CV differences: experienced hire CV vs. entry level CV

Hi,

Sharing my thoughts based on my own experience back then crafting my CV after ~3 years at T2

1. Structure differences
   • Given you are now an experienced hire, work experience becomes a lot more important than education → I would shift work experience as the first section on top, versus education on top (which is quite common for college students)
2. Internship descriptions
   • I would say that just mentioning a headline internship without any bulletpoints is not very meaningful / significant
   • Again, given that your most relevant experience now is T2, internships become less relevant. Depending on the strength of your internships I would suggest that you could prioritize the best intenrship and build out ~1 bulletpoint at least for it
3. Project descriptions
   • This really depends on where you are trying to apply to and for what role
   • You need to use your consulting experience to highlight the relevant skills and traits that are needed in the job
   • I would always prefer to include as many projects as possible to show the breadth / depth of work that I've done
   • The only scenario that I would include just 2 bullet points would be if I was applying for a specific role and I really only had 2 experiences that are actually relevant… but most of the time if you are applying to corp strat or MBB there is no reason why your 6 projects wouldn't be relevant

Hope this helps!

Hi there,

As you prepare for your exit make sure to get your resume professionally reviewed! Also make sure to network extensively to transition optimally.

1. How does the structure of my “exit-CV” differ from my entry level CV in general?

The same “rules” apply (good template, strong bullet points, consistency, good spacing, etc.). It will differ as your 2.5 years of work experience will be fleshed out and more emphasis made on your career (with less on education/extracirriculars)

2. I have three previous internships that i had previously described with two bullets each. Is it enough now to just mention the internships and use the space for my current consulting position?

It depends! I'd have to see your resume. A resume is crafted. That means we take the best possible experiences and make them as strong as possible. We cut the ones the detract/distract.

As time goes on I condensed my internships into just 1 bullet point. Then I removed some (the less impressive ones). Now, I don't have any of them!

3. For the description of my consulting role: i have completed >6 projects. should i try to mention the variety of projects i made or rather focus on two of my most impactful projects?

Again, I'd need to see your resume as it depends. You might decide to list all 6 if it makes sense. Or take the top 4. OR, you could summarize a few into 1 bullet point.

Feel free to book a half coaching session and I'll help optimize it for you!

Here's some more reading to help while you apply:

How to Get a Consulting Internship - Tips and Tricks
 

Application Tracker – Keep Track With This Free Template

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on your career trajectory thus far!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your questions:

• First of all, your current CV should obviously reflect your evolved skill set and professional experiences. Unlike an entry-level CV, which often focuses more on educational achievements, your current CV should focus more on tangible work results and skills developed. It's crucial to emphasize how your consulting experience has shaped your problem-solving, analytical, and project management abilities.
• Moreover, regarding your internships, it might be sensible to condense these experiences, depending on the overall CV. Given your full-time consulting experience, briefly mentioning the internships while allocating more space to detail your current role is a wise approach.
• Lastly, when describing your consulting role, it's a delicate balance. Ideally, highlight the variety of projects to demonstrate your adaptability and breadth of experience. However, emphasize the most impactful projects to illustrate your ability to deliver significant results. This combination showcases both your versatility and your capacity for high-impact work.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare your application files, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hello, 

Good question! 

1. For experience hire, Professional experience would now be put first ahead of Education in general. The overall structure otherwise doesn't change much outside of this. 

2. In terms of focus & space allocated to experiences, think about what will help you land the next role you want. I think with 2.5y of experience in Consulting you can still afford to have a few bullets at least for the past 2 internship (1st one you can shrink). You don't want to have current consulting be 60% of your resume either, it should be only pertinent information and easy to read / grasp ideas you want to share. 

3. Here it becomes interesting - while it is good to have done a lot of things in Consulting, depending on the next opportunity you look for, all of them will rarely connect. I think it is best to have one or two bullets summarizing breadth of topics covered and then focus on detailing 2 or 3 impactful projects related to your exit focus. 

Happy to chat if you have more questions! I also do Exit planning coaching for post-consulting and how to land the job you want. 
Cheers, 
Nicolas 

Hi there,

1) How does the structure of my “exit-CV” differ from my entry level CV in general?

I would use the same structure updating the points, with work experience first, as mentioned by the other coaches. In particular, if you had leadership or stakeholder management experiences while in consulting, I would emphasize them in the new CV.

2) I have three previous internships that I had previously described with two bullets each. Is it enough now to just mention the internships and use the space for my current consulting position?  

If you want to report the experience, I would leave at least one bullet for each, otherwise it is not possible to know much about what you did and the whole experience won’t be particularly useful.

3) For the description of my consulting role: I have completed >6 projects. should I try to mention the variety of projects I made or rather focus on two of my most impactful projects?

I would focus on the experiences that showcase the strengths you want to emphasize. For most jobs, these include leadership, stakeholder management, the ability to start and implement new activities/projects and problem-solving. Therefore, I would select the experiences from the six projects that best demonstrate these qualities (or whatever quality the job you want to apply to requires).

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

To your questions:

Q1: How does the structure of my “exit-CV” differ from my entry level CV in general?

You just upgrade it with your most recent experience during your last 2,5 years.

Q2: I have three previous internships that i had previously described with two bullets each. Is it enough now to just mention the internships and use the space for my current consulting position?

Difficult to say without seeing the full CV. If you had relevant things to mentions around those internships (type of work, company names, etc.), I would suggest you keep separate bullets for each.

Q3: For the description of my consulting role: i have completed >6 projects. should i try to mention the variety of projects i made or rather focus on two of my most impactful projects?

Rather than the variety of project, try to focus on skills and impacts. If you can do this in 3-4 bullets is better than listing all projects (unless you think you have done different things on each one worth mentioning).

Best,

Alberto

Hi there!

I see you already received answers to the questions you've asked, so I am adding here a couple of extra tips. 

1. Turn on the setting on LinkedIn which shows recruiters that you're looking for opportunities (but which doesn't make it visible to non-recruiter profiles). 

2. Reach out to 2-3 headhunters in your region who ideally specialise in the area that you're looking into. Inform them of what you're looking for. You'll also be able to do this over LinkedIn. 

3. Lastly, reach out to alumni of your firm who moved into your industry of choice and understand from them what they had to do to make it happen. 

Best of luck!
Cristian

1. Your professional experience should come first (internships included), whereas academics tend to take the top for an entry CV

2. You should have at least a bullet point per internship (explaining what you did)

3. This depends on where you are applying to. For a generic CV, you should list those ~6 projects (2 line bullets each). For a position-specific CV, you should put the most relevant experiences on top, detail a bit more, and possibly remove the least interesting / applicable projects. In any case, please note that you don't need to list every project.