Every year, a lot of applicants are trying to get a job in reputable consulting firms. But only a few of them reach their goal. What’s the main reason for that? A resume is the first and the major step to getting a career of a dream.
A hiring manager needs only 7 seconds to understand whether a resume is worth reading or not. We are here to share a perfect consulting resume sample that will stand out to thousands of others. So, choose a sample resume for consultant and make a huge step towards a dream job.
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The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, pegs the average
consultant’s salary
at $93,000 per year and $44.71 per hour.
Best Format for a Consulting Resume
The consulting resume format is one of the most critical factors affecting the quality of your document. The way you format a document is also necessary to create a bot-beating resume. First of all, the resume should follow standard requirements. It should take one page, be neat and concise, and consist of several sections.
At first glance, a consulting resume is the same as any standard resume. It involves educational background, key skills, and working experience. But in consulting resumes, the highlight should be on your consulting skills and experience. You should promote yourself as a perfect candidate who satisfies the client’s needs (recruiting firms in this case).
One more essential recommendation is to showcase education, skills, and experience in a concise and eye-friendly manner. Remember that your resume should stand out because of your unique experience and excellent skills but not the creative formatting. Use only a neat font and clear outline.
Consulting Resume Templates
Usually, the resume template for consulting involves several sections. Also, use bullet points to highlight your working background and consulting experience. Recruiters often use the applicant tracking system to choose the most appropriate resume, and only then, they start to read them carefully.
While crafting a consulting resume, remember these tips:
- Divide the resume into such parts: objective or summary, working experience, education, key skills, and others.
- Use a reverse-chronological resume, as this format is a winning way to present your working background.
- Do not forget that a resume should include only relevant information for the consultant position.
Consulting Resume Objective or Resume Summary
To begin your resume effectively, the objective for consulting resume is a must. The primary goal of this part is to promote you as the most fitting applicant who corresponds to all the requirements. The consulting firms are searching for candidates to meet these three attributes: achieving, leadership, and problem-solving.
Your main task is to show that you understand the values of the company. Each word in your resume should be linked to them. So, your objective for resume is to summarize the relevant and corresponding experience in a perfect form.
Consulting Resume Summary [Examples]
Here you can see two consulting summary for resume samples showing the right and wrong way to summarize your working experience.
Right Summary Example:
Junior consultant with 3 years of expertise in the IT-sphere. Developed and applied global customer service strategies. Experienced in brand enhancement and advertising. Increased the client satisfaction rate up to 90%. Adept at solving complex issues and advising clients in a way to improve the overall performance.
Wrong Summary Example:
I worked as a consultant for 3 years. My responsibilities involved communication with clients 24/7, resolving tickets, and conducting analysis. I can work well even in stressful situations.
Consulting Resume Objective [Examples]
The objective for consulting resume should show how you see the role in the company and understand further career goals. To get more interviews, look through these samples to craft a winning resume.
Right Objective Example:
Senior consultant with 8 years of experience in IT. Helped clients to meet and exceed their business goals. Successfully trained and coached junior IT consultants. Excellent communications skills helping to solve any conflict. Proficient in Spanish and French.
Wrong Objective Example:
I have been a consultant for more than 5 years. I had a different experience, including coaching the newcomers. I can communicate with different people. Also, I can speak a little in French.
A Job Description for a Consulting Resume
Reading a job description before starting to craft a resume is a good idea. Search for some job advertisements on different websites. The recruiters often make a list of the desired skills, educational background, and working experience. After analyzing several job ads, you will have a clear picture of what employers are searching for.
A consulting job description is also useful to list the key responsibilities you had during your previous working experience. You will understand how to differentiate between the relevant information and completely useless facts. Your main goal is to make a resume visible for the ATS bots, so unnecessary data will decrease your chances to land a job.
The central responsibility of the consultant is to advise and offer expertise to different organizations. The main aim of consulting is to help improve the company’s business performance. In your consulting resume, you should list only related experience and responsibilities, such as making recommendations to improve the overall organization’s performance, conducting research to understand the business, and implementing agreed solutions.
We advise you to check as many resume cover letter examples as possible to learn which responsibilities are the best to mention and how to list them. Also, align your responsibilities with your hard skills - tell the reader how you used your skills to be effective.
Consulting Resume Examples [Experience]
Presenting your working experience in a consulting resume is often the key to success. You should show that you are a perfect consultant by highlighting the information linked to 3 main attributes: achieving, leadership, and problem-solving.
Describe your job experience by focusing on how you applied these skills to overcome different challenges and improve your performance. Add some evidence and numbers for the employer to understand your value and contribution to different work processes. Our sample consulting resume experience will help you to craft this section.
A Resume for Consulting with no Experience
If you have not worked as a consultant in any field, you will probably decide to leave this section of a resume empty. But it’s a great mistake of the majority of job seekers. You can make your consulting resume with no experience the winning one by following some tips.
