How To Write A Great Management Consultancy CV

When you’re writing a management consultant CV, every element is important.  In this video Ascent Professional Services founder, Matthew  Bennett shares top tips for the best way to create a professional CV.

The Best Way To Create a CV - Video Transcript

"Hi there, it's Matthew from Ascent here.

Today I'm going to be letting you know the do's and don'ts of creating that perfect CV in order to maximise your chances of getting the job that you want. So just on the screen here, I've got an example of what I think is an excellently laid out and formatted CV.

Obviously, everyone has their own technique and ways of writing CVs, but I think this one is particularly good for the clients that we work with. So, I'll just start from the top and run through the CV and let you know what I think is good about it.

So just to begin, the contact details at the top are nice and minimised, they don't need to take too much room. The important stuff is your work experience and what you've done, not your contact details so keep those nice and concise. The profile is excellence provides a summary of your experience to potential employers and also you can tailor it to the role that you're applying for. If you're looking for a supply chain role, mention that you focus on the supply chain. Very obvious, but also very powerful.

If we move on down, we then should have a summary of your work experience. If you've worked in multiple jobs, do include a summary up here. Again, it’s nice, simple and easy to read. Also, mention the dates and times you worked for these businesses. The thing I also like about this CV is the fact they mention their clients. Now I know you might not be able to mention your clients but you can certainly mention whether it's a banking client, an oil and gas client, a retail client. Very important.

It's also good to give the lengths of the times you've worked on each project. You know a two-week piece of work is very different to a two-year project, so do get these time stamps up there. Also, talk about what you actually achieved on each of these projects. If you look here, we have responsibilities and outcomes.  A great way of doing. By all means, mention the work you've done in teams but mention what you personally did, that's what the employer will be looking for.

I'll just scroll down the CV now and look, this person has mentioned a variety of projects, date-stamped really well, what they achieved and what they did. So you know it's very excellent. It's also not too wordy. They've used bullet points very effectively so it's clear and concise.

If we just move towards the bottom of the CV now, you can see a summary section of the education. Now whether you put the education at the top or the bottom is kind of dependent, I think on where you are in your career. If you’re junior and the grades are really important, which they are obviously, and get those at the top, especially if they're very good. If you're a bit more senior, therefore education becomes slightly less important, maybe put it at the bottom.

And finally, on this CV, I'm always a big believer in the interests or the extracurriculars. Making yourself seem different, unique, you know a real human individual, is very important. So anything sporting, academic, arts, do get that on there. Especially if you’ve done something exceptional like representing your country or that you’ve reached a high level in music or art.

So that's the summary of this CV.

Thanks for watching, I'll be sending out more tips on our vlogs so watch this space."

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