The insiders guide to securing an interview with a consulting firm

To be a consultant, you need to be very organised (or senior enough that someone else manages your diary!). For people entering the industry, you'll need to show that you have what it takes to juggle multiple client demands, office commitments and personal life without missing a beat. Make sure you stay on top of the recruitment process so you create the right impression. Make sure you understand any specific requirements to be included in the application. Do they need you to include an academic transcript? Do you need to provide references? If so, what type and how many? Do you need to specify an office, or a specific function of interest within the firm? The more organised you appear, the better the impression you will make. And of course make sure you get your application in well within the deadline - emailing it through a few minutes before midnight on the final day is not a good look...

Consulting firms invest a lot of money in hiring and training new recruits. So they want people who have the commitment and motivation to stick around for long enough to repay that investment. You can demonstrate your commitment by doing your research and really knowing about the firms you're applying to. In reality, a lot of consulting firms are pretty similar to each other, but they all think they are unique, and being able to demonstrate you understand what makes them unique will help make your cover letter stand out...

It is amazing how often candidates forget to mention on their CV a crucial detail that would really help them get through the consulting application screening stage. Most people putting together a CV miss out a really important step. Once you have finished writing your CV, read through and ask yourself how good a job it does in showing how you meet the typical selection criteria of consulting firms. Would the reader pick up on your leadership qualities, your drive and determination, and interest in business. If you have areas where you are not so strong, what actions can you take to address it? The sooner you start thinking about your CV, the more time you have to deal with any areas where you are not so strong...

One of the best ways to get an interview with a consulting firm is to get referred by one of their current employees, allowing you to by-pass the application screening stage completely and go straight to the interview stage. Most firms encourage their staff to refer promising candidates from their network through to HR, and in many cases pay a special bounty to their staff when these referrals translate into new hires. With social networks, university alumni societies, and on campus consulting events, there are plenty of ways you can actively network with employees at your target firms. Impress them with your enthusiasm and interest, and it could pay big dividends...

Consulting firms pride themselves on the quality of the work they produce, not just in terms of the insights they bring, but also the clarity and visual appeal of their reports and slides. Your cover letter and CV are an ideal opportunity for you to show that you can put together polished and professional looking documents. If your CV is littered with spelling mistakes and poor grammar, inconsistent fonts and a bad layout, you're unlikely to get through the screening stage no matter how good you are. If you are not a native English speaker, make sure your documents are reviewed by a native speaker with a professional background. If grammar isn't your strong suit, get it checked. If you're not confident with Microsoft Word and struggle with the formatting and presentation, consider paying to have your documents professionally drafted for you...

No matter how good you are on paper, there is inevitably an element of luck involved in getting through the application screening stage. Sometimes it may well be the case that you are just a better fit for a certain firm over another, but we have also seen plenty of examples where there is no obvious reason why a candidate succeeds with one firm, and gets rejected by another. To give yourself the best possible chance of getting through to the interview stage, apply to a number of firms. If you're interested in PWC, apply to the rest of the Big 4 as well. Unless you are applying for a very niche field, aim to apply to a good number of firms (at least 5, and maybe 10 or more)...

It's never nice getting rejected by a consulting firm, but try to learn from it. If you can, get some feedback on why you didn't get offered an interview. In some (admittedly rare) cases, I have known consulting firms reverse their decisions and take a candidate through to interview following such a query. If the firm won't provide any feedback (they normally do if you ask following an unsuccessful interview, but are less likely to do so at the screening stage), get your CV and cover letter reviewed by someone else who might be able to highlight any weaknesses. And remember, most consultants have been rejected plenty of times themselves in the past, but they didn't give up...