A Management Consultant CV, any good?
Discussion
I am going to graduate this year from Kings University with either a 1st or a 2.1. and we are currently applying to firms. Unlike what seems everyone else on my management degree course, I would like to go into management consultancy. I have prepared a CV and was hoping for some opinions on it. Obviously i have ommitted a few names etc from it, but this is pretty much a finished copy.
Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Job Objective: Pursue a career in management consultancy to develop and improve upon my skills in leadership, business processes and decision making.
Education
Kings College London, 2003 – 2006
BSc Business Management
Courses Undertaken: Communication Skills, Principles of Marketing, Finance and Accounting, Social Context of Work, Qualitative and Quantitative Methods 1 and 2, Organisational Analysis, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Production and Quality Management, Information Management, Law and Management, Marketing Management, Financial Management, Industrial Organisation, Management Accounting, Applied Economics, Investment Management, International Business, Business Ethics, Management Control, The Labour Market, International Finance, Governance and Accountability.
XXXX School, 1987 – 2002
A Level’s
Business Studies A
Economics A
Geography A
Information Technology A
Received school awards for; Parson Prize for Business, Halliwell Prize for IT, and Headmasters Prize for Most Outstanding A Level Results.
Professional Experience
XXX, 6weeks during summer 2005, and 2004
Project leader
• Recruited to manage and complete outstanding projects around the site by specific deadlines
• Enlist a team of staff as required to complete each project
• Control the funding for the project and acquire the necessary equipment
• Liaise with management, health and safety, and company director
• Shadow Factory Manager to develop understanding of the role
• Training on management understanding of CAD designs
XXX, national builder’s merchant
8 months during Gap Year 2002 – 2003
Stock allocation expediter
• Communicate with store managers, branch managers and senior personal and coordinate logistic movements.
• Assist in the development of a stock relocation system to minimise stock purchases and implement. The system was estimated to save £600k per year
• Undertook my own development of a revised data entry method with excellent results
XXX, national firm of Solicitors
4 weeks during summer 2002
Customer services advisor
• Provide an intermediary service over the telephone, between the solicitors and customers
• Advice customers where possible, and try to free up time for the solicitors
Personal Interest
Motor racing
• Currently race a Porsche in the British national Porsche club
• Achieved numerous pole positions, always podium finishes, and lap records throughout the 2005 season.
• Secured sponsorship for the vehicle, and organised all aspects of the racing. This includes managing the budget for the season, organising preparation and repairs for the vehicle, and planning both testing, and race timetables.
Rugby
• Joined the university rugby team in my second year.
• Played throughout my time at secondary school.
• University rugby has been competitive and hard work, but has provided me with a fantastic social life unmatched by many of the other societies.
Skiing
• Regular ski and snowboard trips abroad
• These have been with family, friends and school trips, with a university trip planned for the Easter break to France.
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES AND RELATED DATA AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
Any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Job Objective: Pursue a career in management consultancy to develop and improve upon my skills in leadership, business processes and decision making.
Education
Kings College London, 2003 – 2006
BSc Business Management
Courses Undertaken: Communication Skills, Principles of Marketing, Finance and Accounting, Social Context of Work, Qualitative and Quantitative Methods 1 and 2, Organisational Analysis, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Production and Quality Management, Information Management, Law and Management, Marketing Management, Financial Management, Industrial Organisation, Management Accounting, Applied Economics, Investment Management, International Business, Business Ethics, Management Control, The Labour Market, International Finance, Governance and Accountability.
XXXX School, 1987 – 2002
A Level’s
Business Studies A
Economics A
Geography A
Information Technology A
Received school awards for; Parson Prize for Business, Halliwell Prize for IT, and Headmasters Prize for Most Outstanding A Level Results.
Professional Experience
XXX, 6weeks during summer 2005, and 2004
Project leader
• Recruited to manage and complete outstanding projects around the site by specific deadlines
• Enlist a team of staff as required to complete each project
• Control the funding for the project and acquire the necessary equipment
• Liaise with management, health and safety, and company director
• Shadow Factory Manager to develop understanding of the role
• Training on management understanding of CAD designs
XXX, national builder’s merchant
8 months during Gap Year 2002 – 2003
Stock allocation expediter
• Communicate with store managers, branch managers and senior personal and coordinate logistic movements.
• Assist in the development of a stock relocation system to minimise stock purchases and implement. The system was estimated to save £600k per year
• Undertook my own development of a revised data entry method with excellent results
XXX, national firm of Solicitors
4 weeks during summer 2002
Customer services advisor
• Provide an intermediary service over the telephone, between the solicitors and customers
• Advice customers where possible, and try to free up time for the solicitors
Personal Interest
Motor racing
• Currently race a Porsche in the British national Porsche club
• Achieved numerous pole positions, always podium finishes, and lap records throughout the 2005 season.
