Resume tips : Consulting resume help

I am in the process of upgrading my resume. I have not done it since I started a new consulting job. My question is, how do I split my Work Experience up? Do I sum everything under 1 section with my current company, or do I list out my current company followed by the clients I have worked for and my responsibilities at each client? If so, anyone have any examples of the format I could use?

Well given that you are now in consulting you will love this answer; "it depends".

Do you plan on staying in consulting and just want to make sure you are keeping track of your activities and projects? If this is the case then don' t do it on your resume, a professional resume will quickly become over the top this way. I have been in consulting for over 15 years, here is what I do;

Maintain timeline in Excel. This should include the following information; Employer start and end dates; Salary progression; bonuses each year; organizational role and career progression; training and certifications (I include when I have to update them); Projects (just the client name and timeline); internal activities you participated in (sales activities include win/loss; revenue, customer name, internal development)
Project Supplemental. This is a great document that allows you to put lots of information regarding projects in one place, believe me after a while they will all blur together so it is important that you document the details. I update my supplemental at the beginning and end of each project. Here is the information that you should have on the Supplemental:
1. Client Industry (never tell them the name you have it in the timeline if you need it but most consulting firms have non-competes and confidentiality agreements so it is simply easier not to use the name on this document)
2. Client Revenue (size of organization)
3. Your role on the project
4. Project Scope (Include both the client reason for doing the project and if this is a technology project such as SAP then include the components of the the solution as well in a separate bullet)
5. Location (usually just say Domestic, International, or Global)
6. Project Budget
7. Team Size (only relevant if you were the project manager or a team leader. If you were the PM then you would state the total team size; if you were a TL then you would state the total team size and then the size of the team that you led within the larger project along with the reporting hierarchy such as "reported directly to the Project Manager")
8. Personal Accomplishments on Project
9. Project Outcome (list both from a consulting perspective and a client perspective. Do not just say delivered on time and on budget, we all know that most projects have hiccups)
Resume: This is your actual resume and should not contain all of the above. You would provide your supplemental only if you are providing a portfolio to a prospective employer, usually at the second interview. Your resume should actually be a synopsis of what you are doing, as follows;
1. Professional Summary
2. Key Skills
3. Personal Attributes
4. Professional Highlights (pick some key things that you are particularly proud of from your supplemental or your timeline depending upon what type of job you are looking at). Do not cut and paste! You want this to be a highlight and grab peoples interest. Introduce the section with something like; "Over XX years in consulting services focused on industry solutions for the YY industry".
5. Employment History
6. Education
7. Memberships and Professional Certifications (relevancy is important here)

Regarding your resume' s format, I suggest you set up one employment section foryour consulting work, and include a bulleted list of key projects.If you' re not able to state your clients' names for confidentiality reasons,you might be able to give a general description that doesn' t give away their identities(e.g., "a multimillion-dollar technology company").

Keep your current career goal in mind as you decide which projects to feature.What would the reader of your resume most want to see?

You should also place strong emphasis on the results and outcomes of yourprojects. If you don' t have quantifiable results (which is often the case withconsultants), you can highlight the anticipated results or benefits of the project you completed.

As to your recommendation I do that in the Professional Highlights section depending upon the type of job I am applying for at the time. I actually have three resumes that I keep constantly updated.

Consulting Resume - very ego centric resume that focus on both client projects and specific result/outcomes and then also on practice/business development with results/outcomes. I am senior enough in this industry that people expect that I work on the business development side of the house with revenue targets.
Operations Resume - just in case I happen to see a opportunity close to home that strikes my fancy. This one is more focused on operations within PMO / Technology knowledge based environments. While I can' t get away from the fact that I have been in consulting more than half of my career I try to focus on how this translates to making me great at single organization operational excellence. So not so much project but very much streaming to results based outcomes.
Combination - this one is really used for some of the work I do as an independent on the on the side. I am allowed to do this work because it is not in competition with my current employer, I develop PMO methodologies and structures for customers. So this one is very results based but has a portfolio behind it. Actually this one is on the web. I would show it to you but it has personal info and don' t want to advertise here for obvious reasons, but if there is way to tell you without putting it out here let me know.

