How to get hired by any elite

Management Consulting firm.

Management Consulting is a fast-growing industry with lots of opportunities, both
in the private and public sector. As a Management Consultant, your purpose would
be to aid decision makers in organizations by providing them with critical advice
about what they need to do for their business to prosper.

This guide covers what you need to know about becoming a Management
Consultant.

ConsultingHQ is a global academy that helps thousands of students around the

world meet their career goals in Management Consulting, corporate business and IT.
WHAT YOU'LL FIND IN THIS GUIDE
This guide is here to help you start your dream
career in Management Consulting. We will cover
‘consulting type’ personalities, myths about the
consulting industry in general, then we’ll dive
straight into what you need to do in order to
navigate the hiring process.

Everything provided in this step-by-step guide can

be implemented TODAY. This guide isn't intended
to cover it all but it can get you started and at
least make a great impression to help you stand
out from other candidates.

YOUR JOURNEY STARTS HERE…

Firstly, congratulations on downloading this guide!

You may not know it yet but you’ve just taken a
HUGE step towards fulfilling your dreams of
becoming a successful Management Consultant.

Let’s be honest, getting into a consulting firm can

be difficult, if not downright frightening. I should
know. I’ve spent more than 20 years in the industry
and I can tell you first hand that even as an
industry veteran the hiring and interview process
has not changed one bit. It’s really hard!

Rest assured you’ve come to the right place.

Before we start though, what type of future
consultant do you think you are? Or more to the
point, why are you here?

HOW TO GET HIRED IN ANY ELITE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING FIRM PG 1

 WHAT CONSULTING TYPE
ARE YOU?
Over the years I’ve learned that people
who are new to Management Consulting
fit into one of several types.

First, there is the Brain. These are the

people who are just naturally and
incredibly smart and are perfectly
academically gifted. I can tell you I am
definitely not one of those people but
they are out there. These are the type
of people who achieved all the top
grades at University and have never
failed an exam or test.

Secondly, there’s the Venturist. These

people have a good life balance, have
travelled the world and worked on
hobbies and interests they were
passionate about. They weren’t
necessarily academic stars at University
but they did participate in other
activities that made their life rewarding.

Lastly, there’s the Commando. These

are the business and entrepreneur
types who want to win at all cost. They
want (actually demand) the best of
everything in life and only want to join
the top elite organizations because
they’ll become depressed if they settle
for anything less.

Which one are you? If you answered

number two – the Venturist – then
you’re probably more aligned to become
a Management Consultant than the
“brain” or “commando” types.

It’s true. Regardless of your background, you actually don’t need to be an obsessed
business guru or the next Albert Einstein to land a role at a top consulting firm. Regardless
of what you’ve read or heard, being the “perfect candidate” is all just a myth.

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THE 7 CONSULTING MYTHS
Now that we’ve past the introduction it’s important we hit the reset button with respect to
your understanding of the Management Consulting hiring process.

Myth #1: You must have perfect grades to

get hired at a tier one consulting firm.
This myth is false. Over the years I’ve met consultants
who never achieved academic success yet still land
roles and McKinsey, BCG, Strategy& and others. I’m
not saying for one moment that having an academic
degree with good marks isn’t important. However, it is
false to claim you need perfect scores in all your
majors to be considered as a potential candidate. It’s
just wrong and not true.

Myth #2: The top firms only look for a

particular “type”.
This could not be further from the truth. The reality is
that consulting firms are diverse organizations and
hire people from all backgrounds, races and genders. I
worked with a firm where one consultant had a
university degree in music (they majored in piano), and
another consultant who decided to pivot her career
into consulting from being a nurse after she realised
that job was just not for her.

Myth #3: You need a particular

qualification.
You actually don’t need a specific qualification to
become a Management Consultant. Similar to Myth 2,
top tier consulting firms hire people from all academic
backgrounds. Therefore, before you go spending
thousands on enrolling in that MBA, make sure you’re
aware of all the facts first. And a good place to learn
the facts is to read this guide!

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Myth #4: You can’t apply if you’re already a professional.
Social media is full of articles that centre around candidates who are about to graduate
from University and are looking for a role at a consulting firm. The fact is you can join a
Management Consulting firm at any age. It does not matter how long you’ve been in the
workforce. If you have the right experience then you may be exactly the candidate they’re
looking for!