• Secured sponsorship for the vehicle, and organised all aspects of the racing. This includes managing the budget for the season, organising preparation and repairs for the vehicle, and planning both testing, and race timetables.
Rugby
• Joined the university rugby team in my second year.
• Played throughout my time at secondary school.
• University rugby has been competitive and hard work, but has provided me with a fantastic social life unmatched by many of the other societies.
Skiing
• Regular ski and snowboard trips abroad
• These have been with family, friends and school trips, with a university trip planned for the Easter break to France.
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES AND RELATED DATA AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
Eric Mc said:
Read the new book "Rip Off" by David Craig.
A bit of an insight into the Management Consultancy world.
Not just management consultancy but most advisory work sold by large organisations!
lewistintin - check out this link www.ir35calc.co.uk/Writing_Killer_CV.aspx
It's IT centric but has some good ideas to let you organise your CV & think through how you are going to present yourself.
One quick comment after flicking through your cv, your professional experience reads like a job description rather than what you actually did. Make it sound like you did those things & did them well. The race experience looks pretty good. Emphasise the planning parts & general proactivity & that will stand you in good stead.
Where you say things like "Undertook my own development of a revised data entry method with excellent results" - quantify the benefits e.g. processing cycle was reduced from 3 hours to 2 hours/33% improvement in efficiency + accuracy etc. That's the sort of stuff they love.
Entry to MC can be tough as everyone wants to do it. You need to make sure your CV is watertight as the recruiters can afford to be picky. Things like "Senior personal" rather than personnel will get noticed by them. I'm not having a dig - you have plenty of good stuff to say & there is plenty on there to set you above many grads.
It's a great career (I've flitted in & out of it for last 5 years) and is rewarding financially & in breadth of experience gained. Other things to consider are that it is hard work, 50+ hours per week when things are not too busy. Usually lots of travel away from home & staying in hotels which is good for a week or so but annoying after a few years of disruption to social life.
Most of all, good luck!
This is probably why Mckinsey and most other firms spend two years training you up. You then spend more time learning "on the job" as it were. And they only pick a tiny amount of people to do the job (ie the best in the country).
besides which, an argument on graduates not being qualified to do a job is ridiculous. Fund managers for the biggest investment funds in the world are typically early 30's. Which means they have run relatively large funds throughout there twenties.
I really dont think age is such a big deal anymore when you are in a position to cream off the best educated and most talented people in the country to do a job.
Bit of rant, but its the kind of argument my dad says, and its annoying cause its such a generalisation of all 'young people'
besides which, an argument on graduates not being qualified to do a job is ridiculous. Fund managers for the biggest investment funds in the world are typically early 30's. Which means they have run relatively large funds throughout there twenties.
I really dont think age is such a big deal anymore when you are in a position to cream off the best educated and most talented people in the country to do a job.
Bit of rant, but its the kind of argument my dad says, and its annoying cause its such a generalisation of all 'young people'
lewistintin said:
besides which, an argument on graduates not being qualified to do a job is ridiculous.
I don't think it is an argument about being qualified to do a job, it is whether they actually have the experience to provide the consultancy. The big consultancies all tend to employ bright graduates who have to rapidly move 'up the ladder', spending far too little time on any one area. Therefore, they do charge a lot for training their staff at their client's expense. There is no substitute for experience in my opinion.
lewistintin said:
"Unlike what seems everyone"..."have ommitted a few "...."improve upon my "......"there twenties"....."annoying cause"....."the best educated "
Education used to include spelling and grammar. As someone else pointed out, spelling errors in your CV will (usually) be picked up by professional recruiters.
lewistintin said:
its such a generalisation of all 'young people'
Sorry, poor spelling is another generalisation of (not just) young people that I'm prepared to make.
None of my comments above are suggesting that you can't be a good consultant in time so please take them in the (helpful) way they are intended.
There are plenty of potential clients out there for you in the future but ensure you can a) listen b) demonstrate you understand their business c) demonstrate profesionalism. MC is a very interesting career and being on the 'business' side of things is far more rewarding than being purely on the technical side of consultancy.
>> Edited by cirks on Tuesday 1st November 16:00
lewistintin said:
This is probably why Mckinsey and most other firms spend two years training you up.
Yep. Expect to spend time as a "grunt". If you join up with a firm like Accenture they'll "insert the chip" (old "Andersen 'Android' humour) and turn you out the way they like.
Being a Consultant can be very well remunerated, eventually. But bear in mind you are being financially compensated for having a terrible life and selling your soul to the firm.
Its not something to do forever. Five to ten years and out - hopefully with a nice job in senior management in one of the Clients. (This happens a LOT!).
