How to break into the interview? or pass the resume filtering?

Question

Hi All,

my intro: I am a graduate student from Columbia University. My previous experience was in headhunter industry(top recruitment companies, 5 years), basically about communication, project management, negotiation, recruitment for senior roles. Then I went into a 1-year master program (master of public administration) at Columbia in 2022 and I missed out the chance to get into the usual school recruitment process(I didn't realized it started exact the same time when I got into Columbia, because recruitment started 1 year early) well, i went to Columbia Business School to join the case competition and my team won the 1st prize. Then I prepared cases, resumes and applied for many consulting jobs, probably 200? Unfortunately I didnt hear back from any consulting jobs. My friend from MBB NYC also revised my resume already, and I have already connected with employees from different consulting firms but didnt get referrals all the time as some companies have stopped sponsored international students since 2023. I did my internship at the United Nations for 6 months afterwards, I was unhappy as I am still very keen to get into consulting but I really can't get any interviews.

Currently I find one paid agency service which can help me to revise resume, teach me industry knowledge and prepare interview for me. I have 2 questions here.

1. This agent finds someone who has worked for Deloitte and EY for 6 years (I dont know the title) should I ask him to revise the resume which has been revised by someone from MBB? my friend graduated from Wharton, Harvard. And this agent provides someone who graduated from indiana university bloomington (master and bachelor) I think a recruiter from consulting is more helpful than such employees?

2.Do you know any agent like this, such as My Consulting Offer MCO? Will that be helpful for someone who is an international student without too much American experience before to land a job/break into the interviews here. If not, I probably will leave US and try to get into consulting in my home country. I know my advantages are limited here even if my friends said I should stay.

Answer 1

Hi there!

Tough situation.

Basically, you need to think about your approach to applications as a funnel.

First of all, you need a broad funnel. Meaning, lots of application.

Then, you need to optimise the funnel, meaning, to develop high-quality applications that have a high chance of passing screening. That means:

1. Great CV. About 2% of the CVs I review are ready to be sent out. Most likely yours also needs help.

2. A Cover Letter that tells your story beyond the CV. Recruiters have even stopped asking for cover letters because the majority of people write them with ChatGPT and that makes them useless. But if you write an amazing cover letter that tells your story well, that will go a long way.

3. Referrals. Getting a referral from somebody who is your target office increases significantly the chances of you passing screening

4. Being in contact with the recruiter. Check in with the recruiter from your target office to understand whether they are accepting applications at the moment. It often happens that people get rejected because the firm was not even looking into hiring more people.

Sharing below a couple of additional articles to help with the points above:

Best,
Cristian

Answer 2

Hi there,

Before I answer the below, you need to do the following:

Network a ton (as in, not just 1 person here and there)
Get a super strong resume (make sure this person is good)
Get “easy” consulting-related experience to add to your profile
Get a strong cover letter (mass produced)
Apply to a ton of firms

1. This agent finds someone who has worked for Deloitte and EY for 6 years (I dont know the title) should I ask him to revise the resume which has been revised by someone from MBB? my friend graduated from Wharton, Harvard. And this agent provides someone who graduated from indiana university bloomington (master and bachelor) I think a recruiter from consulting is more helpful than such employees?

Hm. This is ONE person…

You need to be speaking to hundreds.

Try to avoid playing whack a mole.

You need a hollistic, rapid-fire, large-scale networking and application plan

2.Do you know any agent like this, such as My Consulting Offer MCO? Will that be helpful for someone who is an international student without too much American experience before to land a job/break into the interviews here. If not, I probably will leave US and try to get into consulting in my home country. I know my advantages are limited here even if my friends said I should stay.

Quite honestly, I've heard bad things.

I promise, I'm not trying to sell, but just be careful on WHO you pick. The person in the below review went with one of those big platforms (can't recall which one). Just make sure you vet the person helping you properly!

Answer 3

Personally, I think someone helping with your resume is not really going to go that far towards securing a job. The economy is tight and as you said, many firms are not sponsoring visas right now in the US making it very difficult to land a job in consulting. McKinsey for example is likely to layoff over 3000 consultants this year (although they are calling it ‘performance related cuts.’)

If you have good opportunities in your home country it is definitely worth exploring those further at this point. Or alternatively you can look at sectors in the US that are currently hiring (Healthcare, Public sector etc.)

Best,

Udayan

Answer 4

1. It is positive to have your CV reviewed by multiple people. But if you are paying to have your CV reviewed, it should be by someone who has strong credentials or experience. Not sure that is the case.

2. I don't like MCO model. I've described my concerns in other questions, but in short is around incentives misalignment - but I have no insight on the real quality of their services.

Honestly, I believe you can better service (and price) from some of the high-quality and reputable coaches around here. And definitely more customized to your specific needs.

Finally around networking… as other coaches said, you need to network a lot in order to get those interviews.

Answer 5

Hi,

I would say someone who has worked in the firms you are targeting and has been an actual reviewer would be the best candidate to review your CV.

Second