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How to Write a Great Consulting Resume

By crooky | July 19, 2008

Like many consultants, I was once a salaried employee that read job postings, applied for jobs and wrote cover letters. When you start consulting, you leave much of that song and dance behind you because you shift from marketing yourself from within the strict confines of formal job seeking to sales mode. Even consultants are asked for their resume from time to time and this article will show you how to write a great consulting resume.

Click the graphic to download a Word copy of my Great Consulting Resume. Feel free to modify it for your own use.

Before we get into why you might need an up-to-date resume as a successful consultant, let’s talk about what needs to be in a great consulting resume:

1. The Elevator Pitch

When you apply for a job, you usually have the opportunity to pen a cover letter to accompany your resume. This is not always the case with consultants. The real goal of the cover letter is to state your value proposition. What sets you apart from the other people gunning for this position? It’s like an elevator pitch for entrepreneurs.

For that reason, a great consulting resume has the elevator pitch built right in. Don’t write paragraphs of text about how great you are - keep it concise and relevant to the situation.

2. Core Strengths

Not unlike a functional resume, a great consulting resume talks less about jobs of clients that you have had and more about how you are going to meet the core demands of the position/contract that you wrote the resume for. In the sample resume that you can download by clicking on the graphic, there are two core competencies that the potential client was looking for and they should be handled independent of one another.

The key to writing great Core Strengths for your consulting resume is to re-use the terminology and lingo used by the potential client. Aside from gramar, you need to make sure this section of your resume touches on all of the key technical requirements for the job.

3. Education

Education is extremely important to highlight up front. Many clients are very sensitive to the credentials that their consulting vendors have and while they may not need the specific skills your credentials give you for the job, they still need some level of comfort with your education background.

4. Chronological Work History

As you can see in my sample, I don’t write a description of the work that I did at previous jobs. To me, it’s enough that I cite where I gained the experience necessary to charge my exhorbitant rates. All you really need to state is where you worked, when, your title and where that employer was located.

You draw attention to specific aspects of your work history on the first page under core strengths. Most clients/recruiters won’t make it past the first page. A chronological work history demonstrates what you’ve done with your time since graduation and validates the experience you claim to have.

5. Volunteerism

I’ve written at length in the past about the value of volunteerism for the consultant and for those of you who are already volunteers, now is your time to brag. A special section for volunteerism is certainly warranted.

6. Appendix

I normally advise people to keep their resumes down to one page, two pages max. However, in circumstances where you’ve been consulting for a number of years and accumulate an excellent portfolio of completed projects.

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That’s the “what” but you’re probably still wondering about the “why”. Many consultants long for a 50% part time retainer or long-term contract job that does something meaningful and stimulating. This resume is for those rare gems when they crop up.

I had the crazy luck to have two such opportunities crop up this month. For these situations, a ready to download/e-mail CV is a life saver.

I understand that the formatting of my resume is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea but I believe it is a great way to show off your skills and value proposition as a consultant.

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Aaron “Crooky” Cruikshank is the Principal and Founder of Friuch Consulting. He has written professionally about science and technology for over ten years.

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Topics: Business of Consulting |

One Response to “How to Write a Great Consulting Resume”

  1. Baljit Says:
    July 22nd, 2008 at 9:19 am

    Very useful information Aaron.

    You seem to have a knack of writing about the things upper most in my mind. Its freaky but great! You do the work and I get to benefit :)

    Keep it up.

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