Cassi McLemore
Former BCG Recruiter
The MBB (McKinsey, Bain, & BCG) consulting firms hire only 1% of applicants for consulting positions. The odds are tough enough to make it seem like a waste of time to apply . . . UNLESS you use consulting resume keywords to make your resume stand out.
Consultant resume keywords are high-impact words that demonstrate you didn’t just put in the hours sitting at a computer on past jobs. You made the organizations you worked for more effective, efficient, and/or profitable.
In this article, we’ll provide:
- Information on the skills consulting recruiters are looking for
- 188 consulting resume keywords you can use in your resume today
- A format for your experience to ensure your consulting resume stands out
Let’s get started!
Contents
Skills Consulting Recruiters Look For
No matter the firm size or specialty, consulting recruiters consistently look for a few foundational skills that indicate a candidate’s potential for success in the role. Showcasing these qualities on your resume can significantly increase your chances of landing the interview. As a former BCG recruiter, these are the top skills I looked for in consulting candidates.
Structured Problem-Solving: Consulting, at its core, is about tackling complex business problems. Firms want to see that you can break down ambiguous challenges into manageable parts, apply logical thinking, and approach solutions in a clear, hypothesis-driven way. Whether that’s through consulting case competitions, rigorous STEM coursework, or real-world experience, recruiters need to know that you can think analytically and strategically.
Analytical Rigor: Data is the foundation of consulting work. Ideal candidates can interpret data, gather insights, and back up recommendations with evidence. Demonstrating comfort with numbers, Excel modeling, or other forms of data-driven analysis can go a long way with recruiters.
Focus on Impact: Firms look for candidates who can go beyond the analysis and act. If you’ve driven initiatives that resulted in measurable outcomes, such as increasing revenue, improving a process, or launching a new program, be sure to include that. Recruiters love candidates who are impact-driven, so include successful metrics where you can.
Initiative and Entrepreneurial Drive: Working in a consulting environment is generally fast-paced and unstructured. Firms want candidates who can identify opportunities, take ownership, and drive things forward without much direction. Consider including entrepreneurial ventures, leadership roles or any self-driven accomplishments to demonstrate this trait.
Teamwork and Collaboration: While a majority of the recruitment process focuses on individual performance, consulting is a team sport at the end of the day. Firms look for candidates who thrive in collaborative environments, work well with diverse stakeholders, and navigate interpersonal dynamics with professionalism and empathy.
For a deeper dive into how these skills translate into successful consulting resumes and cover letters, check out our articles with successful examples of each.
188 Consulting Resume Keywords to Jump-Start Your Resume
The right verbs can spin a lackluster resume into a compelling story of impact, leadership, and results. Consulting recruiters have limited time to review each resume, so using strong, specific action words will make your achievements stand out at a glance. Below, we’ve organized key consulting action verbs into categories and paired each with examples to help you bring your resume bullet points to life.
Results Action Verbs
These action verbs emphasize achievements and measurable successes. Consulting recruiters want to see that your work produced tangible results, such as increasing revenue, reducing costs, or exceeding performance goals. Words like achieved, delivered, exceeded, and surpassed really pack a punch.
Experienced Hire Example: Achieved a 40% increase in client satisfaction scores within one year by implementing a streamlined feedback process.
Undergrad Example: Grew membership of NYU Consulting Club by 25% by surveying members on their needs, rolling out a case partner program, and booking five alums to speak about their experiences in consulting.
Leadership Action Verbs
These consulting action verbs demonstrate that you’ve managed teams or guided initiatives. Verbs, like spearheaded, directed, managed, or mentored, indicate that you can lead projects and people, a key skill for any future consultant.
Experienced Hire Example: Successfully expanded into three new markets by directing a team of five analysts on a market entry strategy project.
Undergrad Example: Spearheaded a team of 10 to organize a campus-wide sustainability competition, attracting 200+ participants and securing local business sponsorships.
Impact Resume Keywords
Impact action verbs highlight how you made a difference. Think about changes you drove, systems you improved, or initiatives that wouldn’t have happened without you. Words like transformed, revamped, enhanced, and optimized can be used to catch a recruiter’s eye.
Experienced Hire Example: Revamped the onboarding process, reducing new hire training time by 30% and increasing satisfaction scores among new employees.
Undergrad Example: Optimized the student organization’s budgeting system, reducing unnecessary spend by 25% and freeing funds for new programming.
Productivity Action Verbs
Productivity verbs are all about efficiency and effectiveness. They show you know how to make things run smoother and faster. Examples include streamlined, automated, consolidated, and standardized.
Experienced Hire Example: Streamlined month-end reporting by automating data collection, cutting preparation time by 60%.
