted in 2009. Jerry worked at two bulge-bracket investment banks, as well as consulting, and also started his own firm in Beijing focused on investing in global capital markets.

Our team will be working closely to make this site the best it can be, and most importantly, help you land management consulting jobs!!

Hint of things to come

Given my newfound time, and an awesome new team, here’s a taste of what’s coming:

-New articles! From using LinkedIn to find jobs, to more interviews with consultants from leading firms around the world, to titles like “Why management consulting is the worst career move after college”. I’m excited to get back into writing mode

-Do-It-Yourself (DIY) guide to the perfect, consulting-ready resume and cover letter! For those who can’t afford our personalized services, or simply want expert guidance in dramatically improving your key docs for the recruiting process (resume and cover letter) – it’ll include checklists of do’s and don’ts, easy-to-use templates (just copy and paste away :), examples of the best resumes we’ve ever seen, and even videos showing exactly how we do the editing ourselves. Stay tuned.

-Job board + job postings! We’re constantly contacted by recruiters looking to hire, and we know the ultimate goal for every reader is to land a consulting job. The job board will collect all the opportunities we hear about, and best of all its free!

-Management Consulted e-newsletter – over the next 2-3 weeks, you’ll be able to signup for a free e-newsletter written personally by our team. It’ll cover topics presented here on the site in more depth, as well as offer exclusive articles, tips, and insights that you won’t find anywhere else. We know people like to get their info in many ways, and this is just another avenue for us to provide you compelling education on how to land, and then kick ass, at your consulting job

So here’s my ask of you

Thanks for reading through this. I’m excited for what’s coming, and I hope you are too! I need your help on a few things:

1. What do you guys want to see the most over the next year? Let me know, and we’ll make it happen. It can be anything from a feature to an article topic…whatever you feel you need the most help with

2. What burning questions do you have right now about consulting, the lifestyle, the firms, etc? I plan to do a MASSIVE FAQ post in the next few days.

3. If you’re on Facebook, please like my site and posts!! This is huge for helping me grow the site, which has been driven so much by your word of mouth

Comment away, and thanks again to all of you – none of this would be possible without your readership.

-Kevin

We’ve been offering a resume editing service since site launch. In this time, we’ve had the fortune to work with hundreds of clients.

Below is a list of 5 more common resume mistakes we’ve noticed. You can also refer to the previous posts: Top 10 consulting resume mistakes and Top 10 resume tips.

1. Overly small font for your name

Your name at the top of the resume should be 18 pt or 20 pt font; bold font is optional and depends on the font you are using. Your name is the most important part of your resume, since you want recruiters to remember who you are.

Also, make sure the name you use is exactly the same in all communications, including your cover letter and emails.  This is sometimes a problem for those with both an official name in their mother language and another unofficial name in English.

2. Getting “creative”

Some people feel like they need to express creativity in order to get the job. While this is sometimes true, the risk of looking unprofessional almost always outweighs any potential benefits of looking creative.

Make sure that you do not:

• Use colors or shades of gray. You should use only black and white
• Include pictures or icons
• Use unconventional fonts such as Comic Sans

Don’t worry about not being able to express creativity in your resume. The interview is a better time to prove your creativity.

3. Imperfect date/location alignment

In Microsoft Word, if you need to align part of the text on a line to the right, like the date of a work experience, do not just use a bunch of spaces or tabs. Either use tables or right-aligned tabs. Aligning by just pressing the space bar several times will invariably produce dates that are not aligned correctly; even if it’s off by half a space, it will be noticeable.

4. Using overly technical terms

Did you use a Maxwell-Boltzman distribution to help model the in vitro effects of anti-mitotic drugs on endometrium cells? It doesn’t matter if you understand this; it matters if the recruiter can understand it.  Keep jargon to a minimum unless it’s something that an average consultant can understand (e.g. saying you used CRM software is fine). You should rephrase what you did so that it’s understandable and make sure any reader can see why it was significant.

