Download the CV and Cover Letter that I used for my McKinsey applications: link.firmlearning.com/learning

Unfortunately had a technical glitch with frame rates in the original video this weekend. I reuploaded it with this version, the bug should now be fixes!

Hi Heinrich - gr8 as always. Three specific wishes for content: 1) How to give >improvised< presentations? E.g. exec asks you to spontaneously give a high-level overview of a complex project (e.g. after developing a business case for a new product). No time for storylining, iterations or preparing PPTs. You already mentioned the pyramid principle, but again, no time for much pre-structuring. What to focus on? 2) Best practices for writing board papers: Factors to look at in deciding what to include, what to leave out, writing style etc. 3) Given it's more important to know who knows what rather than to know things yourself: How to best navigate, find and motivate the experts in your company's network to share their expertise with you as input for your deliverables?

real OGs know that this is episode two 😤😤

Thanks for this input Heinrich. I do have a one pager CV but struggle to put all my information in it. Definitive have to much white space all over my sheet. Will work on that. White space tough is important in my opinion. A lot of these CV just hit you with so much words. It is easy to get lost

I think your point about the colums is both valid and not so much. It does have certain disadvantages because it does trip up certain ATS, however it is also a nice way to highlight certifications, awards, publications etc. outside of the major text block that is your professional experience. It also forces your professional experience to be somewhat more concise since it gives you less horizontal space to turn your short bullets into long bullet paragraphs. Also for skimming the CV, especially in the first round I appreciate the column design to see whether applicants put verifiable qualification aspects of the posting in that column for me to spot within the first 5 seconds. E.g. certifications, yrs of work experience in field xyz.

Thanks henrich. You are adding great value for upcoming professionals

Amazing video ! Got some really good insights :) Also Thanks for CV template

For what it’s worth, I recently attended a virtual McKinsey event about joining the London or Dublin office as experienced hire. They said it’s fine for a CV to be up to two pages and it should show what’s unique and interesting about you.

Great video!

For an experienced consultant, wanting to switch to another consulting firm OR to an industry role, how will you suggest we showcase the experience? Do we call out all the projects we did individually? Or do we provide a high-level cluster of different domains/type of projects executed?

Checked loads of CV‘s and I personally like font types without Serifs (Serifen) like Arial or Calibri a Lot more than Times New Roman as it gives the CV a much cleaner look. Especially when you compare two cvs with different fonts right next to each other!

Thanks Heinrich for these tremendously useful insights!! A quick follow-up - how would you present job experiences where you've been promoted or taken up multiple roles, e.g. from BA to associate to EM in McKinsey? Would you 1) only include the most recent/senior role 2) combine all roles into the same set of bullets 3) include each role as a separate entry?

I wonder what’s product lead? Mck doesn’t have project lead position. BA - Associate - EM - AP - Partner - Sr. Partner

Thanks! But I have a question, that is although I graduated a top school in HK, even get a nice gpa, no company will check my cv. How to address my issue...

Great video, very helpful! Is work experience/internships a must for consulting? Thank you

Heinrich, in your experience, to what extent do resumes need to be readable by automatic scanners? Is this something that's employed at McKinsey?

Hi Heinrich, random question. Among HEC EMBA, IMD EMBA, Kellogg-WHU EMBA, and Imperial EMBA, which one do you think has more international appeal?

Should we put our GPA if we graduated more than 3-5 years ago? Is it still relevant to give this information?

Wow, you’ve never mentioned you worked as an McKinsey-Consultant!

Heinrich did you ever go to Zoo during your time at LSE?

I work at an M&A boutique, and so have trouble quantifying what I do; while we do many analysis, it’s not consulting by any means, and we try to get to a Valuation + sell side advisory. Other than the ammount of transactions I’ve done, and the Values of them, there’s nothing much I see to add - it’s not like I’m creating a new process, optimizing something, etc. Do you have any suggestions?

Hello your videos are very informative! I am a mechanical engineer and work in maritime industry 9yrs experience. Do u think that with an mba or master in management from a good business school in germany i can jump into consulting?

How many internship did u do within a time of three years to not mention them in the cv? 🥴

we learned that brazilians dont know how to format cv's

The resume should tell the reader all they need to know to secure an interview. I think you are being too critical, not to mention allowing first impressions to potentially miss out on talented applicants. Yes, the resume should be clean and chronologically tell a story, but should relate to the position being pursued. I am not going to micro-manage every detail in a resume when I should be looking for relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the position. Also, for those watching, be careful on not adding positions or experience because then that shows gaps in your career, which creates red flags. Sure you could explain that in an interview, but you have to get the interview first! Some useful content in here, but again I think you are overthinking the concept and micro-managing the process too much.