Undergrad Example: Standardized internal communication templates for a student-run consulting club, reducing turnaround time for client deliverables by 20%.
Entrepreneurship Action Verbs
These consulting action verbs demonstrate initiative and a self-starter mentality. If you’ve ever built something from scratch, improved a broken system, or identified a new opportunity, verbs like launched, initiated, founded, or pioneered will support that experience.
Experienced Hire Example: Initiated a cross-functional task force to explore operational inefficiencies, uncovering $300K in potential cost savings.
Undergrad Example: Founded a peer-to-peer tutoring program in the business school, matching 200+ students in its first semester.
Communication Resume Keywords
Consultants need to be excellent communicators with clients and their internal teams. Verbs like presented, negotiated, articulated, and advised showcase your ability to share ideas effectively and with influence.
Experienced Hire Example: Obtained a follow-on engagement worth $1.2M by presenting final deliverables to C-suite clients.
Undergrad Example: Secured the approval of a new student-led initiative by presenting results of a student opinion survey to campus leadership.
Relationship Action Verbs
Relationship resume keywords show recruiters that you can build trust, work collaboratively, and thrive in team environments. Verbs like collaborated, partnered, facilitated, and supported emphasize your interpersonal effectiveness.
Experienced Hire Example: Collaborated with cross-functional teams and external vendors to deliver a new product on time and under budget.
Undergrad Example: Partnered with faculty and student organizations to coordinate a campus career fair attended by 400+ students.
Technical Power Verbs
Technical power verbs convey your comfort with technical tools, data, or platforms. Use them to relay your analytical skills or familiarity with specific technologies. Good examples include engineered, coded, analyzed, and modeled.
Experienced Hire Example: Analyzed customer behavior data using SQL and Tableau to identify retention trends and inform marketing strategy.
Undergrad Example: Modeled financial scenarios in Excel for a case competition, contributing to a top-three team finish out of 100 participants.
Incorporating these consulting action verbs into your resume can effectively showcase your skills and experiences, aligning with what consulting recruiters seek.
Make Your Consulting Resume Stand Out with the XYZ Format
To rise above the rest, your resume requires more than impressive experiences and should clearly communicate impact. That’s where the XYZ format comes in:
“Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y], by doing [Z].”
This simple yet powerful formula helps you structure your bullet points in a way that highlights what you did (X), how success was measured (Y), and how you got there (Z). It ensures that every line on your resume shows results, demonstrates ownership, and reflects problem-solving ability.
Instead of broad, task-oriented bullet points like “Worked on a finance project,” the XYZ format pushes you to be more specific and measurable.
This approach makes your experience more credible and impressive, even if you don’t come from a traditional business background. It also makes your resume easier to scan, since recruiters can quickly identify the value you brought to each role.
Here are a few examples using consulting resume keywords:
Experienced Hire Example: Led a team of 6 to design a market entry strategy for a sustainability startup, resulting in a 35% projected revenue increase in the first year of launch.
Undergrad Example: Led a 4-person team in a case competition to develop a go-to-market plan for a local nonprofit, earning 2nd place out of 30+ teams.
Experienced Hire Example: Analyzed sales pipeline data across 2 regions to identify $1.5M in lost opportunities, leading to implementation of a new CRM workflow.
Undergrad Example: Analyzed event attendance and engagement metrics for a campus organization, leading to a new outreach strategy that doubled participation.
Experienced Hire Example: Spearheaded a cross-functional initiative to reduce operational costs by 20%, by streamlining vendor contracts and automating reporting processes.
Undergrad Example: Spearheaded a student org budget overhaul, identifying inefficiencies and reallocating 25% of funds toward higher-impact programming.
Experienced Hire Example: Collaborated with product and marketing teams to launch a pilot campaign in under 2 weeks, increasing user acquisition by 70% in the target segment.
Undergrad Example: Collaborated with peers in a marketing class project to launch a mock product campaign, resulting in top marks and recognition from the instructor panel.
Experienced Hire Example: Presented recommendations to senior leadership that influenced a $5M budget reallocation toward digital transformation initiatives.
Undergrad Example: Presented student housing policy recommendations to campus administration, contributing to the adoption of more flexible leasing options.
Each of these examples uses the XYZ format to convey impact clearly and persuasively. If you’re unsure how to start, try writing out your experience in plain language first, then apply the XYZ format to sharpen the language and draw out your accomplishments.
Contents
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In this article, we’ve covered:
- Top skills consulting recruiters look for
- Consulting action verbs to use in your resume
- How to stand out using the XYZ format
Still have questions?
If you have more questions about the consulting resume keywords, leave them in the comments below. One of My Consulting Offer’s recruiters will answer them.
Other people prepping writing their consulting resume found the following pages helpful:
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