For example, the above example might be re-written as “Modeled effect of an anti-cancer drug on human cells using advanced statistical methods, resulting in 40% more accurate cancer cell growth predictions and $50,000 additional budget allocation for drug research.”
Speaking using too much technical jargon will mean that you lack the communication skills necessary to interact with a diverse array of people that you would meet in a consulting career. One way to double-check your resume is showing it to a friend outside your current field or industry and seeing if, for each bullet point, they can understand 1. what you did and 2. why what you did was significant.
One caveat to the above: you also don’t want to make your description overly simplified. As an extreme example, “Conducted biology experiments using math” would be almost meaningless.

5. Creating overly long lists (of any kind)

As a consultant, you will definitely need prioritization skills. Making overly long lists of any kind is a big no and shows that you don’t know how to prioritize. Usually, this overwhelms the reader, and it will also be unclear which list items are more important and which are less important.

For example, you should not:

• List out 15 different software packages you know how to use. Instead, you should reduce this list to under 8 items (preferably less) by picking the ones you are best at, or the ones you think are considered valuable skills.
• List out 5 different scholarships you received. Instead, you should highlight the one or two most important scholarships, their selectivity, and how much funds you received in total.
• List out 10 different points under one work experience without sub-bullets. You should delete the less important points and optionally expand on the more important ones, or move some points to be sub-bullets under other related bullet points so that your resume looks more organized.
• List out 8 different student clubs you were involved with. It’s impossible that you were able to contribute significantly to every one of them. Instead, explain more about the clubs where you demonstrated leadership, teamwork, and initiative. It’s OK to list out 2 or 3 clubs in the Additional Information section if you don’t have space for them in the rest of your resume.

Stay tuned for more resume and cover letter tips coming up in future posts!

The site was down briefly on Thursday – minor database problems as I finally upgraded to the latest version of WordPress.

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.

This blog has been growing my leaps and bounds. I’ve really appreciated meeting readers and helping people in their quest to break into the consulting industry.

For new readers, consider subscribing to my RSS. It’s the most convenient way to receive blog updates – and expect a slew of content in the next few days

Here are my 5 favorite posts since starting Management Consulted

• Management Consulting versus Investment Banking – a time-honored question for undergraduate and MBA students across the world. I break it down into the 5 primary dimensions upon which these careers differ
• Day in the life of a management consultant – the day described here is one of the easier ones you’ll face, but provides a good view of client relations, team dynamics, and a typical day’s ebb and flow
• Life as a Consultant: An interview with a consultant from Booz Allen- one of my favorite interviews thus far, past ones have included McKinsey, ATK Shanghai, and Nortel. Booz guy does a great job discussing issues ranging from public sector consulting to the Booz recruiting process to career paths within the firm
• Overview of the management consulting recruiting process – ground zero for prospective consultants, this article gives a comprehensive view of each component in the typical recruiting cycle. While the perspective skews towards those currently in school, there are valuable insights regardless of your current position
• The Consulting Bible – no round-up of resources is complete without a plug for my in-depth interview guide. It’s not free, but there’s a 60-day return policy, plus free updates for life. My 2nd update will be coming in a few weeks!

Here’s a very useful case study primer, courtesy of Bill Blackwell and the Jesse Jones School of Management Consulting Club at Rice University. Pay particular attention to the case frameworks – there are a few very good ones

An interview with Social Geekette

I recently did an interview with Serena Wu on Social Geekette. We cover topics such as why I started Management Consulted, my experiences at McKinsey, and my views on blogging and the internet. Check it out here.

Questions for readers on a new project

After helping more than a hundred people with resumes and interview prep to break into consulting, the biggest issue I’ve noticed is that many people don’t have access to useful recruiting channels

It’s easy for Ivy Leaguers, for most MBA students, and for those already in consulting. But there’s a huge audience – experienced hires from different industries, those that go to non-target schools – that don’t have access to key resources like information sessions, campus recruiters, and the attention of consultants at their target firms.

The tentative title of this project is “How Anyone Can Break Into Management Consulting, Regardless Of Your School Or Current Job.”

It will be a comprehensive directory of consulting firms and emails/phone numbers for recruiters AND consultants at each firm. I plan to include tactics that people can use to get their resumes noticed and land interviews – such as actual call scripts and email templates. The focus is on boutique firms – because the big guys are much tougher to break into through non-traditional methods.