In my line of work we don't so much look for interviews they come to us. It is a really different industry and environment. So far I haven't had to "look" very much. Yes I generally get the interviews that I am interested in but it is harder on the "industry" side than on the consulting side. Industry looks at those of us who have been in consulting for as long as I have with a bit of a jaundiced eye. I work with a couple of very high end executive placement gurus for this and so don't really do a lot of searching for myself.

I am looking to either go back to fully independent work or to a "industry" job that will let me do part time independent work on the side. My body is worn out from all the travel I do and frankly my personal life suffers from road warrior syndrome. But it has to be the right job and the right company. I am more business than technical; more program and project oriented than sales and marketing oriented; but I have been working with ERP solutions and technology for almost 20 years and for the last 15 years specifically SAP solutions.

So my two executive placement gurus and I are really working to design a "role" that is new and distinct and then they will be working to "sell" this into the right targeted organizations. It really is a new "C" level position. In the right organization it would be great. We are already seeing this role emerge in some of the fortune 500, especially in the global organizations with ERP solutions, so it is not that much of a stretch.

As for being able to post the resume, I can post two of them with the supplemental but the third really is a website and encapsulates the other two with additional info. So if there is a way to provide you the link I will. In the mean time I will post the other two and see if I can pull down the other one.

his comes off my website. Although the site is better designed. It is a combination of resume and portfolio. Hopefully it all posts.

Professional Summary

Highly successful in the design, development and implementation of global ERP solutions combined with Change Management, Executive and End User Training, and Business Process Re engineering. Successful in intense and demanding environments experiencing rapid changes through growth, external and technology driven to the organization.

Documented success in the areas of Project Management Office (PMO) design and implementation, organizational development and training, project management competency mentoring and training, methodology design and support and technology solution design and deployment. Outstanding organizational leadership, communication and team building skills. Keen problem solving and analytical skills with an innovative solution development approach.

Problem Solving * Organizational Development & Leadership * Strategic Planning * Business Development * Financial Planning / Analysis * Budgeting & Cost Management * Training & Team Building * Complex Project Management & Direction * Business Case Development * International Team Leadership * Requirements Management * Issue & Risk Management * Contract Negotiation and Management * System Integration Management * Project Quality Assurance Management

Personal Attributes

Diplomatic * Strong Communicator * Facilitative Leader * Thrives in Chaos * Innovator * Self-Starter & Self Managed * Attentive to Details but sees the big Picture * Visionary Professional Highlights. Over 15 years of SAP R/3 implementation experience combined with 10 plus years of project management experience in a variety of organizational structures and industries. Completed 5 full life-cycle implementations of integrated solutions. Global implementation/upgrade and solution deployment experience includes Asia Pacific Additional project details available on request.

Consulting & Practice Leadership

Results Achieved

Key member of the Project Quality Performance team responsible for the development and deployment of Quality Assurance standards and reviews.

This is a pure consulting resume focused on project management and practice leadership only. I left off the employment history and education as that has already been addressed in previous examples.

__________________________________________________________________

Professional Summary

Highly successful in the design, development and implementation of global ERP solutions combined with Change Management, Executive and End User Training, and Business Process Re-engineering. Successful in intense and demanding environments experiencing rapid changes through growth, external changes and technology driven changes to the organization.

Key Skills

Problem Solving * Organizational Development & Leadership * Strategic Planning * Business Development * Financial Planning / Analysis * Budgeting & Cost Management *

Training & Team Building * Complex Project Management & Direction * Business Case Development * International Team Leadership * Requirements Management * Issue & Risk Management * Contract Negotiation and Management * System Integration Management * Project Quality Assurance Management

Personal Attributes

Diplomatic * Strong Communicator * Facilitative Leader * Thrives in Chaos * Innovator * Self-Starter & Self Managed * Attentive to Details but sees the big Picture * Visionary

Professional Highlights

Over 15 years of SAP R/3 implementation experience combined with 10 plus years of project management experience in a variety of organizational structures and industries. Completed 5 full life-cycle implementations of integrated solutions. Additional project details available on request.

Project Management Samples

Directed statewide design of SAP R/3 solution for K-12 education. Project included all functional modules FI, CO, MM procurement, HR and Payroll). Directly managed day to day project activities leading a cross functional team of business analysts, functional consultants and technologists. Project budget was US $12 million. The project was delivered within budget and on-time.

Career Tips

Consulting resume help