Myth #5: You must have graduated

from a specific University.
This one is sort of true but I say this in a
very non-critical way. While it doesn’t
matter which University you graduated
from it certainly helps if you graduated
from a recognised University that is well
known for academic research and teaching
excellence. Now I’m not suggesting you
need to have enrolled in Harvard.

But I am saying you need to have graduated from a real University where lectures and class
room tutorials are part of the curriculum. There are a lot of pseudo education schools out
there that offer a variety of courses but in reality don’t teach their students real world skills.
A consulting firm will scan the University you graduated from and likely know if it was a
legitimate institution or not. That being said, if you went to an actual University and
graduated then you’re definitely in the game of getting hired.

Myth #6: If you apply and get declined you’ve

blown your chances of applying again.
So here’s a real life story for you. I applied to Accenture
three times and failed. I also applied to BCG five times
and failed each time before a Partner finally interviewed
me. And on both occasions I made it to the final round
and was given a verbal offer for a role. The reality is that
if you apply and don’t get in the first time you may still
have a chance of getting in the second or third time
around. People change and so do the needs of consulting
firms depending on what their client's requirements are.

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 Myth #7: The elite firms only hire one or two
people every intake.
Again, I can tell you first hand this isn’t true. A graduate
intake can take up to 60 new consultants or more in any
given year. This was how big the intake was at PwC when
I was there and they even hired interns in the same year
because they couldn’t fill their hiring numbers during the
graduate intake. The same number were hired when I
worked for Capgemini Invent, and our main competitor at
the time, Accenture, hired more than 80 consultants each
year (it drove our recruitment team crazy).

For the perceived top three firms (McKinsey, BCG and

Bain) they can hire up to 20 consultants or more per
practice depending on client requirements at any given
time. This is especially true if they land a large client
contract that would see their pipeline of work extend out
to six months or more.

START YOUR DREAM CAREER IN MANAGEMENT

CONSULTING RIGHT HERE.
By now I am hoping the previous section convinced you that getting into Management
Consulting is not that hard. Yes, I will be honest that it is a challenge and you will be
competing against thousands of other candidates if you apply. However, this guide will
give you some hard-learned tips to ensure you stand out from the crowd and at least
make it to the interview stage.

Before we go further though, it is important to stress this guide equally applies to those
wishing to apply either as a graduate or a lateral entry Management Consultant (i.e those
who already have several years work experience).

LET’S GET STARTED.

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Step #1: Do your research.
This may be stating the obvious but it’s important you do your research. For the purposes
of this guide I’m going to assume you already have a LinkedIn account. If so, I highly
recommend you research existing professionals in Management Consulting firms who
are at a similar level to you. For example, if you’re a manager in a bank and want to switch
careers and pivot towards Management Consulting, then go research consultants who
are a manager at Deloitte or EY. What do you notice about them? What qualifications and
skills do they have? What was their work background prior to consulting? Which
University did they attend and what did they graduate with?

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that to a large extent you already have a lot of information
ready at your fingertips. LinkedIn is a great repository for analysing what type of people
are being hired into Management Consulting firms and it can give you a clue as to how to
get there yourself.

Everyone reading this guide is likely to be at a different stage of their career but LinkedIn
will help you understand what consulting firms are looking for and give you an indication
as to what you may be missing in your own CV that needs attention. Use LinkedIn to your
advantage and research the background of existing Management Consultants as much
as possible so you can start to think about how you’d approach your own successful
application.

However, doing research on exiting consultants just doesn’t end there. If you haven’t done
so already, I highly recommend doing research of the major well known consulting firms
in your country (and maybe in the state you’re living in). Let’s assume the KPMG office in
New York just secured a major government contract. We’ll the chances they’ll need
consultants to support that engagement would be high.

Therefore, it may be a good time for you to ring

that office and ask if you could be considered
for a role there. Additionally, you’ll need to do
research on the firm itself. Do you know when
PwC was founded, how it’s setup, how many
employees it has and what its yearly revenue
is? If you make it to the interview stage you’ll
need to know these details and be able to
explain why you may be a good cultural fit for
the firm. A great resource for this type of
information is Wikipedia.