Having said that, I’d love to get reader feedback on 2 questions:

1. If you want to be a business consultant, what are your biggest concerns in breaking into the industry?
2. Have you entered consulting through non-traditional means, and if so, can you share your story? I’d love to feature some successful case studies

Thanks a million! I’d prefer if you contacted me directly with answers, particularly for the case studies. To incent responses, I’ll provide this book for free to anyone whose concerns, insights, and stories are incorporated (along with a free copy of The Consulting Bible, 2nd ed).

I hope everyone is enjoying their extended MLK holidays. Occasionally, I come across useful resources that I feel compelled to share.

The McKinsey Blogs Wiki. This is a compilation of blogs by alumni and current firm members. I’ve mentioned Marquis’ blog before as a great resource for aspiring consultants, but the others are worth a browse and cover a broad array of topics – from entrepreneurship to healthcare to potpourri.

This post continues my Core Articles series. You can read my previous post on Case Studies 101

Sizing questions are tough. They can be ambiguous, complex, and you’re expected to present a sound solution with minimal data. The following are examples of sizing questions:

• “How many rounds of golf are played in the U.S. annually?”
• “How many baseballs would fit into a Boeing 747?”

To master sizing questions, three skills are needed:

1. Concise, clear note-taking
2. Facility with numbers, units, and back-of-the-envelope calculations
3. Constant, live communication

What follows are the top 10 steps you must take to master those pesky sizing questions and impress any interviewer.

At the beginning…

1) Ask for 30 seconds to 1 minute upfront to gather your thoughts. Take this time to sketch out an early course of action and generate interviewer questions to clarify what’s being asked

On numbers and calculations…

2) Round your answers at each step. If a calculation results in 101 golf balls, use 100 golf balls for the next step. If your answer is $8200, use $8000. This will minimize future mistakes and communicate to the interviewer that you know what you’re doing. As long as rounding doesn’t change the answer by more than 10%, proceed.

3) When you need to make numerical assumptions, pick friendly numbers (eg, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, etc). For instance, if you need to estimate the percentage of people in the U.S. that play basketball, it’s better to assume 5% than 7%.

4) Clearly label units when taking notes. Don’t get units confused – it’s one of the most common mistakes in sizing questions. Don’t end up with an answer for the average calls/hour/user when the interviewer is actually asking for the average minutes/user/month. Yikes.

5) Avoid numerical ranges. If the question is “How many baseballs would fit into a Boeing 747?”, don’t start your thinking process by saying “First, I’d estimate the volume of a 747 to be between 10,000 and 20,000 cubic feet”. Stick with one number. Ranges provide unnecessary complication and will double the number of calculations.

6) Use a “sniff test” for each calculation. If the answer doesn’t feel right, communicate that doubt with the interviewer (eg, “The answer seems high to me”). Double-check assumptions and steps taken. If it still doesn’t feel right, it’s ok to move on, but make a note of this potential problem area.

On structuring and communicating…

7) It’s ok to communicate doubts and mistakes. If you mess up, here’s what to say:

“Hmm…something here’s not adding up right. Is it ok if I take a few steps back and rework my calculations?”

OR

“Hmm…this answer doesn’t look right. Do you think XYZ is too aggressive an assumption?”

You can insert any question in lieu of “too aggressive an assumption.” The key is that you’re not just asking what you’re doing wrong, you’re hypothesizing on the source of the error.

8) Read interviewer body language. As you’re communicating the steps taken, it can be easy to focus solely on your notepad and calculations. Periodically look-up to see how the interviewer is responding. If they have a quizzical look, it’s ok to continue, but again, make a note that this may be a problem area. If they’re nodding consistently, you’re in good shape.

9) Communicate each step clearly and concisely. Case studies and sizing questions are as much about communication skills as they are about problem-solving skills. What value is a great solution if you can’t persuade the client to implement your recommendations?

10) Don’t over-complicate the solution. In an attempt to impress the interviewer, applicants will often add unnecessary steps that lead to mistakes. Only complicate your solution when it leads to a qualitatively better response. Here’s an example:

If the question is “how many bottles of wine are consumed annually in the U.S.?” – separating wine consumers into an active consumers group (drink a glass everyday) vs a casual consumers group (drink a glass every week) is correct and makes a qualitative difference. Further segmenting into male vs female active consumers and male vs female casual consumers is an example of over-complication.