Deloitte Cover Letter

Applying to consulting firms can be a stressful process, especially when you have your eyes set on a specific firm. Many applicants go into the recruiting process with their hearts set on working at Deloitte. In order to get an interview, it is essential to have an A+ resume. Hard stop. The cover letter – while not as important as the resume – is also an important piece of the puzzle, especially if you are an edge case. This article will share more around: why a cover letter is important, what Deloitte looks for in a cover letter, and how to write an A+ cover letter.

Rationale Behind Consulting Cover Letters

Consulting cover letters are generally used to weed out applicants, and, in edge cases, they can give a boost to applicants. Given cover letters take some degree of effort to create (e.g., need to draft, add personal anecdotes, etc.), it could be a helpful tool to reduce the number of low quality / uninterested applicants. In addition, certain cover letters can show a lack of interest in the firm and lead to a rejection. These types of cover letters:

• Do not clearly show why you want to work at a specific firm
• May only have general statements and no specific facts
• Have typos (e.g., being addressed to the wrong firm)

If you are an edge applicant, a cover letter can also give you a boost to get an interview. The rationale here is that a strong cover letter will show that you’ve clearly done your homework on the firm and want to be there. These types of cover letters:

• Are very specific
  Usually mention networking events you’ve attended in the past and individuals you spoke with
• Have no grammatical errors

What is Deloitte looking for?

Again, the rationale behind Deloitte cover letters is for Deloitte to assess the quality of the applicants and their true interest in Deloitte. As such, in Deloitte cover letters, Deloitte is looking for applicants that clearly show their interest in the firm. Specific items your Deloitte cover letters that will catch the recruiters’ attention include:

• Clear and concise story on why you want to work at Deloitte; it is important to have specific reasons why you want to work at Deloitte that are unique to Deloitte. For example, saying that you want to work at Deloitte to work on high profile projects is not going to cut it, given any consulting firm will give you access to high quality projects. Instead, you can reference the reasons why you want to work in consulting and then give more specifics on why you want to work at Deloitte.
• References to events you have attended (bonus points if any of these events are more exclusive / invite gated).
• References to any employees you networked with and formed a strong relationship with – Anecdotes that speak to why you would be a good fit to Deloitte. Specifically, stories on your work experience or your leadership experience should speak to why you would be
  a good fit at Deloitte. For example, your work experience can highlight your qualitative analysis skills or your research abilities. In addition, your school activities can highlight times where you have shown leadership skills.
• Error free; we get it, everyone makes mistakes. However, it is important to check, check, and triple check your work as your detail oriented-ness in the cover letter can reflect how detail oriented you will be in the job.

As such, as you draft your Deloitte consulting cover letter, it is always helpful to think about the goal of the Deloitte cover letter. The goal of the cover letter is to show you are a good fit for the firm and consider Deloitte as one of your top choice firms. Therefore, when you draft the letter, continue to give anecdotes that speak to why you will be a rockstar consultant (driven by your school and work experience) and why you want to work at Deloitte. For example, based on events you have attended and / or (even better) based on in depth conversations you have had with Deloitte employees.

How To Write A Cover Letter For Deloitte

As you write the Deloitte consulting letter, there are five key steps that you should follow to really stand out. The following tips will speak to how to write a cover letter for Deloitte.

1. Follow a Structure

Generally, Management Consulted recommends a five paragraph structure for cover letters. Specifically, you should have:

Paragraph 1: Introduction

• • In the introduction, you should provide general information around your background including: your education, work background, and position you are applying for. This paragraph should be relatively short.

