PwC Resume

Your PwC resume is your first step in obtaining a coveted job at this massive consulting firm. PwC was formed from a merger between Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand in 1998.  However, PwC has a long 160+ year history of offering professional services covering tax, audit, and advisory.

PwC has stood the test of time, taking advantage of the globalization of audit to become  stronger than ever. It is known as one of the “Big 4” consulting firms with its U.S. headquarters in New York City.

PwC employs over 180,000 employees worldwide! It has been on the “Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For” list for 15 years running.

Okay, so now that we’ve identified that PwC is a consulting firm you may want to work for, how do you break in?

A PwC resume must succinctly and quantifiably showcase your transferable skills and achievements. In short, show PwC what you’ve accomplished and how you accomplished it.

It may be tempting to use your existing resume, but a PwC resume highlights specific skills including leadership ability, quantitative analysis, stakeholder management, and more. Don’t leave any stone unturned when it comes to standing out in a sea of thousands of applicants.

Industry insight: Approximately 60% of applicants are screened out of the initial interview process from their resumes alone. As such, it is crucial to know how to specifically construct your PwC resume, as well as network effectively.

The PwC Consulting Resume: How Is It Different?

As already stated, your PwC resume must be powerful and highlight specific skills, as well as top academic scores (GPA, GMAT, SAT, etc.). Unless you have over 15 years of professional experience, your PwC resume must include specific and quantifiable results that fit on one page only. Don’t worry, impeccable format and structure will enable you to create a substantive one-page resume that is still easily scannable.

Given PwC’s heavy focus on collaboration and teamwork, highlighting prior work experience wherein you have proven results of successfully working in a team environment is paramount.

On top of this and the quantifiable results you have achieved in your professional experience, don’t neglect highlighting your education and interests. Regarding your educational experience, PwC cares about your scores, on-campus leadership experience, study abroad experience, and if you don’t have a business/quant degree, the relevant classes that you took.

Your PwC resume should also clearly articulate who you are as a person. Include your specific interests and personal accomplishments, as PwC is very interested in how you will fit into their culture. Be sure to include an “Interests” line in your Personal section – include 3-4 personal interests that highlight your personality and what you like to do outside of school and work. This line is the only part of the resume that humanizes you, and acts as a great icebreaker in the PwC interview. 

What Should a PwC Consulting Resume Include?

Your PwC Resume must include three key sections:

1. Academic Background

Showcase your intellectual curiosity and ability to excel via relevant classes you took, leadership roles you held on campus, and study abroad experience. Include your GPA if over 3.3/4.0 and your GMAT if over 680. Nothing pre-undergrad is relevant, even if you attended a well-regarded prep school. The further along you get in your career, the less detailed you need to be in this section. Including just your scores or most impressive leadership experience is enough.

2. Professional Experience

Succinctly and quantifiably show your ability to lead and drive important workstreams. Strong leadership is especially key, and you should share specifically times that you have led others, managed budgets, handled clients, and achieved results that impact the bottom-line. Your analytical competencies are also of great interest to PwC and should be highlighted. For example: highlight specific analysis you conducted that led you to make a specific recommendation, that then led to specific impact either for your client or company.

3. Leadership Experience/Personal

If you have had a significant role in an organization that you have not been paid or graded for, include it in a separate Leadership Experience section. How do you know if the experience is significant? You can write at least three bullet points about it that highlight skills PwC cares about, as well as quantifiable impact.

In your Personal section, be sure to include languages you speak, technical skills you possess (be sure to highlight Excel skills), certifications (include them if you have them, but firms like PwC don’t care much about them) and personal interests. Be specific! If you love sports, share what sports you participate in and how often. If you competed in and won a Taekwondo tournament in November, share this information. If you cook, articulate if you are a sous-chef or love to barbecue. 

PwC Consulting Resume Tips: Four Ways to Make Your Resume Stand Out

1. In each of the key sections outlined above, stick to 3-5 bullet points per experience – If you have less than three, it’s reasonable for a reviewer to think that the experience was not robust enough. More than five may make it appear you don’t know how to prioritize (there are exceptions to this role if you have been in only 1-2 roles throughout your career).
2. Don’t go beyond one level of sub-bullets – Any more than this makes your resume tough to follow.
3. Include a Personal section – This gives a holistic view of your candidacy.
4. Quantify everything – There should be a metric on every line. If you can add a number to something, do. For example, if you led a training, include for how many people. If you created a pitch deck, include the number of slides or how many people you presented to. Numbers make your stories come alive!

Click here for additional consulting resume tips.

PwC Consulting Resume Mistakes to Avoid

• Making your PwC resume too long – Stick to one page only. Furthermore, no bullet point should be greater than 2 lines. Avoid long lists of your skills and credentials.
• Not proofreading – Always thoroughly proofread your consulting resume. Any grammar or formatting mistake can and will disqualify you – the process is just that competitive.
• Including irrelevant experience or experience that dates back to high school – Focus on what is recent and relevant.
• Lacking specificity – Action words and quantifiable results must be a focus of your PwC resume.

Refer to Consulting Resume: Complete Guide for additional consulting resume tips and what not to do.

Interview: The Ultimate Purpose of your PwC Resume

Ensuring your PwC consulting resume stands out among the rest is essential in order for you to land your interview. But once you get to the interview, your resume will still help you.

One of the first PwC interview questions you will be asked is to walk your interviewer through your resume. If you followed logical structure, a chronological timeline, and simple formatting, you’ll be able to knock this question out of the park.

Next Steps for your PwC Resume

Taking the time to create a targeted consulting resume is the key to getting that coveted PwC interview. Learn more about how our expert team can help you create the best possible resume.

Additional Reading:

• PwC Full Firm Profile
• Best Consulting Firms For MBA Consultant Salary
• Consulting Resume: Complete Guide