How to write a top CV for graduate consulting jobs at Bain, McKinsey and the Big Four

With AI shaking up the recruiting landscape for consultants, it's harder than ever to get in on the ground floor through the graduate programs of the major firms. A great CV is important, but what does it actually look like?

A new consulting CV template has been released by Jack Kim, a former consultant that worked in Bain's recruiting team and also worked on developing the CV scoring matrix at EY Parthenon. In a YouTube video discussing the template and other CV tips, he said that "95% of candidates will not make it past the CV screening stage," so structuring it well is vital.

Kim splits the perfect CV into four sections, two of which are large and two are smaller:

Education (small) is at the top, listed in reverse chronological order. Put your school, subject and expected/achieved grades. Include your A-levels (or equivalent qualifications), and what grades you achieved in them. While you can include relevant modules or subjects from your degree, Kim said he "rarely looked at these... it's not going to move the needle that much."

The next and "probably the most important" section is Work Experience (large). Include relevant work experience, starting with the most recent. Include your job title, name of employer, the location you worked, and the period of employment. 

You'll then have to bullet point some of your key responsibilities and achievements in each role. Kim said that consultants are looking for six specific things: "analytical skills, leadership skills, communication skills, stakeholder management skills, problem-solving skills, and teamwork." The specifics will vary from firm to firm; Business Insider reported last month that McKinsey, for example, screens its CVs with a focus on conceptual thinkers and quick learners. The best way to demonstrate your impact is by quantifying actions, which can be done by utilizing the S.T.A.R Method (situation, task, action result). 

If you have too much experience to fit on one page, pick a handful of the most relevant for the specific roles. Too many entries "doesn't tell much of a story."

After that, Kim has a section on Extracurriculars and Leadership Roles (large). This section is a similar size to work experience and uses similar principles, but is for "any external projects that you've done." This section should include, where possible, leadership positions in university societies and sports teams. This section looks most impressive when there's a lot of variation between your side-projects; Kim said "consulting firms love overachievers who are good at everything and can balance multiple things."

Kim noted that it's also important to provide broader context around these achievements where necessary, such as the size of a university society. "Being a treasurer of an investment society with 1,000 members is more impressive than being president of a Korean society with just 20."

While not explicitly mentioned by Kim, this is also the space to put any tech projects (presumably vibe-coded), given the increased demand for AI-literate consultants. Senior McKinsey partner Alex Singla told Business Insider the firm wants to find candidates who are capable of being elite technologists, or elite consultants, then "groom them to be both."

The final section of the CV is for Skills and Interests (small) and acts as "more of a conversation starter" than anything. When applying to one consultancy, Kim included his involvement with the London School of Economics' League of Legends team in this section, which led to a 30-minute conversation with a senior partner about the video game. You should include relevant certifications here, too, but don't go overboard; "you want to make sure you're maximizing the space on work experience or extracurriculars," Kim said. 

Other housekeeping tips Kim gave for the CV include: 

• Use Arial font, sized between 10 and 12pt.
• "Make sure that the bullet points and spacing are perfectly aligned... I cannot stress that enough."
• Keep your CV to one page.

How is a consulting CV different to an investment banking CV?

If you're applying to jobs in consulting, you've likely also considered a career in investment banking. If you're applying to both, will the same CV work? Perhaps not as effectively. 

Speaking to students in 2023, Goldman Sachs recruiters gave an example of their perfect CV, visible here. Goldman also separates its CV into four sections, but the work experience section is first, and takes up more than half the page. It's followed by education, then leadership roles, both of which are roughly the same size. The fourth section, additional information, is the smallest, and is tacked on at the end. 

There are similarities. Goldman is looking for consistency in the presentation of the CV, and also told students to quantify their achievements. One bullet point for an analyst role in the sample CV read: "Performed M&A screen for $20bn client, designed 7 quantitative screen criteria and ranked 30 potential targets."

Whether you're applying to a bank or a consultancy, tailoring the content of your CV to the role itself is fundamental. If you have the time to go the extra mile and tailor the formatting too, it could make a difference.