A self-assessment guide to assist students at a top business school understand their chances of landing a strategy consulting job

1. Consulting Careers
Strategy Consulting CV Self-Assessment
Tool
Introduction
Using this tool, you can assess your own CV for your ‘hirability’ for strategy consulting. The
tool is a beta – a work in progress, and relies on many subjective assessments. Its results
cannot be relied upon, except when applied by an expert. The main benefit of using the tool
is to go through the process of self-analysis of your CV. I urge you to review your own CV
against those of your ‘competition’ – people in your class, school, or who you know have (or
have not) succeeded in getting consulting interviews.
Recent studies1 show the approach has some statistical relevance when used appropriately,
by an experienced consulting recruiter. The tool produces a ‘CV Score’ out of 10. My
personal ‘shortlisting’ cutoff is 8 out of 10 – students scoring 9 or 10/10 were recently found
to have a 46% chance of securing an offer for a consulting summer internship, with those
scoring 8/10 having a 35% chance. This figure drops to 8% for 6 or 7/10, 6% for 4 or 5/10,
and 0% below that. However, I repeat that the approach is dependent on subjective
assessment and discretion – I am trying to codify the know-how but there is a long way to go
before the tool is bullet-proof for untrained use.
Please read and consider the following sections:
 Academic Rate your academic performance out of 4
 Professional Rate your professional experience out of 4
 ‘Other’ Rate your ‘other’ information out of 2
 Exceptions Consider what specific exceptions might apply in your case
1
Study not yet complete, on sample of MBA first year students applying for summer
internships in 2010
J-P Martins, Associate Director Consulting Careers 1
www.problemssolved.org

2. Academic
Allocate your score out of 4
Consider:
 What subject was your undergraduate degree in?
 How good was your school?
 How good was your undergraduate performance?
 What is your GMAT?
 Are you on the Dean’s list for your MBA?
 Do you have other evidence of outstanding academic performance?
 How do these things add up to a score out of 4?
My thoughts…
Some suggestions based on how I score these: (very much a work in progress, and
UK-centric so you will have to calibrate for other educational systems, institutions etc)
Undergraduate degree subjects
Subjects Category
‘Softer’, non quant subjects, including business,
Less good
commerce, management
Maths, science, engineering, economics Good
Double majors as above Very good
Undergraduate School
Schools Category
Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College, LSE Top school
Other Russell Group Good School
All others Unheard of School
J-P Martins, Associate Director Consulting Careers 2
www.problemssolved.org

3. My thoughts contd…
Undergraduate degree performance
Result
First, or
Dean's list, top few %, 2/1
great scholarships
Top school Outstanding Very good
School Good school Very good Good
Unheard of school Good OK
Scoring
Performance
Outstanding Very good Good OK
Very good 4 4 4 2
Subjects Good 4 4 3 2
Less good 3 3 2 1
Modify this base scoring by:
 Extra mark: GMAT >729 (max still 4 marks), or Dean’s list at business school
 Discretionary extra mark: GMAT 700-729 (based on gut feel)
 Discretionary extra mark: very good subjects or other evidence of academic
excellence eg multiple 'A-levels', finishing high school/graduating early,
amazing prizes, scholarships... based on gut feel, but benefit of doubt NOT
given)
J-P Martins, Associate Director Consulting Careers 3
www.problemssolved.org

4. Professional
Allocate your score out of 4
Consider:
 Have you the right length of experience?
 Do you have recognisable brand names on your CV?
 Have you experienced rapid (fast-track) career progression?
 How do these things add up to a score out of 4?
Remember to compare with your peers/competitors. Review other applicants’ (or past
applicants’) CVs. If you are a student at London Business School, you can see other
students’ CVs on Career Central.
My thoughts…
Some suggestions on how I score these:
Outstanding (4 out of 4)
3-5 years' experience, including:
 Recognisable/leading brand names (blue chip);
 Rapid career progression;
 Major achievements (eg special strategy projects, solved tough analytical
problems etc)
Very good (3 out of 4)
Most but not all the above
Good (2 out of 4)
Some of the above
Modifiers
Modify this scoring by:
 Discount 1 mark: purely sales and marketing, accounting, other non-problem
solving technical roles (not including scientific, engineering, statistical or ops
roles here)
 Discretionary discount 1 mark: very narrow geographic span (ie experience
confined to just one country – especially if not Western Europe/North America)
J-P Martins, Associate Director Consulting Careers 4
www.problemssolved.org

5. ‘Other’
Allocate your score out of 2
Consider:
 How does your CV rate you as ‘an interesting person to talk to’?
 Do you demonstrate exceptional drive or accomplishment?
 Are you a passionate person?
 How do these things translate into a score out of 2?
My thoughts…
Few people score 2 out of 2
This is very hard to systematise!
No marks for:
 Lists of activities, interests or clubs (eg cycling, photography, food or
Consulting Club, Finance Club, Women in Business Club)
 Executive positions in business school clubs
 Charity, pro bono activities per se
 Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro
One mark for regular competitive sport, clear passion, drive, commitment, success
Two marks for exceptional, out of the ordinary, recent examples include
 Representing your country at sport
 Climbing peaks on 5 continents
 Writing a blog in search of regional cuisine in a foreign country
 Pilot’s licence (except if your profession!)
 Winning national photography competition
J-P Martins, Associate Director Consulting Careers 5
www.problemssolved.org

6. Exceptions
Of course, there are many exceptions to the above ‘rules’. You can ‘boost’ your score, or
you can ‘wreck’ it depending on to whom and where you apply. With all of the following
exceptions, you really need to understand your potential strengths and weaknesses as well
as the demands of the particular recruiters to whom you are thinking of applying.
Languages
You must meet the language requirements of the firms/offices you are applying for.
Especially in Europe, firms without widespread office networks in particular will value fluency
in numerous regional languages (ie in Europe – European languages).
Geographic ‘connection’
Increasingly, firms are seeking strong geographic connection with the offices to which you
apply. This means either being a national, or having lived and worked in the country for a
substantial period previously. Specific requirements vary greatly, by recruiter and country.
A good guideline is McKinsey’s stated general policy (even they make exceptions though): if
you were educated in a country, you need at least 1 year’s experience working there. If you
were not educated in a country, you need 2.
Sector or functional specialisation
Too many to mention, but examples of experiences that are highly sought after by recent
recruiters from London Business School include:
 Defence
 Public Sector
 Aerospace
 Pharmaceuticals
 Telecommunications
 Supply chain
 Lean/operations improvement
 Sales and marketing
Previous consulting experience
This is nearly irrelevant to most strategy consulting recruiters. However some, in particular
smaller, firms may place particularly high value on previous consulting experience.
J-P Martins, Associate Director Consulting Careers 6
www.problemssolved.org