What do top tier consulting firms look for in resumes?

Basically three things:

1. Big brand name employers or schools


2. Academic performance (GPA)


3. Evidence of leadership and people management skills

1) Big Brand Name Employers or Schools

If you're an Associate making $150,o00 – $200,000 USD per year, your employer is probably billing you out to clients at $600,000 USD/year. That's $50,000 USD/month. The client is going to want to know what and who they are getting for that kind of money. When the answer is John or Jane Doe, who has a BS from Dartmouth, a MD from Yale and MBA from Harvard, clients respond with an "Oh wow… that's impressive" comment. It makes it easier to get new clients to say "yes". Now plenty of people get into the top firms (McKinsey included) that do NOT have such a perfect ivy pedigree… but if you got it, make sure it is OBVIOUS (it will help a lot).

Let me explain the thought process some of these biases. The thinking is that only super high achievers get into the top schools… and the top firms REALLY like hiring super high achievers. This is not to say that the firms do not hire from non-target schools (they do), but they assume the highest achievers from non-target schools will work really hard to contact the firm (generally via networking) — thus demonstrating their determination.

In addition, it is very expensive for the firms to do on campus recruiting. So they stick to schools where the offer rate vs. applicant ratio is high (high being defined as greater than 1%… For example, Stanford (undergrad) is a target school and my year 400 students applied for full time jobs, 6 offers were extended… and this was considered a very successful recruiting ratio by McKinsey).

As a point of reference, when I was recruited by McKinsey, I heard a rumor that the firm spent $100,000 USD in recruiting expense to hire ONE Business Analyst. This figure included all billable hours of interviewers and consultants who go to on campus recruiting events as well as "hard" costs for travel, renting conference rooms, hotels, etc…

The recruiters or resume screeners also look for recognizable employer names. It is easier to understand a candidate's accomplishment via the implied credibility of the employer name and it is also easier to convey to clients.

It is the same reason everyone wants to work for MBB – McKinsey, Bain or Boston Consulting Group — it implies something on your resume that stays with you forever. To this day, I am know as a Stanford Grad and an Ex-McKinsey "Guy". It is how I am introduced formally or informally when I give speeches. It stays with you for a very long time.

2) Academic Performance (GPA)

The top firms want to know if you are smart. It helps to put your GPA on your resume. If you do not, they will either 1) ask you for it anyways and write it by hand on your resume after you submit it, or 2) assume it is low and assess your resume accordingly. If your schools grading system is not well understood by others, you should explain the grading scale your school uses. Most US schools use a 4.0 GPA system – perfect marks is a 4.0 GPA out of a possible 4.0. If yours is different or you are applying from one country to an office in a different country, then you want to put on your resume some way for the reader to interpret your GPA (put your rank or put your %… like top 1% of class, something along those lines).

For applicants coming out of college, many firms will ask for your transcript to see your specific grades on specific classes. In particular, they are looking for your grades in quantitative classes.

3) Evidence of Leadership & People Skills

Being smart (factors #2 and #3 above) is not enough to do well as a consultant. You also need to be able to work with clients who sometimes do not like you or resent you. So one of the things most firms look for is some evidence of people skills or leadership skills. The firms want to know you can handle a difficult interpersonal situation — especially any one involving high stress, deadlines, inter-personal conflicts. You will get asked about these kinds of leadership scenarios in your interview. They also look for it in your resume and consulting cover letters too. If you have these experiences, PUT IT IN THE RESUME. It is a big mistake if you do not.

These experiences can include: Extra-curricular activities. Specific experiences at a particular job (especially people-skill type accomplishments that might not normally be valued by other employers in that industry, but would be valued by consulting firms.) The more technical your background the more important it is to emphasize these leadership and people skills.

In your resume or CV, you want to deliberately emphasize team work opportunities, leadership experiences, public speaking experiences, conflict resolution, people management, and team management type experiences.

I would echo CriticalMass's answer. People at these firms are screening hundreds and hundreds of resumes. To do this efficiently, they are looking for a few key things:

1) Numbers: I think this is not only your GPA (top 1%, as close to 4.0 as possible, especially your departmental GPD), but also standardized test scores (e.g., SAT scores in top 95th percentile), and how you did on challenging courses. Recruiters are focused on specific schools so they also know what courses to look out for, e.g., CS 50 is difficult at Harvard yet you managed to get an A (this might compensate for you having a slightly lower overall GPA), Robert George’s "Constitutional Interpretation" is difficult at Princeton, etc.

2) Top schools and internships: Have you gone to a top undergraduate institutions? Have you done a junior summer internship at a prestigious / well-known firm?

3) Leadership initiative and team work: Have you led/initiated an effort? Have you had to work in teams? You should definitely have these experiences on your resume, but they'll also come in handy in the interviews.