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Step #2: Prepare Your CV.
I’ve read hundreds of CVs throughout my consulting career and I can instantly tell which
candidates will make it to the next round and those who won’t. To get into a top
Management Consulting firm you will need a list of minimum things that will grab the
attention of the hiring manager and be attractive enough to make it to either a screening
call with HR or – even better – an interview.

If you don’t already have a CV, or have one that needs updating then I’d highly recommend
hiring a professional to help you. A CV is your sales pitch to get into a consulting firm and if
it’s not perfect you could easily be looked over in favour of other candidates.

Market places like Fiverr, Upwork or Freelancer all offer access to professional CV
content writers who are excellent at their work and can tailor your CV towards applying
for a role in a consulting firm. The best part is these services are also relatively
inexpensive so make sure you take advantage of them!

University Qualifications
We’ve already covered this topic a bit in the ‘Myth’ section however it’s important to have
your University qualifications listed up front at the top of your CV.

Now before we go further here’s a secret no one else will tell you which is important to
remember. If your intention is to get into to the so called ‘top three’ Management
Consulting firms (McKinsey, Bain or BCG) then you’ll need a minimum Masters degree
with top marks or a PhD. Yes, they will still accept you if you only have a Bachelors but
new hires with only that degree are usually rare and if they do hire you with only a
Bachelors it likely means you graduated with perfect marks.

If you’re applying for the ‘big four’ audit firms

which would be Deloitte, KPMG, EY or PwC
then you’ll need a Bachelors with good marks
at a minimum plus some sort of Graduate
degree or at least an indication you’re
pursuing one. Of course, it goes without
saying your grades need to be good but they
don’t have to be perfect as I’ll explain a little
later in this guide.

Either way, it’s imperative you list your

academic qualification at the top of your CV
plus a brief description of what you majored in.

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 Work History
The next thing you’d need to list on your CV is your work history. Regardless of whether
you’re a graduate candidate or an experienced hire, this is your opportunity to
demonstrate your achievements.

To that end, you’ll need to list your work

history (what company you worked for and
when) plus what you achieved in that role
while you were there. Did you save your
company any costs? Did you change a
process that improved the delivery of goods
or services to your customers? It's
imperative you think through what you did in
your role that was special enough to
demonstrate you were a standout employee.

If you are a graduate then include the

details of all the employers you worked for
while studying for your degree. Note that if
you went through university without at least
a casual or part-time job you’ll likely be at a
disadvantage when you’re compared to
other candidates who have a much
stronger application.

Awards and Achievements

In this section you’ll want to include any certifications you may have obtained (like a
specialist IT certification) any awards, and include any achievements or significant
accomplishments you may have obtained in your career so far. As an example, before I
started in consulting I worked with a company as a Business Analyst and was awarded
an Exceptional Service Award by the CEO of the organisation at the time. This was a
significant achievement and one that stood out on my CV when it came time to applying
to a consulting firm.

Following on from the above, here’s another secret consulting hiring managers won’t tell
you. While they will always look for the type of university qualification you have, they’re
also looking for other top tier certifications that will make you more employable. For
example, nearly all strategy consulting firms have a digital and IT team that focus on IT
strategy in addition to business strategy. Therefore, I’d recommend you also do a course
that will educate you with transferable skills.

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Example courses include ITIL, COBIT or TOGAF. Or, if you’re business orientated, I’d
recommend doing a Lean Six Sigma course or Business Process Management course. To
show you have strong project management skills I’d recommend enrolling in a
Professional Scrum Master course as it will demonstrate to the hiring manager you’re
able to deliver projects using the popular Agile methodology. If you’re not familiar with
any of the courses listed here then I'd recommend to research them as soon as you can.

Other things to include

When a hiring manager or Partner reads a candidate’s CV they’re also looking for
business skills and leadership traits. When you join a consulting firm you’re expected to
be able to lead others and this includes also being able to lead the client. This is
regardless of whether you’re a graduate applicant or entry-level professional. Therefore,
it’s also important you demonstrate any instances where you led other people. The larger
the team the better. For example, were you a Team Lead at McDonalds? Or were you the
Captain of your Netball team for several years? If so, make sure you include these
achievements because they’ll certainly be noticed when your application is finally read by
the firm’s HR team.

Step #3: Get Active on LinkedIn and Start Networking.

