McKinsey, BCG, Bain RESUME CHECKLIST

Summary

In this humorous and informative video, Kim Tran, a former McKinsey consultant and founder of mconsultingprep.com, shares a checklist to ensure consulting resumes are perfect before submission. He emphasizes tailoring resumes for the industry, highlighting key achievements, and maintaining brevity and clarity. Kim also advises on avoiding common pitfalls like including personal information, using inappropriate formats, and making grammatical errors. His tips aim to guide job seekers to present themselves as well-rounded candidates fit for consulting roles.

Takeaways

• 🏀 The joke about Kim being a basketball player is a playful introduction to the actual subject of the script, which is about consulting resumes.
• 📑 The importance of having a resume specifically tailored for consulting applications is emphasized, highlighting the unique requirements of the industry.
• 🔍 The script stresses the need to focus on areas that consulting screeners pay the most attention to, such as the first bullets of recent jobs and GPA.
• 🎯 It's crucial to mention impressive and specific results in every bullet point, with a preference for brevity and clarity.
• 📏 The ideal bullet length is suggested to be 1.5 to 1.7 lines, equating to the information density of three to four spoken sentences.
• ❓ The script advises avoiding any language that might raise questions in the screener's mind, such as unclear achievements or jargon.
• 📞 Contact information must be clear and professional, avoiding informal or unprofessional formats.
• 🚫 The script strongly advises against including any religious, political, gender, or racial information, as well as photos, to maintain neutrality and avoid legal complications.
• 📄 The resume should be concise, fitting all relevant information onto one page, and avoiding any colors other than black and white for a professional look.
• 🔍 Spelling and grammatical mistakes are highlighted as automatic disqualifiers, emphasizing the need for thorough proofreading.
• 📝 Formatting consistency is crucial, with alignment and spacing needing to be checked to ensure a clean and professional appearance.
• 📈 The script suggests that a lower GPA can be mitigated by highlighting other impressive numbers and achievements, and advises on how to handle GPA disclosure strategically.

Q & A

Who is Kim Tran and what is the purpose of his video?

Kim Tran is a former McKinsey consultant and the founder of mconsultingprep.com. The purpose of his video is to provide a checklist and guidance on how to create a consulting resume that will not be rejected by management consulting firms.

What is the significance of the joke about Kim being a basketball player in the video?

The joke serves as an icebreaker and a metaphor for the importance of being prepared, as it humorously contrasts with the actual focus of the video, which is consulting resume preparation.

What is the primary advice Kim gives for a consulting resume?

The primary advice is to ensure the resume is absolutely ready before submission, tailored specifically for consulting applications, and highlights unique traits and qualifications relevant to the industry.

What is a 'heat map' in the context of the video?

In the context of the video, a 'heat map' refers to the areas of the resume that consulting screeners pay the most attention to, such as the first bullets of the most recent job or areas surrounding GPA.

Why is it important to mention impressive and specific results in every bullet point of the resume?

It is important because the resume is for a consulting job, and it is crucial to demonstrate an achievement-oriented mindset, showing the ability to deliver significant outcomes.

What is the ideal length for a bullet point in a consulting resume according to Kim?

The ideal length for a bullet point is 1.5 to 1.7 lines, which should carry the same information as three to four lines of spoken language.

Why should a resume avoid raising questions in the mind of the screener?

A resume should avoid raising questions to prevent confusion and ensure that the screener can quickly understand the candidate's achievements and qualifications without needing clarification.

What should the contact information on a resume include and why?

The contact information should include a phone number in an easy-to-read format, a professionally formatted email address, and a home address with the correct zip code. This is to ensure professionalism and ease of communication.

Why should a resume not contain any expressions of religious or political viewpoints?

A resume should not contain such expressions because it is a professional document, and neutrality is expected. Additionally, expressing viewpoints can lead to discrimination, which is prohibited in hiring decisions.

What is the recommended file format for submitting a consulting resume?

The recommended file format is PDF, as it ensures the resume maintains its formatting across different screens and printers, and it is the preferred format by most consulting firms.

How many times should one review their own resume before submission according to Kim?

Kim suggests reviewing the resume at least 20 times to ensure continuous improvement and to catch any potential errors or areas for enhancement.

