Best Resume for Accenture

The Accenture resume is one of the most important hurdles you’ll have to clear if your dream is to land a consulting job with Accenture. If you’re ready to apply, you’ve probably already refined several versions of your resume or CV in the past. So you might be feeling confident and thinking that you know exactly what it takes to get an interview. However, there are a lot of specific things you’ll need to do to tailor your resume if you want to create the best resume for Accenture.

Consulting resumes are their own animal. Consulting firms have a specific wish list for new hires that differs from other industries. And the Accenture consultant resume is even more specific. You’ll want to customize your resume to show off why you’re the best fit out of thousands of applicants. In this article we’ll offer a comprehensive Accenture resume builder so you’ll know exactly what it takes to get your resume noticed.

The Consulting Resume: How is it Different?

When it comes to the resume, consulting firms are like any other industry in many ways. They want to understand your academic background, relevant experiences, GPA, etc. They should be able to draw links between the resume they are reviewing and the job for which they are hiring. However, consulting firms – like Accenture – are particularly interested in analytical skills, leadership skills, and business acumen. At the same time, most consulting firms will be very clear (and they are being honest) that you do not have to have a “business” background to get a hard look or to be hired. But it’s important for your resume to reflect that you understand the importance of being comfortable with numbers. Also, being generally analytical and structured in your thinking, and comfortable talking about business issues.

Seeing big brand names in your academic and work experience is also a plus in consulting. It’s true that in recent decades the consulting industry has grown more diverse in the range of backgrounds for new hires. But brand names still carry a lot of weight, as they will help convince Accenture—as well as the clients to whom they will be assigning you as a junior consultant—that you can handle important work. If you have worked with well-known clients in any capacity, be sure to include this information. If you did not go to a well-known school or work with a well-known company, this won’t necessarily disqualify you from working for a consulting firm. It just means you’ll have to emphasize different experiences in your Accenture resume.

What Should a Consulting Resume Include?

Consulting firms approach the hiring process with a unique set of criteria for new hires. Some of this criteria overlaps with things any business would be likely to look for in a strong applicant, but there are important differences.

Of course, a consulting firm like Accenture will want to see evidence of a strong academic background. This is an especially important thing to demonstrate as part of the Accenture resume format for freshers, as they will have less actual work experience to show off. So be sure to emphasize your academic accomplishments. Consulting firms love to see high GPAs and test scores. Beyond that, they evaluate candidates through a strong quantitative lens, so emphasize any background you have in that area, which will include quant classes and quant-heavy projects.

For both your academic experience and your work/internship experience, do your best to use quantitative measures to demonstrate the impact of your work. Don’t just describe the projects and tasks you were responsible for—go deeper and try to convey the actual quantitative effects. How many people did you lead? How much revenue did your work create? How much in costs were you able to save? What were the measurable results of the work you did?

There are certain skills and character traits that you’ll want to emphasize for your Accenture consultant resume. This includes problem solving ability, communication skills, personal impact, entrepreneurial drive, and leadership ability. Do your best to provide hard evidence and experience for these, with quantifiable measures wherever possible.

You can also distinguish yourself in your Accenture resume by including interesting extracurricular activities. However, these carry less weight if they are totally irrelevant to the qualities consulting firms look for.

Accenture Consulting Resume Tips

Let’s take a look at some strategies you can use to make the best resume for Accenture. Accenture is a world-renown consulting firm, so it will be your job to make yourself stand out from an extremely large pool of applicants. Sometimes creative thinking can help you accomplish this. For instance, an Accenture hiring administrator said he was convinced to immediately open one application because the resume file was labeled “OPEN ME.”

Of course, tactics like that will only work if you have the resume to back it up. You should concentrate on formatting your resume to highlight the ways your skills and experience relate to the qualities Accenture is seeking in a client. Efficiency and relevance are key. As you construct an Accenture resume template, we recommend limiting it to five sections maximum:

• Profile
• Education
• Professional Experience
• Leadership Experience
• Personal.

If you are a student, the Profile section is often not necessary.

Try to stick to three to five bullet points for each section. If you’re having trouble whittling your list of bullets down, then you may have to make a difficult decision about which bullets are bigger priorities than others. Be sure not to skimp on the effort you put into the Personal section. This is crucial, as it’s one of the only ways to humanize yourself as an applicant.

For further advice on constructing the perfect consulting resume, be sure to check out the Consulting Resume: Complete Guide.

Consulting Resume Mistakes to Avoid

The most frequent mistake applicants make is having a resume that’s too long. An Accenture consultant resume that’s over a page can send the message that you aren’t able to communicate efficiently. Accenture even recommends including hyperlinks to pages where Accenture can find more info about you if they’re interested in it. And be sure no single bullet point goes longer than two lines.

Another mistake applicants make on their Accenture resume is to focus too much on roles within a company and too little on actions. You should emphasize the actual work you completed as part of any previous jobs you held. You should even take care to edit your resume so that your language is action oriented.

This can be similar to another mistake, which is telling instead of showing. Don’t simply list off your previous titles, skills, and credentials. Focus on the nature of the work you’ve performed and what results you’ve achieved.

For a deeper analysis of what mistakes to avoid in your Accenture resume, don’t forget to check out our thorough article, Consulting Resume: Complete Guide.

Wrap Up

Now that you’ve read through our Accenture resume builder, you know the strategy for making the best resume for Accenture. But the Accenture resume template will only take you so far. You’ll also want to make sure you tailor your resume to the specific position you’re applying for.

Finally, no matter your reading and writing proficiency, be sure to have someone else proofread your resume for mistakes you might have missed. A silly typo or grammatical error can be easy to overlook, but it also gives employers a reason to eliminate you without considering your application more deeply.

Additional Reading:

• Resume Keywords: Consulting Action Words
• Accenture: Will It Rise Above All Other Consulting Firms?
• Accenture Strategy
• Consulting Resume: Apply and Succeed