Here’s a few other tips to consider to make sure you stand out from other candidates.

01 Have a great LinkedIn profile that’s accurate and up to date.

Not sure what to write? Outsource the content writing of your LinkedIn profile to an expert
on Fivver, Upwork or Freelancer who can help you put it together. Don’t forget to also hire
someone to take a business professional photo of you for your profile page. Remember,
every little attention to detail on your LinkedIn will be scrutinized by a hiring manager so
it’s important you convey a professional image that implies you’re serious about working
for a tier one firm and their clients.

02 Attend consulting career shows.

Meet each individual firm representative

and introduce yourself. Add them on
LinkedIn once you’ve spoken with them.
Having said that, don’t add anyone on
LinkedIn if you’re yet to meet them.

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 03 Attend firm career nights.

Ring the HR team and find out when they are. Attend them and network there the same
way as you would when attending a career show. Use these opportunities to gather as
much information about the firm and the office you’re hiring for. Also, have a list of
questions prepared to ask the firm’s hosts at these events. Find out about their culture,
growth industries they’re targeting in addition to asking them their personal opinion on
what makes a great Management Consultant. Their answer will give you the exact details
of the type of candidate they’re looking for!

Step #4: Prepare for the Screen Call and Interview.

Once you submit your CV to a consulting firm (following the tips above) then the next
step in the process would be to receive a screening call or interview.

A screening call is a phone call from the firm’s HR representative who will likely test the
information you supplied in your CV and ask you any clarifying questions about your
academic studies or work history. Always treat this call as a serious and formal interview
because the HR team act as the filter throughout the entire recruitment process and may
determine you’re not ready to proceed to a face to face interview.

If you do make it to interview then it will likely be with a senior firm representative such as
a Partner. Always take a copy of your CV and make sure you do your research on the firm
you’ve applied for and the person who will be asking the questions (you will know who
will interview you as you’ll be told by HR).

Arrive at the interview 10 minutes early and always look polished in formal business attire
to demonstrate you’re serious about the role. There’s a lot of detail on the internet
(particularly YouTube) on interviewing techniques so make sure you learn and practice
how to answer questions and ask questions appropriately back in response.

If you’re interested, a great book for handling interviews is The 250 Job Interview
Questions You’ll Likely Be Asked by Peter Veruki. It’s a bit dated now but I’ve had it by my
side throughout my entire consulting career and it helped me on every single occasion
with my interview practice.

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Step #5: Prepare for the Case Study.
A major part of the hiring process at a Management Consulting firm
is the case study. This is where you are asked a question that’s
designed to test your business knowledge.

There are usually two types of case studies. A hypothetical case study
is where you have to answer an abstract question such as “how many
golf courses are in the United States?”. A situational case study is
more lifelike. It’s where you’ll probably get asked something like “how
should company X reduce its operating costs?”.

These two case study types can be seemingly hard to answer but
easy to master as long as you have the right knowledge
fundamentals. Firstly, you need to have a good comprehension of
business acumen. Do you know the difference between profit and
revenue? How does a business work exactly? What are the ways a
business can make more money?

If you’re new to the world of business then I recommend reading the

book What the CEO Wants You to Know by Ram Charan. The book
covers all the essential elements that make up a business and how
they’re run. Another great book on a similar topic is Financial
Intelligence by Karen Berman.

Like all challenges, the key to passing the case study is to practice as
much as possible. Next time you’re in a café ask yourself what type of
business challenges that café may have in order to operate. Do they
have a lot of competition in the area? What is their core service
offering? What are the unique ways that café could attract more
customers? Are there any external issues that may prevent more
customers from coming in? An example would be if customers don’t
have access to car parking. Lastly, local council laws may prevent the
café from allowing customers to be seated on tables directly outside
the café on the street.

As you can see from the above example, all these issues are
problems that businesses face on a daily basis. In the corporate world
it’s also no different and the problems are still the same, albeit on a
much larger scale.

The point here is that it’s important to practice your business case
study analysis techniques as much as possible. Start practicing as
soon as you finish this guide and continue practicing all the way up to
the case study interview itself. Remember, this guide is all about giving
you the edge over other candidate. Improving your business acumen
is perhaps one of the most important ways to do this.