Outlines

00:00

🏀 Consulting Resume Preparation

This paragraph introduces Kim Tran, a former McKinsey consultant and founder of mconsultingprep.com. It humorously begins with a joke about a basketball player named Kim who never misses three-pointers, but the real focus is on the importance of a well-prepared consulting resume. The speaker emphasizes that a resume should be tailored specifically for consulting applications, highlighting unique traits and qualifications. Attention is drawn to key areas that screeners focus on, such as the first bullets of the most recent job and GPA-related information. The importance of mentioning impressive and specific results in every bullet is stressed, as well as the need for concise bullet points. The speaker also advises on avoiding ambiguous language and ensuring contact information is clear and professional. Additionally, the paragraph warns against including personal information such as religion, political views, gender, race, or a photo, which could lead to disqualification. The speaker recommends keeping the resume to one page, using black and white, and checking for spelling and grammatical errors.

05:01

📚 Advanced Resume Strategies

In this paragraph, the speaker continues the discussion on resume preparation, focusing on strategies to enhance the resume's appeal to consulting firms. They advise on how to handle a low GPA by distracting the screeners with other numbers or not showing it at all if it's below a certain threshold. The speaker warns against sending resumes in a DOC file format, recommending PDFs to maintain formatting consistency. They also suggest renaming the file to include the year, applicant's name, and 'resume' to avoid confusion with other applicants. The paragraph further emphasizes the need to demonstrate a well-rounded set of consulting qualifications, suggesting that a resume might be one-sided if it lacks certain attributes. The speaker recommends reviewing the 'Resume A to Z' video for a grading sheet and advises reviewing the resume multiple times in different contexts to ensure it is as strong as possible. The speaker concludes by encouraging viewers to watch the free 'Resume A to Z' video and consider subscribing to the channel for more consulting preparation resources.

Keywords

💡Consulting Resume

A 'Consulting Resume' is a specialized document tailored to highlight the unique skills and experiences relevant to a career in management consulting. In the video, it is emphasized that this resume should be distinct from others, showcasing traits such as problem-solving and leadership, which are highly valued in the consulting industry. The script provides a checklist to ensure the resume meets the high standards expected by consulting firms.

💡McKinsey

McKinsey & Company is a renowned global management consulting firm. The video uses 'McKinsey' as a benchmark for the quality and specificity required in a consulting resume. It suggests that the resume should be written specifically for consulting applications, with an example being the need to impress McKinsey's resume screeners with tailored content.

💡Heat Map

In the context of the video, a 'Heat Map' refers to a visual representation that identifies the areas of a resume that recruiters pay the most attention to. It is mentioned as a tool to help candidates prioritize and emphasize the most critical aspects of their experience and achievements, such as the first bullets of the most recent job, to align with what consulting screeners look for.

💡Bullet Points

Bullet points are concise statements used in resumes to list achievements and responsibilities. The video stresses the importance of making each bullet point count, suggesting they should be short, impactful, and carry the weight of several spoken sentences. The script provides guidance on how to craft these to effectively communicate one's qualifications for a consulting role.

💡Achieving Mentality

'Achieving Mentality' is the concept of showcasing a proactive and results-oriented approach to work. The video emphasizes that a consulting resume should demonstrate this by mentioning impressive and specific results in every bullet point, whether quantitative or qualitative, to reflect the candidate's ability to deliver in a consulting context.

💡Resume Screening

Resume screening is the process by which recruiters review and select resumes based on predefined criteria. The video provides insights into what happens during this process, advising candidates to avoid common pitfalls that could lead to their resume being rejected by consulting firms, such as including personal information or making formatting errors.

💡Professionalism

Professionalism in a resume context refers to maintaining a formal and neutral tone, avoiding any expressions of personal beliefs or biases. The video script advises against including any religious or political viewpoints, as well as any mention of gender or race, to ensure the resume remains professional and focused on the candidate's qualifications.

💡Formatting

Formatting in a resume refers to the layout and presentation of information. The video highlights the importance of consistent and clean formatting to ensure the resume is easy to read and professional. It warns against common mistakes such as misalignment and unnecessary spacing that could lead to a resume being discarded by consulting firms.

