How your CV should look like and what keywords should you use to get into consulting.

Yes, you might just as well play bullshit bingo. But from an insiders perspective, these keywords actually mean something.

#thegirlconsultant

I know how it is, when you are straight out of university, and you want to get into consulting, and you have read a lot of things on what consultants do, but somehow you can't really grasp it, and don't know how to put it into words?

Let me help you with this:

1. What kind of people are consultants:
   1. Consultants are people who listen attentively, understand things easily, and ask the right critical questions (critical thinking), to understand things a little deeper (deep dive), because the issue the client is depicting might not even be the real issue. You also want to keep the strategic, tactical and operations goals in mind, when looking for an answer (finding a solution but keeping the big picture in mind).
   2. Consultants are problem solvers, after listening attentively, and create multiple hypotheses which might solve the problem. These hypotheses should all approach the issue from a different perspective: they should be MECE (mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive); (Solution oriented).
   3. If you are out of university, and you might have worked in research positions, this is a plus, but only in terms of your expertise in a specific industry / topic. (Industry expert with a business focus and detail oriented).
      Word these positions as: Collected deep insights into business XYZ, and industries so and so. Consultants usually don't have so much time in doing all the nitty gritty research, thus being stuck forever to come up with a hypothesis or to read 15 research papers, watch 4 documentaries and create a survey just to come up with relevant information for a slide is overdoing it. (Effective and efficient worker).
2. What are skills of a consultant?
   1. A good knowledge of PowerPoint and Excel, so if you have already done your presentations and your analysis for uni in these two microsoft applications, put that straight on your resume.
   2. Team-work. it is an overused term, but it is always relevant. It shows that you will fit right into the project teams and do your best to help your team deliver the best possible project.
   3. Thinking outside the box. Also an overused term, but that is what consultants do. Sometimes the key to a good hypothesis/approach to solve the issue of a client, is to really think outside the box. Maybe you have worked on an innovations project, you have created a program for uni that makes peoples lives easier, or maybe you have started a business. All these things show that you are innovative and creative. Even if you are not thaaaat creative, you can always help yourself and read about the newest technologies/trends in a specific area. That counts as well.
3. What kind of motivation should a consultant have?
   1. You should be a driver, someone who is excited about new things, challenges and wants to HELP the client to have better processes, to save money, or to digitise and create a better environment for its employees.
   2. You should be a good communicator, in the sense of stakeholder management. You should be able to talk to different people in different levels of detail.
   3. You should be able to bridge the communication gap between the client who is probably more high level, and the tech team which will program the software/tool/deliverable.

As you can see, the words I have marked in cursive are keywords that should more or less appear in your resume. Speak the language of the industry, and you will get an interview.

Please remember, that if you are out of university, your education should come first, and then your experience. If you already have experience, put your experience first, and then your education.

Before you send in your resume, make sure all the boxes are ALIGNED. That means that the overall picture looks neat and tidy. All the titles on the page, should be vertically on the same line. You can do this with the help of: LINK

Download the template here:

Good luck and let me know how it goes! 

xoxo
#thegirlconsultant