Paragraphs 2-3: Tell your story

• • In these paragraphs, you should showcase two stories (one per
    paragraph) that highlight why you want to work in consulting and how
    your previous experience has enabled you to be a rockstar consultant.
    For example, you can talk about your summer working at a Fortune 500
    company and how you grew to really enjoyed evaluating critical decisions for companies and developing evidence-based analyses to inform your
    opinion. In addition, you could talk through how you have developed your leadership skills in student government and would like to continue to build out your soft skills in consulting (or how you enjoy working in teams to
    drive impact).
  • These paragraphs are not the time to be creative in structure nor show a long list of jobs you’ve worked at. Rather, you should be concise and
    show not tell your experience.
  • In addition, it is critical to show the impact of your work. For example, with your work experience, you can quantify the impact your projects had. For example, did your work impact the go-to-market strategy for an $X million dollar product? Did you present your work to x people including a Vice President? It is important to quantify your work experience to really have it come to life.

Paragraph 4: Explain why you want to work at Deloitte

• • As mentioned in the previous section, it is extremely important to have specific reasons around why you want to work at Deloitte. These reasons should not be banal and applicable to every consulting firm. Instead, they should be extremely specific to the Deloitte experience.
  • It is even better if you can reference specific events you attended that made you excited about Deloitte.
  • In addition, it is wonderful if you can reference specific employees you networked with and why its made you more excited to work at Deloitte. o Paragraph 4+ (optional): Address any special situations that may have impacted your resume / CV
  • We get it…life happens. Situations that you have no control over may have hurt your performance in school or your ability to have had an A+ summer internship. An example of a situation like this would be a medical illness or a family members’ illness. If this is the case for you, please take the time to explain it here. Generally, consulting firms will be very understanding of these events.

Paragraph 5: Conclusion

• • In this paragraph, you should wrap up your story and reiterate why you want to work at Deloitte.
  • You should also thank the reader for their consideration.

Deloitte Cover Letter Format

The Deloitte cover letter format should mimic formats of other cover letters. Having a consistent and standardized cover letter format is helpful for the reader. Making a cool, new format for your cover letter is not necessarily the way to stand out. Instead, your cover letter should be:

• • 1-page
  • Written in a standard font (Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, Sans Serif) ▪ Written in 10-11.5 point font
  • Single spaced
  • 0.5” margins at minimum
  • Left aligned
  • In black and white

Common Mistakes To Avoid

As you write your Deloitte cover letter, here are common mistakes to avoid:

• • Not including specific reasons why you want to work at Deloitte
  • Not following the strict format (e.g., making it longer than a page)
  • Not checking your work (e.g., making typos, especially saying the wrong company name)
  • Not quantifying your results
  • Not finishing with a call to action

Deloitte Cover Letter Tips

As you start on your Deloitte cover letter drafting, here are some final tips to make sure you can write an A+ letter and put your best foot forward. Specifically, you should:

• Use proper salutations; specifically, you should use the words “dear” or “to whom it may concern” when starting the letter and “sincerely” at the end of the letter.
• Make the cover letter specific to Deloitte; the more specific your cover letter is, the clearer your motivation to work at Deloitte is (and the more recruiters will appreciate the letter!)
• Be concise and don’t get off track; you only have 1 page to use so you want to be thoughtful about the words you use.
• Make a clear story about why you want to work at Deloitte and how working at Deloitte fits into your long term goals.
• Send the file in a PDF
• Check, check, and check again (and get a friend to check it!)

Deloitte Cover Letter Examples

Looking for example cover letters for undergrads, MBAs / Advanced Degrees, and Experienced Hires? Look no further – Management Consulted has the tools for you. Click here for example cover letters that you can use as inspiration for future Deloitte cover letters.

Conclusion

While preparing a cover letter may be a daunting process, there are clear ways to crack the process. Specifically, the key to cracking the cover letter is writing a concise, 1-page document that clearly exudes why you want to work at Deloitte. To see more about Management Consulted’s approach to cover letters, see their complete guide here. In addition, if you are looking for 1:1 Deloitte cover letter coaching with an ex-MBB consultant, please click here.

 

Additional Resources:

• Cover Letter Guide
• Consulting Resume: Complete Guide
• Case Interview: Complete Prep Guide