Your resume is the first and only thing that the company will see to qualify you for an interview for a consulting job/internship. It’s very important to make the person seeing your resume believe that you are a good fit for the role and an avid learner. Here are some things to write in your resume, .mentioned section-wise, which will make you look a promising candidate. Remember that the purpose of your resume is to get you an interview, after that it’s only your interview answers that decide whether you get the job or not.

For experience section:

Do an online internship from companies like Deloitte, KPMG, Accenture from The Forage. It’s a website where you can do virtual experience programs, some of which are listed as internship. There is no interview or resume submission. You can simply do it as an online course for free, and you will get a legitimate certificate of completion of internship. Don’t list more than 2 such internships on your resume.

Write a freelancing project you did for a startup/local business and write it as a freelance consulting project. (If you haven’t done it, go ahead and do it now). A freelancing project will show that you went ahead and did something for consulting out of your passion. You can do something like helping a startup reach more customers by making a marketing plan for their services.

Write atleast 2 projects/internship you did either as part of your coursework or independently which show your hard skills. (Hard skills means proficiency in a tool/programming language. Example: Excel, Python,

For Education section:

Do online courses from Coursera/Udemy related to consulting and mention them in your Certifications/Key Courses sub-section. Choose courses that help you develop key soft skills. PwC’s Analysis and Presentations Skills is a good one. Yale University’s course on negotiation is also a good one.

Don’t write your GPA is it’s not a good one.

For Skills section:

Some potential skills to write: Excel, Powerpoint, Negotiation (this is something not many people will write, make sure you’re ready to prove it in interview), Public Speaking, Data analysis and presentation

Watch a foreign language’s youtube tutorials (like Mandarin or French) and mention that you have Beginners level proficiency in it. This adds a level of uniqueness to you, since not many will have it. You should learn enough to show in an interview that you have made some effort in learning it.

For Awards and Achievements Section:

Search for Business Plan competitions and submit your entry to them. If you make one decent proposal and send it to several competitions, chances are that you will reach the finals of a few of them. You’ll be surprised to know that most B-Plan competitions don’t usually get many applicants. If your proposal is decent, you will definitely make it, at least to the finals.

For Hobbies and Interests section

You should be truthful in this. Definitely write any things that you enjoy doing, but don’t write listening to music, watching movies, or any leisure activity where you are completely inactive. Things like gardening, photography, blogging etc are good hobbies to mention.

Paragraph 1, Here you answer “Why you want to be in consulting?”

Consulting is more than just giving advice. It’s about challenging problems, the ones which aren’t the cup of tea of everyone.

It is this challenging environment that lures me. The sophisticated approach that brings out the best outcome for every stakeholder in a project, is something I believe, no individual should miss out learning.

Learning is a constant process in life, but not everyone gets the chance to grow at the speed that one would desire. The diverse skill sets that the job of a consultant requires makes one to upskill everyday.

In the past, I’ve talked to startup founders and brainstormed with them to identify solutions that we could implement to solve specific issues. Seeing the positives outcomes of my contributions has been one of the most satisfying accomplishments I’ve had. Having that as my career, I could have that sense of accomplishment every single moment.

Paragraph 2, here you answer the question “Why McKinsey (or Bain/BCG/Deloitte etc)?”

The company introduction talk made it very clear that McKinsey & Company works on projects that create a significant impact. There is constant exchange of ideas between senior management and associates, which sustains constant learning. With the unique culture that the company inculcates, it is not surprising that it is constantly voted as among the best places to work for. McKinsey is the epitome of management consulting, it has survived the tests of time, and I definitely want to be a part of this great organisation.

Paragraph 3, here you answer the question “Why you are suited?”

I spent my summers of 2019 at Deloitte, where I got to know consulting up close. My responsibilities there were primarily in my vertical, but from interactions with other co-workers, I got a sense of each of their roles’ daily routine and tasks.

In my most recent internship, with ABC Technologies (a startup to enable brands to generate more leads and help them in business development), in addition to my core responsibilities, I worked on identifying specifics of our approach and suggesting methods to improve our offerings and gain competitive edge over our competitors. The pre-placement offer they gave me was more due to this work than my main project.

A company like yours receives hundreds of job applications each day and I’m sure for this opening as well there are hundreds contesting for the few positions, but what makes me stand out from them is my domain knowledge that I gained from the countless discussions I’ve had with your company’s employees and alumni, and my past projects. I believe my experience makes me closer to the the expectations from the ideal candidate for this job, than most other applicants.

Conclusion

My interest in consulting is not due to the perks it brings, but due to the opportunities to learn and grow myself. I’m aware of the late working hours, lots of powerpoints, and many other things which don’t sound appealing. However, with me being in my early twenties and filled with the passion and energy to learn, this might be the only time in my life I can give my 110% to the organisation I join and supersede my employer’s expectations.