If you want to go into Management Consulting and you want to work for a big firm, I suggest

researching the consulting firm and finding out what type of interview they perform (how they go about
it, what they look for, etc.). One good source of information is Vault.com (there may be better ones but
that's the one I used to look at when I used to work for other people). 

You're right to improve your resume as much as you can. However, a good resume probably won't get
you hired. In fact, it may not even matter that much. Here's why I say that... 

I used to work for one of the "Big Four" consulting firms and interviewed many people. We had a very
specific interviewing methodology. In the first phase of interviewing, we looked for specific things that
we considered indicators of probable success with the firm. 

In the second phase of interviewing, we use the "Critical Behaviors" method of interviewing. I asked
the applicant to tell me stories about their experience in certain areas. For example, "Tell me about a
time when you disagreed with your boss." They would describe the scenario in great detail and I
would probe for detail, looking to see if he or she exhibited certain behaviors that we valued. It really
didn't matter if the applicant disagreed with their boss at Goldman-Sachs or their boss at McDonalds.
We were looking for behaviors; not flashy name-dropping. We would rather have someone who
displays the right behaviors at McDonald's than one who does not display the right behaviors at
Goldman-Sachs. 

One of the most critical abilities of a Management Consultant is to think critically and adapt quickly.
(There are many others.) As an employer, I would be far more interested in a candidate whose
resumes reflect valuable qualities than a list of impressive companies (not that it's "either-or"). 

After many years as a Management Consultant, I had worked for a bunch of clients on a bunch of
client engagements. Every engagement could be different and my role on each project could be
different. It's not practical to pack all of that detail into a couple of pages of a resume. What I did
instead was to organize my resume by "skills." I made each skill a heading (such as "Program/Project
Management" or "Business Development") and then listed the "highlights" of my Project Management
experience under that heading and the highlights of my Business Development experience under that
heading. (And by the way, I did a little name-dropping by adding a laundry list of clients in a separate
section. I just listed them; I didn't go into detail about what I did for each client.) 

In short, Management Consulting firms will look far more closely at your mind and behaviors than they
will your resume. 

Here are a few qualities I think you should have as a Management Consultant: 

o Communication skills
o Organization skills
o The ability to think ahead and plan ahead. 
o Critical thinking. 
o Project Management skills. 
o FLEXIBILITY (It's unbelievable how often and unpredictably things change). 
o Relationship skills (you need to be able to work well with everyone from CEOs and Customer
Service Reps)
o THICK SKIN (As a consultant, you're always on the "outside" so you may be the butt of many
criticisms and an ever-present potential scapegoat for anything and everything that may go wrong; if
you get your feelings hurt easily, this may not be the right profession for you)
o CYA skills (this is part of being organized; make sure you document everything. This is not only for
CYAing but for keeping everyone on track. People tend to forget what they said and decided. If you
get everything down on paper, that won't be an issue.) 
o Quick Learner (You'll be in different environments quite often; the faster you can learn, the better.) 
o Confidence (You will be called upon to do lots of things you don't think you can do. You get used to
doing things you've never done before. Don't get scared. It works out.) 

That's all I can think of at the moment. If you have other questions, feel free to contact me. 
Good luck!
Source(s):
20 years as a Management Consultant and Project Manager in the Mortgage Banking Industry.

nterestingly, most of the Organisation does not give much time on TNA, they

would hire outside agencies to provide training, expel costs on various things
such as study materials, hiring the best training providers, venue, lose of man
days and even Food will be given much thought but analysis of who needs
what kind of training, where are the gaps in the performance, how to fill those
gaps etc are not given much thought about.
The responsibility of a Human resource professional is not just to extend the
services but also to convince the management for the right tools, methods
and principles.
Training Need Analysis (TNA):
The TNA is an essential basic requirement to close employee performance gaps in
order to achieve organisational excellence and support our key imperatives.

The basic TNA steps are:

• understand current employee performance
• define the ideal performance
• define the performance gap
• identify the cause for a performance gap and steps to close the
performance gap
The discussion of the results of this basic analysis in one-on-one-interviews between
the local management and HR, will provide a more precise picture of training needs,
and help to develop and plan performance improvement oriented training programs
with better results from training.
The TNA process is to ensure that best value is realized for the L&D resources
deployed.

Benefits of TNA process:

• no push back by local management because of involvement, creating of “training

wish list” avoided

• All group trainings (e.g. global and local trainings) are identified, no separate
process required, one process for all functions globally

• easy link of each single training to our strategic business goals, brand planks and
key imperatives

• option to increase HR / L&D image as competent L&D advocates, strengthens our

position as HR partner and HR players

• best option to uncover problems which might be hidden when just using an online
survey

• great to discuss all development solutions, not only training

• option to discuss L&D aspects in general, e.g. perception of trainings,

Evaluation results, options for coaching by management
TNA step by step

1. HR & Managers discuss / define the current employee performance status

2. HR & Managers define the future job requirements

3. HR & Managers define the performance gap

4. HR & Managers agree on development plan

5. Reporting to L&D

1. HR & Managers discuss / define the current employee performance status:

Ask: what skills and knowledge do your employees have today
2. HR & Managers define the future job requirements:
What standard of performance is necessary for your business–and
your employees–to be a success in future?
What tasks must they do?
What level of accuracy or productivity should they achieve?
What skills and knowledge must they have?
3. HR & Managers define the performance gap:
Ask: What is the difference between the ideal performance and what
your employees are currently doing?
Are there any areas that aren’t functioning as they should?

Where are opportunities for improvement?

Why are our people not working up to standard?

Where and when do the problems occur?

Has anything changed recently that might have instigated the

problem?
Compare the best and worst performers to find the differences
in what they do.
Identify steps to close the gap (training and / or other development
opportunities).
4. HR and Managers agree on development plan
The summary of the TNA results will be discussed between HR and the regional
GM/VP.

The regional GM/VP decides on training priorities, responsibilities for the

organisation of trainings and the follow up of the development plan.

5. Reporting to L&D
Results of TNA are documented and reported to L&D for further processing:
cost calculation,
budgeting,
vendor selection and contracting,
training design (incl. reinforcement and evaluation)
training scheduling,
monitoring progress,
tracking costs
Should budget considerations (e.g. at Training Governance Council) not allow to get
fundings for all initiatives identified, L&D together with HR and local management will
discuss reprioritization of trainings.

Hope this will give a better understanding of the Training need analysis and may in
fact help in Performance Management as well.