Consulting CV recommendations for non-technical students
If you do not study something technical, get multiple degrees even if it takes you longer
A surprisingly large group of consultants had more than 2 (bachelor and master) degrees (over 40%). This was particularly true in Rotterdam, where about 70% of the consultants had more than 2 degrees (half of those even had 4 degrees).
You would say that getting an extra degree leaves less time for beers and therefore constitutes a no-no, but the multiple-degree strebers also took about 1.1 additional years to complete their degrees, freeing up some time for fun again.
For reference, the average consultant with a non-technical degree took 6 years to complete their bachelor and master degrees.
Do an academic exchange abroad of at least one semester
70% of the consultants with a non-technical background spent at least one semester abroad for an academic exchange.
Internships and full time commissions are no make or break
About 46% of the consultants spent a year involved in a full time commission. About 50% did an internship, of which about half did so abroad. A minority of 20% did a strategy consultancy internship. Hence, although there are plenty of consultants from non-technical backgrounds with internships or full time commissions on their CVs, there are also plenty who don’t.
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Details about the analysis
The analysis above is based upon the profiles of ~15 consultants, from McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Strategy&, Roland Berger and OC&C (with the % of consultants included in the sample decreasing in that order). Split between technical and non-technical was about 1:2. Most consultants began their degrees in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht. Consultants who studied in Groningen, Tilburg, Nijmegen, and Maastricht were also taken into account.