Consulting Resume Sample

Whether it’s financial, managerial, creative, or technical, nearly every industry utilizes some form of consulting service.

As a prospective consultant, you’ll be providing invaluable insight for clients seeking to operate more efficiently and achieve greater results.

Before you start pulling in clients, though, let us help improve your resume performance with our premier writing tips.

1. Lead with Your Professional Profile

A vital aspect of your resume is a solid professional profile – a quick snippet about what sets you apart from other candidates.

Relevancy is key when drafting your professional profile. Examine what types of clients your potential firm deals with and emphasize aspects of your work history that relate to those industries.

In the very first sentence of the professional profile (shown below), the applicant in our resume sample demonstrates their level of experience and knowledge of two critical fields related to finance and business management consultation.

Since consulting covers such a wide-ranging skill base, consider your background and tailor your professional profile to the specific job for which you’re applying.

2. Follow up with a Concise Areas of Expertise Section

You don’t always need an education in business administration to land an interview at a consulting firm. Hiring managers are always searching for talent that have extensive knowledge in their particular fields.

Capitalize on that fact by emphasizing your areas of expertise from past jobs that may not immediately appear relevant.

A nurse, teacher, security guard, sales associate, or accountant all have qualified traits that a consultant hiring manager would find beneficial. Showcase these skills in your areas of expertise section.

For example, an applicant with a background in any of these career fields can emphasize their expertise in:

Healthcare

• Medical Device Operations
• Insurance & Billing Processing
• Patient Needs Assessment

Security

• Public Policy Enforcement
• Security Device Inspection & Installation
• Property Protection

Education

• Instructional Leadership
• Performance Evaluation
• Early Childhood Development

Marketing

• Customer Experience Analysis
• Digital Media Engagement
• Industry Trend Research

Accounting

• Financial Statement Preparation
• Budget & Cashflow Management
• Internal Auditing Systems

In the images below, you can see how our resume sample pinpoints various qualities relevant to financial & business management consultation.

Finance

• Market Research
• Asset Management
• Data Analytics
• Strategic Risk Assessment

Business Management

• Operations Administration
• Workforce Planning
• Talent Appraisal
• Client Relations

Focus on your areas of expertise, particularly if you’re currently working in a field that doesn’t primarily provide consulting services.

You’ll be surprised to find you have a ton of relevant qualities to offer hiring managers.

3. Quantify Your Job Descriptions

A successful resume will quantify aspects of the work history whenever possible.

Ideally, your work experience section is a great opportunity to roll your relevant skills and experience into one.

Which job description sounds more appealing to an employer seeking an applicant that is able to produce results?

• Pitch offers and maintain good relationships with potential and existing clients
• Maintain client retention and facilitate leads generating 11 new partner acquisitions

The second job description clearly showcases a tangible benefit that the applicant provided to their previous company.

Keep in mind that a hiring manager for a consulting position is always on the lookout for employees that will be instrumental in their success and quantifying your past job descriptions will prove you’re up to the task.

4. Optimize for Applicant Tracking Systems

Employers receive a lot of applications on a daily basis and sometimes it can be difficult to grasp what exactly a hiring manager is looking for in a resume.

An important tactic, when writing your resume, is understanding how employers use “applicant tracking systems” (ATS).

Over 70% of resumes are being scanned and filed through ATS software as recent as 2016. This essentially means that a computer program is sifting through countless resumes; selecting those that ping their radar with ideal keywords.

Chances are that any savvy consulting service provider is using ATS to streamline their hiring process.

Make sure you’re a callback candidate by submitting with a resume that’s been optimized for search engines. We have a fantastic post on how to beat applicant tracking systems and write a keyword optimized ATS resume.

First up, check out how our resume sample applicant spread keywords throughout their professional profile and work history:

Professional Profile

• Controlling investment portfolios
• Skilled at analytics implementation
• Increasing value through bold investment strategies
• Operations management and personnel assessment
• Understanding market trends

Work Experience

• Evaluating corporate investment portfolios
• Propose new technology implementations
• Provide investment strategy
• Oversee junior analysts’ operations
• Analyzed financial market trends

Notice how the sample resume contains multiple phrasings of similar topics?

A great example of a resume optimized for search engine tracking includes specific terminology relevant to the job posting and utilizes them throughout multiple sections.

So, there you have it, expert tips for writing your consulting resume. Ready to actualize your career as a consultant? Go ahead and check out our free resume builder today.