I have been applying for management consulting positions at various firms (including the Big 4), but have either not received any kind of response, or "thank you for your interest, but we don't have anything that matches your background". I graduated with my MBA from a reputable business school, looking to make a career change out of the nuclear industry, and I know I could nail the case interviews but haven't found a firm that is willing to take a chance. I can't figure out if it's my resume, cover letter, or just the fact that I'm coming from a military background. I served 10 years active duty as a Nuke ET in the Navy and have been in the Reserves for 4 years now, all while working full time and going to school. I was selected for Chief 2 years ago and will commission as a CWO this November. At this point, I don't know what else to do. Any advice, network connections, or help would be greatly appreciated.
Answers
Daniel: what's been your route thus far? Are you submitting your résumé through their respective sites?
We can talk more details about your case; I would be glad to talk specifics and share my experiences getting hired in the consulting field. I will say generally that all of those companies have military hiring efforts and that one can really build the network necessary to interview and be hired through those. Deloitte's CORE program really stands out (http://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/join-deloitte-core-leadership-program.html), but there are others.
Hi Daniel,
Thank you very much for your service. Without seeing any of your career materials, it is difficult to assess the reason behind the responses.
My first guess (and very common) is not tailoring your resume to highlight the skills that consulting firms would be interested in. Your resume is not an overview of your past experiences; it is a selling tool for the next experience.
Happy to discuss offline or review materials. Please feel free to private message me.
Best,
Katie
Good Daniel, Thank you for your service. I will build on the other responses. Key is to define what industry matches your skill set and interest. Then network, network, network. Conduct a series of informational interviews with contacts to understand what the industry is looking for so that you refine your search and address any gaps in your experience. LinkedIn, plus your own contacts are very valuable in terms of building a network. Informational interviews esp. face to face help to put a face to the experience.
Daniel,
Networking is very important in getting yourself an interview. Staying connected with the business contacts you've established prior to and during your military career is a good starting point...they know you and your capabilities. Joining local military associations like AFA, AFCEA, pilot associations, etc is another great way to network. Using LinkedIN and AdvisorNet can also help establish new contacts and connections and if there's a specific position your interested in, these can help you identify potential new connections specific to the job.
Hope this helps...feel free to reach out direct to me if you'd like to discuss.
Kevin
Thanks Drew for bringing up Deloitte's Career Opportunity Redefinition & Exploration (CORE) Leadership Program. Daniel - if you have additional questions about CORE please let me know.
Daniel,
I'll build on Drew's answer and say that we often have such wide experiences in the military, that we need to focus what we put forward. Most big consulting firms will be matrixed by industry and function (human capital, strategy, technology, etc...). So a good starting point may be determining which of those has the strongest pull for you. If you want to move away from nuclear does that mean away from all Energy (power utilities for example) or is there another specific industry that you may be interested in? Or is there a particular function, perhaps industrial technology given your background, that is interesting regardless of industry?
There are positives and negatives to each path (culture changes vs new opportunities, travel vs stability, and so on), so it is largely driven by your personal preferences. But once you have that in mind, you can find the right specific job listings, choose the right terms on the resume, and make some connections in the industry or function you want to work in. That will make a very smooth transition into consulting.
I had a similar transition, so feel free to reach out anytime if you want to discuss further.
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