Almost everyone has a consulting experience during life at least once. Think about it carefully — maybe when you were at school or had some volunteer experience, you had a chance to consult someone. You should mention this episode of life and show that your skills were precious in that situation. This way, the recruiter will see that you know how to apply your hard skills in consulting.
Sample Resume for Entry Level Consulting [No Experience]
Look at these two consulting resume examples with no experience. The way you present information affects how the hiring manager perceives it. So, be precise and add only relevant data, which is related to consulting.
Right Resume Example [No Experience]:
Junior Consultant, non-profit organization
September 2012 - October 2013
NY, New York
- worked as a volunteer at a non-profit organization to improved the overall performance;
- in a team of consultants, provided consulting services to local non-profit organizations in New York;
- increased the overall fundraising to 15%.
Wrong Resume Example [No Experience]:
- I have no appropriate experience as a consultant. But I want to learn something new and improve in this sphere.
What to Mention in the Education Section
Some research shows that there are two versions of the company’s requirements for the position of a consultant. In the official version, the recruiting firms pay attention to the candidate’s abilities, such as personal impact, problem-solving, and leadership skills.
Still, due to unofficial sources, top consulting firms value high GPAs and targeted high schools and universities. In your consulting resume, you should concentrate on the education sections, as it matters a lot. Remember that consulting education can increase your chances for success.
Consulting Resume Examples [Education]
These consulting resume samples are aimed to show the effective way of presenting educational background and a losing one. Do not be humble. The top consulting firms choose only top-performing and high-achieving candidates.
You should include three main things: college/university name and location, graduation date, and degree.
Right Resume Example [Education]:
2014-2016 EMBA
Thomas Jefferson University
3.9 GPA
Wrong Resume Example [Education]:
I was a student of the School of Business at Thomas Jefferson University (graduated in 2016).
Skills to put on Consulting Resume
Key skills refer to the most specific sections in your resume. You can use these winning consulting resume samples to understand where to put an emphasis. Still, remember that there should be a balance between all consulting resume skills that the hiring manager looks for. You should mention each of them and describe how you applied them in practice.
Right Resume Example [Skills]:
- excellent communication skills, able to find a common language with any client;
- innovations is a booster for me; able to apply new strategies in my consulting practice;
- exceptional knowledge of business strategies and law;
- perfect leadership skills; know how to lead a team of up to 10-15 members; able to guide junior specialists;
- willingness to boost the results (reduced the workload of the management team up to 40%);
- French (advanced); Spanish (upper-intermediate);
- Proficient in MS Office.
Wrong Resume Example [Skills]:
- know how to work with MS Office;
- communication skills;
- Languages (French);
- knowledge of the IT market.
Consulting Resume Examples [Skills]
You should highlight skills in consulting resume with the help of bullet points. As is mentioned above, the consulting companies are looking for a candidate who possesses such skills:
- problem-solving (the employee can provide various solutions to one problem and always have an idea how to act in different situations);
- personal impact (you always show dedication toward your work responsibilities and willingness to achieve the best results);
- leadership skills (the candidate can lead a team and share the experience to guide junior specialists);
- entrepreneurial drive (you are ready for different innovations; the traditional way of working is not for you).
Useful Tips to Craft a Winning Resume
Sometimes, standards sections are not enough to impress the employer. After finishing to craft all consulting resume sections, you can add other sections to make your resume stand out. Here, you can add such information as publications or awards, certifications or licenses, membership, or hobbies and interests.
The only thing to remember is that all additional sections should be relevant to a position of a consultant. You should impress the recruiter with something specific and outstanding. If you talk about a hobby, it should be helpful for your future career.
Consulting Resume Examples [Other Sections]
The consulting resume can involve other sections. Still, the information should be relevant to the job position.
Right Resume Example [Other Sections]:
Volunteer Experience
- worked as a volunteer at a non-profit organization;
- improved the overall performance of a team of consultants;
- provided consulting services to non-profit organizations in New York;
- increased the overall fundraising to 15%.
Hobbies & Interests
- Enterprising interests; perfect negotiation skills necessary for purchasing.
Wrong Resume Example [Other Sections]:
Volunteer Experience
Worked in a non-profit organization and provided consultation for local organizations.
Hobbies & Interests
I like reading books dedicated to business and negotiations.
Final Words
To sum up, you should follow several steps and use all previous tips for resume to create a winning resume that will impress recruiting firms. After analyzing and comparing provided samples, you will know how to write a consulting resume. Remember these small tips while conducting a resume:
- Include only relevant information;
- Be precise and short (the resume should consist of 1-2 pages);
- Pay attention to font and formatting (it should be eye-friendly and neat);
- Divide the resume into several sections;
- Provide evidence for your experience — quantify everything;
- Be unique; convince the employer that you are the best candidate.
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