💡GPA

GPA, or Grade Point Average, is a measure of academic performance. The video discusses strategies for addressing a lower GPA on a consulting resume, suggesting that candidates with a GPA below a certain threshold should either downplay it with other achievements or omit it entirely to avoid immediate rejection.

💡PDF

PDF stands for Portable Document Format, a file format used to present documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. The video strongly recommends using PDFs for resumes to ensure consistency in appearance across different devices and to avoid formatting issues that can occur with Word documents.

💡Resume File Naming

The way a resume file is named can impact how it is perceived and managed by recruiters. The video advises against generic file names like 'resume.doc' and instead suggests a specific format that includes the year, the candidate's name, and 'resume.pdf' to avoid confusion and to make the file easily identifiable among thousands of applications.

Highlights

Kim Tran is a former McKinsey consultant and founder of mConsultingPrep.com.

The importance of not submitting a consulting resume until it is absolutely ready.

Tailoring a resume specifically for consulting applications due to the unique industry requirements.

Using a heat map from the 'Consulting Resume A to Z' video to focus on key resume areas.

Ensuring every bullet point mentions an impressive and specific result to showcase an achieving mentality.

The ideal bullet point length is 1.5 to 1.7 lines, equating to 3-4 lines of spoken language.

Avoiding any words or phrases that might raise questions in a screener's mind.

Including clear contact information in a professional and easy-to-read format.

Excluding any expressions of religious or political viewpoints from the resume.

Omitting gender or race information to comply with U.S. hiring regulations.

Not including a photo on the resume to avoid potential legal complications.

Limiting the resume to one page to make it easier for screeners to handle.

Using only black and white in the resume to maintain a professional appearance.

Avoiding spelling or grammatical mistakes, as they are considered auto-fail errors.

Ensuring consistent formatting to avoid alignment and spacing issues.

Using professional language throughout the resume, even for non-business experiences.

Strategically covering up a low GPA with other impressive numbers or omitting it if below 3.0.

Submitting the resume in PDF format to ensure consistent formatting across screens and printers.

Renaming the resume file clearly to avoid confusion with other applicants' resumes.

Reviewing the resume from a high-level viewpoint to ensure it presents a well-rounded candidate.

Reflecting on the number of times the resume has been reviewed, aiming for at least 20 reviews.

Utilizing the 'Resume A to Z' video and the Resume Toolkit Program for further resume improvement.

