Consulting resume, what firms look for
A consulting resume is one clean page that shows what you did and why it mattered: the problems you solved, results in numbers, and the teams you led or started. McKinsey says it is interested in all your work, part-time jobs included, and most firms do not require a cover letter.
- Length
- One page
- As BCG and Deloitte ask
- Cover letter
- Usually optional
- Not required at McKinsey or BCG
- Bullets
- Action and result
- With a number where you can
- AI help
- Fine to polish
- Never to invent, McKinsey says
What consulting firms look for on a resume
McKinsey's recruiting team has said it plainly. Other firms say the same in fewer words.
What you did, and why it mattered
The problems you solved, how your work stood out, and the skills you learned or mastered.
Teamwork and leadership
Positions you held, how much responsibility you had, and how your role grew over time.
Results in numbers
McKinsey asks you to quantify the results you created. Deloitte says the same, with bullets and action verbs.
Things you started
Anything you founded, started or created, even outside a formal organization.
The resume, section by section
BCG asks for clear sections such as education, work experience, languages and interests. One page, in this order.
First
Education
School, degree and dates, then GPA, honors and test scores. Deloitte says to include a GPA over 3.2.
Second
Experience
Three or four bullets per role, each starting with an action verb and ending in a result. Part-time jobs count: McKinsey asks for your average hours a week.
Third
Leadership and activities
The role you held, how it grew and what changed because of you. Add awards, honors and fellowships here.
Last
Skills and interests
Optional. McKinsey says it won't help or hurt, but interests can start a conversation. Leave out common skills like Microsoft Word.
From McKinsey's careers blog.
12 resume bullets, weak to strong
The crossed-out line is how most first drafts read. Under it, the same experience written the way consulting recruiters ask for. Invented examples.
Work experience
What you produced, the number, and what happened next.
Responsible for market research on a client project.
Sized the US market for home EV chargers at $2.1B with a bottom-up model, which the client used to set its three-year sales target.
Names the output, gives the number and says what the client did with it.
Helped the team with financial analysis.
Built the cost model for a 40-store retailer that found $3M in freight savings, the largest item in the final recommendation.
Your own piece of the work, sized, and why it mattered to the team.
Worked on a reporting dashboard.
Combined three sales systems into one weekly dashboard, cutting the report from two days to two hours for 15 regional managers.
Before and after, and who benefits. Tools only if they matter to the job.
Assisted senior analysts with due diligence.
Ran 12 customer interviews in a three-week due diligence and wrote the churn section of the final report.
Scope and speed in one line, and the part that was yours.
Presented findings to management.
Recommended a pricing change to the CFO that was approved and raised gross margin 1.5 points in the first quarter.
A presentation matters for what it changed, so lead with the decision.
Leadership and activities
The role, how it grew, and the result.
President of the consulting club.
Led a 30-member consulting club, doubled pro bono projects to eight a year and started its first alumni mentoring program.
A title says you were chosen. The line after it says what you did with it.
Member of student government.
Elected treasurer of a $250K student budget and rewrote the funding rules so 40 more clubs qualified.
Responsibility in money and people, then the change you made.
Organized a hackathon.
Founded a 200-person campus hackathon, raised $15K from six sponsors and ran it two years before handing it on.
McKinsey asks for things you started. Size, money raised and that it outlasted you.
Volunteer math tutor.
Started a math tutoring program at a local high school for 25 students, and the pass rate rose from 60% to 85% in a year.
Volunteer work counts. Give it the same shape as a job.
Part-time and other work
McKinsey wants all meaningful work, not just business roles.
Barista.
Barista, 20 hours a week during term. Trained six new staff and ran the morning shift for a store serving 400 customers a day.
Hours a week, as McKinsey asks, plus the responsibility you were given.
Research assistant in a lab.
Research assistant, 15 hours a week. Wrote the data pipeline for a three-year study of 10,000 patients, credited as co-author.
Research reads as problem solving when you say what you built and what it enabled.
Served in the army.
Platoon leader for 35 soldiers. Planned logistics for a six-week deployment with no equipment losses.
Military service is meaningful work to McKinsey. Lead with the people and the stakes.
What the firms say about resumes
From each firm's own careers pages.
McKinseyResume tips, no cover letter
Keep your resume concise, clear, consistent and clean. Be honest about what you led, created and contributed to, highlight awards and honors, and include part-time work with average weekly hours. For most positions it does not require cover letters.
McKinsey: what (not) to do on your resumeMcKinsey, advanced degreesAcademic CVs welcome
PhD and other advanced degree candidates need not use a business format. Include all teamwork, leadership and entrepreneurship, and give test scores even if they are low. Leave out references and paper summaries.
McKinsey: tips for advanced degree candidatesBCGOne page, business style
BCG's resume guidance for advanced degree candidates is about a one-page, business style resume.
BCG: advanced degree candidatesBCG, United StatesCover letter optional
Cover letters are not required for Summer or Full-Time applications. You are welcome to add one under other documents.
BCG: US associate opportunitiesDeloitteOne page, numbers
Keep it to one page, include a GPA over 3.2, quantify achievements, use bullets and action verbs, and tailor it to the job without stretching the truth.
Deloitte: make your resume stand outThen defend every line, out loud
McKinsey says its interviewers examine past accomplishments in depth. Practice walking through your background with an AI interviewer that asks what you did and why it mattered.
Questions people ask
Should a consulting resume be one page?
Yes for most candidates. BCG points to a one-page, business style resume and Deloitte says one page. McKinsey says PhD and other advanced degree candidates can send an academic CV instead.
Do I need a cover letter for consulting?
Usually not. McKinsey does not require one for most positions, and BCG does not require one for US Summer or Full-Time applications. Add one only if you have something the resume can't say. The consulting cover letter template has a builder and three short examples.
Should I put my GPA and test scores on my resume?
Deloitte says to include a GPA over 3.2. McKinsey's application asks for test scores, and for advanced degree candidates it says giving them, even if low, beats leaving them out.
Should I include part-time jobs?
Yes. McKinsey says it is interested in everything from retail work to research, and asks you to include your average hours worked per week.
Can I use AI to write my consulting resume?
To polish it, yes. McKinsey lists polishing your resume with AI as encouraged, and exaggerating or creating achievements that aren't yours as not allowed.
Do I need a skills section?
It is optional. McKinsey says it won't help or hurt, and that common skills like Microsoft Word can be left out. Interests can start a conversation in the interview.