CV/Resume Writing for an MBB Consultant

Question

Dear All,

I am currently working at MBB and am about to apply job to different consulting firms in different region (not MBB). For now, I would not explain the reason.

Now I am opening my CV again and trying to incorporate my MBB experience there (explaining several bullet points regarding my case/work experience) What I would like to ask your suggestions is

1. What are the best practices when we write our MBB experience on the CV ? (e.g things should be emphasized, things that people overlook)

2. What are the best sources to see the examples?

3.What kind of projects should be emphasized on the CV ? How many bullet points max (assuming usually my other job only have 3-4 bullet points, but I believe MBB experience is the main highlight thus can go more)

4. Kindly let me know anything that might be useful for this exercise

5. Also, for the cover letter, any suggestions on how to tailor it?

Note: For now, I dont want people know I am applying other job thus I would not leverage people/resources at my firm

Thank you very much

Answer 1

Hi there,

1) What are the best practices when we write our MBB experience on the CV? (e.g things should be emphasized, things that people overlook)

Some of the key things to consider for a good CV are:

Use action verbs to describe the experiences (eg “Led…; Analyzed…) and use a structure of Action - Results
Quantify results. If you find it challenging to define numbers, you can use the number of clients/forecasted results
Show experience related to leadership or teamwork. A good number of candidates have points on problem-solving and drive to achieve results, but lack experiences related to working in a team.
Show relevant extracurricular activities and interests. They make the profile more interesting and help to show leadership skills when you are junior

You probably know this already, but typical red flags include:

Low GPA
Lack 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 gaps without any explanation

2) What are the best sources to see the examples?

Many schools have a career service section where they have samples of good CVs, you can check if that's the case for yours. Alternatively you should be able to find a few samples online with the structure above.

3) What kind of projects should be emphasized on the CV ? How many bullet points max (assuming usually my other job only have 3-4 bullet points, but I believe MBB experience is the main highlight thus can go more)

It depends on the project. For an ad-hoc review, many coaches do a session on CV improvement. Otherwise, you can post a sanitized version here in the Q&A to get feedback.

4) Kindly let me know anything that might be useful for this exercise

See point #1.

5) Also, for the cover letter, any suggestions on how to tailor it?

I would recommend this:

▶ How to Craft a Great Cover Letter

Good luck!

Francesco

Answer 2

Hi there,

Luckily almost every coach on this platform offers their immense expertise in crafting resumes and cover letters for their candidates!

Reach out and get their support!

Answer 3

Hello,

These are fairly general questions, and it sounds like you have a fair amount of experience at MBB. Generic advice is not going to go very far - the best advice for something like this should be specific to you, so I would recommend reaching out to a coach for a resume review. That way they can work with you to assess which of your projects should be emphasized, how to tailor your cover letter given your personal experiences, and so on. If you would be interested in a resume and cover letter review, feel free to reach out.

Answer 4

Dear candidate,

Great. For CV and resume, both super strongly, clearly showing you are a unique fut with great skills that suit the role you are applying for. Very structured, to the point focused on achievements, value add and your experience level.

Best regards,

Pope