19 year old wants to break into consulting in France

Hi Matteo,

I hope you're doing well!

Well done on pursuing your passions in sports and exploring that as a previous career avenue. Professional life is a series of career hypothesis you test till you figure out what you enjoy.

Yes, it is possible to join intern at Tier-2/MBB with a BSc in Management. There are three things I would focus on if I was in your shoes:

1. Networking: Find where Tier-2/MBB firms are recruiting on campus and in other business schools and make sure you introduce yourself to recruiters and share your story. 
2. Profile: Make sure your CV is written up to highlight the generalist business management skills over any technical details in sports (teamwork, budgeting, planning, financials).
3. Story: Think about what attracts you into consulting and what you learned from your sports experience to bridge the two worlds. It will help differentiate you from others.

Have you heard of Portas Consulting? They are a popular sports-consulting firm based in London founded by former MBB partners. It might be interesting for you to look into given your background.

Happy to help out,

Yousef

 

Hi Matteo,

Well done on starting early on with your preparation! In terms of your questions:

1) I want to know if it is realistic for me to think about getting a consulting summer internship at an MBB or a Tier-2 firm for the summer of 2025.

It is difficult to comment without having a look at your full profile, but assuming that (i) consulting firms do hire second-year students for internships and (ii) your application material is solid, you should have a chance.

2) What else would you recommend I do? Any tips?

If you would like to get an invitation from a top firm, you can work on 3 key things. I have listed them below.

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1) CV

The key elements they will look for and that you can optimize are:

• University brand
• Major
• GPA
• Work experience
• Experience abroad
• Extracurriculars and volunteer experience

Red flags include:

• Low GPA
• Lack of any kind of work experience
• Bad formatting / typos
• 3-4 pages length
• Lack of clear action --> results structure for the bullets of the experiences
• Long paragraphs (3-4 lines) for the bullets of the experiences with irrelevant details
• Long time gaps without any explanation

You can compensate for possible red flags with a referral (see point #3 below).

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2) COVER LETTER

You can structure a cover in 4 parts:

1. Introduction, mentioning the position you are interested in and a specific element you find attractive for that company.
2. Why you are qualified for the job, where you can report 3 skills/stories from your CV, ideally related to leadership, impact, drive and teamwork.
3. Why you are interested in that particular firm, with additional 1-2 specific reasons.
4. Final remarks, mentioning again your interest.

In part 2 you can write about experiences that show skills useful in consulting such as drive, problem-solving, leadership, teamwork and influencing others.

It is important that in part 3 you make your cover specific to a particular firm – the rule of thumb is, can you send the exact same cover to another consulting company if you change the name? If that’s the case, your cover is too generic.

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3) REFERRALS

To find a referral, you should follow three steps:

1. Identify the people who can help you
2. Write to them a customized email
3. Have a call and indirectly ask for a referral

You can find more information on networking and referrals here:

▶ How to Get an MBB Invitation 

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BONUS: INTERVIEW PREPARATION

After you managed to get an invitation you need to find out how to pass the interview. You can find more on that at the link below.

▶ How to Prepare for an MBB Interview

Good luck!

Francesco

Matteo,

You have a cool profile and the fact that you were in competitive sports is an asset, not a liability.

I worked with a few professional athletes over the past couple of years, transitioning into consulting (e.g., captain of the national basketball team). 

The important thing to get right is to know how to tell your story through your application (CV, CL) and through the chats you are having with recruiters and existing consultants (which will increase your probability of passing screening).

Aside from this, I'd already start identifying consulting-like work that you could do now in order to highlight this sort of experience on your CV and make you a more attractive candidate.

Sharing here two materials that might help you on this:

• Expert Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy
• Expert Guide: What Do Management Consultants Do?

And if you need more help, feel free to reach out. 

Best,
Cristian

Hi there,

I like how you approach this proactively! :-)

At this stage of your career, I would recommend the following:

1. Get tangible experience and polish your resume

• Make sure to keep your grades up
• Try to score some great internships with reputable companies in a department that is very analytical (finance, strategy) or a smaller consultancy
• Join a student consultancy or engage in any other extracurricular activity that builds both your skills and resume
• Go for an exchange term

2. Network

• Actively network with current consultants of target firms
• Attend events
• Try to get into a firm mentorship program

3. Prepare for interviews

• Build your case interview skills with the right resources in parallel
• Focus on structuring, math, and communication

Reach out if you need help in the process!

Cheers,

Florian

Consulting firms sell projects in the Sports industry as well (even yesterday I saw an MBB add looking for an Associate Partner focused on Sports…). So this is not a limitation. It's good that you join Consulting club… but no need to leave the Sports club.

I can't answer on the “getting a consulting offer with only an undergraduate degree”. But it is quite easy to check. Go to linkedIn, and start looking into the profiles of current and former consultants at your target firms. See if you find any that only had an undergrad.

Congrats on getting your focus so early.

No need to drop your sports interests - they will ultimately add more value than you are being led to believe.

There is always a chance to get where you want to - you just need to prepare well. CV, Cover Letters, Networking, Applications, Cases, Fit Answers, Interview Personality, and the lot.

If you would like a guided and mentored approach to preparation then you can engage a coach here on PrepLounge.