Transcripts

this is kim he's a phenomenal basketball

player kim has never missed any threes

in the nba

do you know what's his secret he never

shoots

in fact he's not even in the nba

hi my name is kim tran a former mckinsey

consultant

and the founder of mconsultingprep.com

that was a stupid joke but the key to

never get your consulting resume

rejected

is not to send it until it is absolutely

ready so let's say you have watched the

resume a to z video and spent hours and

hours of writing and polishing your

mckinsey resume

before you spend a few minutes and run

it through this checklist failing even

just one of these items the mckinsey

dream is gone there's no particular

order

just make sure you examine all of them

did you write this resume specifically

for a consulting application

if not please reconsider this management

consulting is a very unique industry

requiring unique traits and

qualifications things that work in a

normal context might look really bad

to consulting screeners eyes say

bragging that you have

strong skills looking at the heat map

did you hit a home run in the areas that

screeners will pay the most attention to

you can find the heat map and the

consulting resume a to z video

fill those areas in ie the first bullets

of the most recent job

or areas surrounding your gpa et cetera

with the best bullets you can write

is there an impressive and specific

result mentioned in every single bullet

remember this is a resume to be

submitted for a consulting job

you want to show off the achieving

mentality here

note that results are not necessarily

quantitative

sometimes qualitative expressions are

more than enough for example

first in company history are your

bullets as short and concise as they can

get

the idea is to get as much information

packed into as few words as possible

with the ideal length of 1.5 to 1.7

lines your bullets should

carry the same information as three to

four lines of spoken language

is there any word or phrase in your

resume that will raise a question

in the screener's mind questions like

what is that what does he mean by that

how much how many etc don't assume that

people can

see the impressiveness of your

achievements at times they won't be able

to understand what you did in the first

place

add short descriptions to explain the

jobs that you did your resume will be

much

more specific that way is your contact

information there

make sure you have a phone number in an

easy to read format an email address

with professional format no handsomeboy

gmail.com

and a home address with the correct zip

code

is there any expression of religious or

political viewpoints

a resume is absolutely not the place to

express your viewpoints

it's a professional document after all

you're expected to stay

neutral if you do have work experience

concerning religion or politics

focus on the job not the side that

you're on

is there any information on gender or

race at least in the united states

making hiring decisions based on gender

or race is strictly prohibited

so if there's any trace of gender and

race in your resume the screener would

not risk it

they would just stay away from your

resume right away not good

is there a photo of your face on it if

so delete it

you're applying to consulting firm not

an acting school there can be legal

complications around hiring people with

a knowledge of their physical appearance

so at least in the united states firms

tend to shy away from photo included

resumes

is your resume two pages long please

condense it into one page

no history too long to fit into one page

two pages are nightmares to handle

especially in the screening room there's

no reason to make the screener's life

harder

check out the consulting resume a to z

video to know how it's like in that room

is there any color besides black and

white in your resume if so

please take it out i personally love

creative resume templates but if i'm to

hire a pilot

to entrust my life with for sure i would

pick ones with good old professional

resume templates

consulting people for the same reason

would stay away from creative and

colorful resumes

to be safe just use the official

template accepted at bcg and mckinsey

and bain we provide above see the resume

a to z for details

are there any spelling or grammatical

mistakes this is an obvious one

how can consulting firms trust that you

won't make that mistake in the future

consulting documents

these are absolutely auto fail mistakes

that will bring your resume to the trash

bin

so make sure you check over and over

again to catch these

are there any formatting mistakes some

of the common formatting mistakes are

alignment unnecessary spacing in

consistent formats

so make sure you clean them all up is

there any spoken language in your resume

make sure you use professional language

throughout the resume even to describe

non-business experiences for example

is there any trash talking you may have

quit your recent job because of

complaining customers

an annoying boss or trouble making

colleagues however your resume is

definitely

not the place to mention these things

screeners don't care

about all that drama all they know is

your negativity from that

try to reflect your previous experience

in a neutral to positive voice

focusing on your accomplishments is your

gpa lower than 3.3

if so try to cover it up with other

numbers especially around the education

area to distract the screeners

if it's lower than 3.0 you're better off

not showing it at all

are you about to send your resume in a

doc file this is an extremely risky move

as you don't know how it will turn out

on other screens and printers

your beautiful formatting may turn out

terrible plus screeners normally would

just discard a word document anyway

always use pdfs and know your resume

looks exactly how you want it

looking at the file name alone will the

screener mistake it for other applicants

you may name your resume resume.doc and

it seems to work okay within your own

computer but each office receives

thousands of resumes and it is a

nightmare for them to deal with

thousands of

resume.doc files before you get that far

rename your file as 2021 underscore your

name underscore resume.pdf

and do it now to avoid all these

troubles take a step back

look at your resume from a high level

viewpoint have you shown yourself as a

well-rounded candidate with all

consulting qualifications

going for each bullet one by one even if

you get every single one perfect

your resume as a whole can still be

one-sided what if most of your bullets

highlight the leadership and

communication aspects

and lack depth in the analytical aspects

you'll come across as somewhat weak at

problem solving

go to the resume a to z video and write

all the key attributes down

grade your resume according to that and

you'll see which ones need beefing up

this is so important that in my resume

toolkit program after correcting each

and every bullet i always deliver a

grading sheet for each of the 50

examples

lastly how many times have you reviewed

your own resume

if it's anything less than 20 times i'm

sure there are improvements you can make

like i said in the resume a to z video

you want to review it as many times as

possible and in different contexts too

do it when you're in class

do it when you're busy do it when you're

on the phone do it in your high do it

when you're bored etc after each review

even if you can realize and make your

resume one percent better

it's worth the hassle now you may ask

what if i don't know what is good and

what is bad to review my resume

on you have to watch the free resume a

to z video on this channel it's a must

go see it now if that's not enough check

out my resume toolkit program

where i review grade and rewrite live a

bunch of real resume examples but first

please give me a thumbs up and go see

the a to z video at management

consulting prep we believe

everybody can make it to consulting are

you a subscriber i mean

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