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Step #6: Land that Consulting Role.
If you’ve made it past the case study then congratulations! You’ve probably made it
through the hardest part of the Management Consulting recruitment process. However,
as you may be aware the process is still far from over.

The final step in the hiring process is usually a final interview with the hiring Partner and
the hiring manager. This gives you an opportunity for you to find out more about the firm
and assess if it will be a good fit for you from a career and cultural point of view. On the
other side, the hiring Partner will also be using the final interview as an opportunity to
determine if you’re the type of consultant they could work with and have on their team.

Ensure you treat these final interviews seriously. I know many candidates who were too
relaxed in the final interview thinking they were going to be offered a role after completing
the case study only to be rejected because the hiring Partner didn’t like them. Working for
a tier-one consulting firm is just as much about teamwork and culture as it is about
excellence and prestige.

That being said, if you’ve made it to the final stages of the

process then it means the firm you’ve applied for has considered
your application in depth and is seriously considering you for a
role. When this process happens, start listing out any final
questions you may have for either the hiring manager or Partner
to ensure the firm is a good fit and aligned to your own values.
Ask about career progression or the type of market trends the
firm is currently seeing across various industries. My favourite
question is asking the hiring Partner about how they got into
consulting and what they believe made them successful enough
to reach the senior Executive levels of the firm.

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 And finally… here’s the Secret to getting hired.
Before we finish it’s important to discuss the number one
secret to getting hired into any firm. That secret is ‘value’.
Management Consulting firms hire expert staff so they can
place those staff on client projects. Clients therefore pay
consulting firms large amounts of money so they can
leverage the firm’s expertise and ultimately your expertise
too. Therefore, when a hiring Partner is looking to recruit you
they’re trying to assess how ‘sell-able’ you’ll be to the client
and how much value you will add to the client’s business
when you’re providing them with consulting advice.

As an example, I once worked with a consultant who was an expert mathematician in the
Theory of Elasticity (if you don’t know what that is then I highly recommend researching it).
They knew just about everything there is to know about Microsoft Excel and were therefore
able to develop highly complex elastic models for their clients using Excel spreadsheets.
This consultant didn’t have great consulting skills, nor did they obtain genius-level grades
at University. However, their knowledge of elastic modelling and Excel made them an
invaluable resource for the consulting firm because that specific mathematical skill was in
high demand from the firm's clients.

As you research the Management Consulting industry have a think about the value you can
add to a consulting firm. The above example about the mathematician may be a bit
extreme. However, you may be an expert in public speaking, project management or you
may have unique expertise in a specific field such as workforce change and behaviour. If
so, then make sure you highlight your ‘value’ when developing your CV. Doing so will likely
catch the attention of the hiring manager and help get you to at least a screening call.

For me personally, I happened to be in the military while studying at university. Therefore, I

was hired as a consultant because of my knowledge of logistics, supply chain operations
and military strategy. I certainly wasn’t an expert, yet I did know enough to get hired at one
of the world’s top consulting firms. If I can do it then you certainly can too.

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 Here’s another Secret.
Final one, I promise.
If you’re still struggling to land your dream role in consulting then another way into a
prestigious firm is to get help. Most (if not all) Management Consulting firms outsource
their hiring to talent agencies that are always on the look out for that special candidate. The
advantage here is that these agencies will already have a trusted relationship with a
consulting firm and the hiring Partner. Therefore, you could use one of these agencies to
do the hard work for you.

Remember how I said I interviewed at both Accenture and BCG? Both interview
opportunities came through a talent agency. To find a talent agency that’s connected with
a consulting firm, look up the hiring manager of the firm you’re wanting to apply to on
LinkedIn and try and find who their connections are.

If you do your research properly you’ll be able to make a short list of the talent
agencies they’ve partnered with. Once you’ve found out the names of the
agencies then the next step is to call them directly and ask if they’re looking to
place candidates into any consulting firms.

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 Meet the Instructor.
Theodore is an instructor at ConsultingHQ, a global academy that helps
thousands of students around the world meet their career goals in Management
Consulting, corporate business and IT.

Theodore has worked with several of the world's top Management

Consulting firms and has led large business strategy and IT
projects and sat through hundreds of case studies.

Theodore regularly creates new courses to help students of all ages

meet their goals in these dynamic industries.

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