Or you can get impatient and start your own business with the contacts you've made along the way. I did that - takes longer to adjust your life back to something sustainable but it can be worth it.
lewistintin said:
This is probably why Mckinsey and most other firms spend two years training you up. You then spend more time learning "on the job" as it were. And they only pick a tiny amount of people to do the job (ie the best in the country).
besides which, an argument on graduates not being qualified to do a job is ridiculous. Fund managers for the biggest investment funds in the world are typically early 30's. Which means they have run relatively large funds throughout there twenties.
I really dont think age is such a big deal anymore when you are in a position to cream off the best educated and most talented people in the country to do a job.
Bit of rant, but its the kind of argument my dad says, and its annoying cause its such a generalisation of all 'young people'
Firstly, there are a fair few grammatical errors in your post – best remove such things from your CV.
Secondly, a true potential management consultant (with gravitas) wouldn’t moan about annoying comments relating to what that their Dad (and others) have said – it comes across a bit schoolboyish.
Rather, they would have half a dozen rounded arguments as to how they can add value by (a) increasing sales; (b) reducing costs; I started my own consultancy this year after 20 odd years in commerce and industry - including LOTS of overseas market development work.
Frankly there aint no substitute for experience in the eyes of most customers.
How can you understand the practical side of their problems when you have no experience to speak of outside of educational establishments?
Don't get me wrong. I'm certainly not having a go at you, nor am I knocking your ability, I just think that someone with your obvious talents would have so much more to offer a client if you went out and got a little more real time experience before entering MC.
Oh, one more thing, do you want to be a real consultant or a big firm robot? Big firm robots tend to peddle the standard big firm systems. REAL consultants analyse their clients needs and devise bespoke solutions, working within the budgetary and staffing constraints that are applicable.............
Good luck anyway
Andy
>> Edited by andymadmak on Tuesday 1st November 16:32
>> Edited by andymadmak on Tuesday 1st November 16:33
Frankly there aint no substitute for experience in the eyes of most customers.
How can you understand the practical side of their problems when you have no experience to speak of outside of educational establishments?
Don't get me wrong. I'm certainly not having a go at you, nor am I knocking your ability, I just think that someone with your obvious talents would have so much more to offer a client if you went out and got a little more real time experience before entering MC.
Oh, one more thing, do you want to be a real consultant or a big firm robot? Big firm robots tend to peddle the standard big firm systems. REAL consultants analyse their clients needs and devise bespoke solutions, working within the budgetary and staffing constraints that are applicable.............
Good luck anyway
Andy
>> Edited by andymadmak on Tuesday 1st November 16:32
>> Edited by andymadmak on Tuesday 1st November 16:33
andymadmak said:
REAL consultants analyse their clients needs and devise bespoke solutions, working within the budgetary and staffing constraints that are applicable.............
completely agree. Although some of us 'real' consultants end up providing consultancy to the big consultancies too (as I am currently)
lewistintin said:
I really dont think age is such a big deal anymore when you are in a position to cream off the best educated and most talented people in the country to do a job.
Age may not be a big deal, but experience, and the ability to prove that you can do what you claim, is a very big deal indeed.
And the unfortunate truth is that it doesn't matter what you think. What matters is what the people who have the money think.
Use the feedback you've had here as practice - take each point and provide evidence to show that it is not an issue with you, and you'll be part way to being prepared when a potential client comes up with the same objections.
>> Edited by rude girl on Tuesday 1st November 19:13
lewistintin said:
Fund managers for the biggest investment funds in the world are typically early 30's. Which means they have run relatively large funds throughout there twenties.
Do you not think though that fund managers running big funds in their 30's have worked bloody hard and taken a lot of shit to achieve the position that they have?
Welcome to the big table of life.
You've got to eat a lot of beefburger before you start developing a pallatte for Fillet...
This post seems to have gotten a little out of hand. I was simply asking for some advice on my CV. Which from some people I was kind enough to receive. However whilst I agree with many of the comments, every management consultancy firm has a graduate program. And if they see some value in it, then I think its fair to assume they get something out of it. Customers must trust younger people such as myself. At the end of the day, you spend a good few years as a background analysist. And those who shine move up sooner. Every firm runs these type programmes. i dont see me lasting in this career forever, but I would certainly like to be in it for a few years, to develop experiance. Perhaps even run the family business.
I thank the people who have given geniune input into my CV. It is both useful and much appreciated. It is what I wanted to get out of the post, rather than a discussion on the validity of a career in management consultancy. However I dont think my age, has any problem with such a career path. These firms have been running these schemes for years, with presumably much success.
>> Edited by lewistintin on Tuesday 1st November 23:05
I thank the people who have given geniune input into my CV. It is both useful and much appreciated. It is what I wanted to get out of the post, rather than a discussion on the validity of a career in management consultancy. However I dont think my age, has any problem with such a career path. These firms have been running these schemes for years, with presumably much success.
>> Edited by lewistintin on Tuesday 1st November 23:05
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