Postgrad CV & Cover Letter Writing for Management Consultancy ...

POST-GRAD CV & COVER LETTER WRITING
FOR MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY
APPLICATIONS
5th OCTOBER 2012

Introduction
Why invest the effort in CVs & Cover Letters?
• They are a key element in the recruitment processes of all consulting firms, and your
“introduction” to each firm
• Each consultancy receives 000’s of applications from very good people each year
What will today’s session cover?
• The aim of today is to show you how to best convey your suitability as a post-graduate
applicant
• Help you avoid some of the common mistakes made by PhD students when applying
• By necessity, we will concentrate on Oliver Wyman’s approach and preferences, though the
principles will hold true across most consultancies
Please ask questions!
If you have any specific questions about consulting or Oliver Wyman, please feel
free to come and talk to any of us at the end of the session or go to
www.oliverwyman.com/careers
1

An introduction to the people you’ll meet today
Quinton Goddard
Senior Consultant
PhD
Astrophysics at Cambridge (2010)
University
Physics at Oxford (2005)
Oliver Wyman experience
• Corporate & Investment Banking
• Market Infrastructure
• Public Policy
Paul Rhatigan
Senior Consultant
PhD
Nanoscience at Cambridge (2010)
University
Electrical Engineering at the University of
Arizona (2004)
Oliver Wyman experience
• Finance and Risk
• Quantitative Financial
Philipp Studer
Consultant
PhD
Nanotechnology at University College
London (2011)
University
Electronic Engineering at ETH - Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology (2008)
Oliver Wyman experience
• Joined OW Sep 2012
2

The application process: What we are looking for (1/2)
Throughout the process, applicants are assessed on three main criteria
Segment A Segment B
Segment C Segment D
Problem solving skills Analytical and research skills
Communication & personal skills
• Problem structuring
• Creative thinking
• Business intuition
• Find leverage – get to the heart of
the problem
• Explore implications – “So what”?
• Quantitative analysis (e.g. graphs,
tables)
• Ask insightful qualitative questions
• Work with limited facts
• Clear, concise and articulate
• Fit with our culture and our way
of working
• Poise and maturity
• Leadership
• Personal initiative
• Self-management
• Team-focused
3

The application process: What we are looking for (2/2)
Your PhD/post-grad course has equipped you with the required skills
Segment A Segment B
Segment C Segment D
Problem solving skills
• Designed own experiments &
research
• Found solutions and
workarounds to problems
• Drawn conclusions from your
own results
Analytical and research skills
• Data handling
• Use of computer modeling
• Extracting important results
from data
• Finding the ‘so what’ in your
results
• Ability to learn independently
Communication & personal
skills
• Presented at talks and
conferences
• Written academic papers
• Worked as a tutor or lab
supervisor
• Managed a small team or lab
group
• Setup conferences
4

Writing a CV: Content (1 of 2)
While each CV is structured differently, they should ALL cover 3 key subjects
Academics
• PhD/Post-grad
– Subject
– Brief description
• Qualifications and grades
– University
– A-levels
• Prizes, scholarships, grants, etc..
Other Experience
• Extra-curricular experience e.g.
– Positions of responsibility
– Sports teams
– Interesting travel
– Etc.
Work experience
• Employment, internships, work
experience
– Dates
– Responsibilities
– Achievements & Relevance
Languages (bonus)
• Details of any language ability
business fluent and above
– Include evidence
(e.g. lived abroad)
• Details of any language study
undertaken in own time
5

Writing a CV: Content (2 of 2)
For each topic, there are key steps you can take to convey your suitability
clearly
Academics
• Give a clear and concise
description of your PhD
• Ensure relevant skills from your
PhD come across
• If you are an humanities student,
try to give evidence of numeracy
• Explain prizes, scholarships etc. if
not clear
Other Experience
• Include experience that shows your
personal drive
• Avoid bland statements (e.g. “good
interpersonal skills”)
• Don’t include your life history – by
all means include experience from
e.g. school, but only for a very good
reason
Work experience
• Space on the page should be
proportional to importance
• Include dates of all positions
• If the employer is not well known –
explain
• Explain why the experience was
valuable and what you brought to
the role, not just what you did
Languages (bonus)
• Include details of any language
study undertaken in own time, as
evidence of personal drive
• Don’t exaggerate – if you are not
comfortable doing business in your
language, don’t claim you are…
6

Writing a CV: Some key tips on format
1 •
2 •
3 •
4 •
5 •
Ensure your CV fits on 2 sides of A4
– If you feel you are putting in “filler”, think about cutting down
– Don’t include laundry lists of conferences attended or papers written – it is not an academic CV!
Remember the person reading your CV will have many others to read
– Use bullet points, rather than paragraphs
– Use clear, intuitive formatting to make it as easy as possible for the reader
Remember who your audience is
– The reader may not be an expert in your field, make sure you remove any overly-technical
language
Quantify
– Stating numbers when explaining your achievements gives a sense of scale
– E.g. Ball committee chairman: Responsible for organising the college ball for over 600 guests
with a budget of £55,000
Check for silly errors!
– Make absolutely sure there are no spelling and grammar issues
– Ensure formatting is consistent throughout
7

CV
8

Writing a cover letter: Some key tips
Why do we ask for a cover letter?
• A chance for the applicant to expand on key experiences and show more personality
• Gives the applicant a chance to emphasise their suitability to the company and the area of
work in which they are interested
� Dos
�
Don’ts
• Address the cover letter to the correct person
(and the correct company!)
– It’s on the website: no excuses!
• Explain why you want to transition away from
academia
• Show you’ve done your research
– Research the organisation and the job role
before you apply
• Keep the cover letter short: it should definitely fit
on one page
• Ensure spelling and grammar are 100% correct
• Don’t be too self-centred
– What can you do for us?
• Don’t forget to answer key questions
– Why are you applying for this job?
– What marks you out from others?
• Don’t waffle. “Filler” sentences are no good
to us
• Don’t overstretch yourself: keep it sensible and
don’t use flowery metaphors
9

Covering letter
10

Examples of comments from other Oliver Wyman recruiters
“He seemed very intelligent, and had done very well in his case interview.
However, there was nothing else on the CV, such as work experience,
hobbies, interests, team sports, etc. to indicate he ever did anything out
of the Lab.
The interview was rather hard work, as you can imagine, and despite his
excellent case score, we didn’t take him through to the second round”
“A 4 page CV with 2 pages listing academic presentations and papers.
This clearly shows no understanding/appreciation for what we're looking
for in an applicant”
“ I think my takeaway is that you don’t have to try too hard to show you
are ‘business-minded’- there really is no such thing. What we look for are
smart, analytical, and social people. You can be a nerd and satisfy all
these criteria and be an excellent consultant.”
“If they can, demonstrate their ability to summarise complex information
by explaining to me, in one sentence on the cover letter or CV what the
PhD is about, I’m impressed.”
11

What’s the application process for Oliver Wyman?
Apply online
Assessment tests
First round interviews
(Cambridge)
Final round interviews
(London)
Summer consultant
applications
• www.oliverwyman.com/careers
• Apply by 1 November 2012 for pre-Christmas offers
• Apply by 16 December 2012 for post-Christmas offers
• Pre-Christmas: 8 November 2012
• Post-Christmas: 14 January 2013
• Pre-Christmas: 20 November 2012
• Post-Christmas: 22 January 2013
• Pre-Christmas: 23 November 2012
• Post-Christmas: 25 January 2013
• Closing date 20 January 2013
• Tests and Interviews in February 2013