Crash Course Consulting Reading List

Readers of this post may be interested in The Consulting Apprenticeship (update May 30, 2015).

 

Situation: You are stuck on a desert island with no lifeline access. What are the essential books and tools you need for management consulting?

Well, I can’t say that I have a complete list compiled, but here is a crash course consulting reading list (PDF doc) that I have provided in the past to new consultants (including experienced professionals new to consultative methods) as bread-and-butter references and knowledge areas. May provide ~80% coverage of a core foundation for general management consulting. Perhaps it is of use to new consultants and/or those looking to develop their consulting practices. I know that this list could probably use expansion and updating – I tried to create a list that was based on pre-packaged, ready-to-go stuff, and there are some limitations with that method.

Please feel free to post in the comments section any other sources you think others may find useful.

Update (8/3/09): Updated the reading list a little. For example, I included some blogs from traditional management consultants that shed light on the practice and industry.

Update (8/21/09): Updated the list to include some strategy books and other books recommended by consultants.

Update (9/1/09): Updated the list to include the latest versions of two of the best professional services sales books ever (by Ford Harding). If you are a professional services or consulting organization and could use help and/or an introduction to Ford, feel free to let me know, and I can broker a connection.

Update (2/3/2010): Got some great feedback from Florian Hollender at Killer Consultant. Based on his feedback and some other things on my mind, I updated the consulting reading list. Includes more updated blog and book references to Michael McLaughlin‘s material, some links on client facilitation, and books on negotiations and innovation. The reading list also includes some more consulting blogs.

How A Consulting-Style CV Differs From A Traditional Resume

Management consultants often create CVs that are included in firm directories or as addendums to proposals to clients. The structure of these CVs often differ significantly from that of traditional, chronological resumes used to apply for jobs – namely "consulting-style CVs" are used to highlight project experience and either functional skills or focus areas. This is in line with a consultant's desire to land projects and fill temporary skill gaps in a client organization as opposed to landing a permanent position within an organization. It is also in line with sales processes for consultants – a big part of the purchase evaluation process by clients is whether a consultant has "done it before" as opposed to getting a comprehensive chronology of employment.

Consulting CVs often cover the following areas:

  • Brief background (e.g., position or role in firm, industry background)
  • Functional expertise and skill areas
  • Sample consulting engagements
  • Education background and/or prior employer background

A consulting CV can vary depending on many things such as:

  • whether a named consultant is to be presented (e.g., versus representative consultant)
  • confidentiality requirements
  • where one is at in terms of the marketing, sales, or contracting process
  • the desired project that one is trying to sell into (e.g., CV may try to focus more narrowly as opposed to being broad)
  • how the consultant is to be positioned relative to other consultants on the project and the engagement workstreams
  • culture of consulting firm
  • culture of client
  • treatment of publications
  • treatment of consulting practice areas
  • years of consulting experience (e.g., positioning new consultants versus more experienced ones)

Here's a link to my consulting CV (PDF file), and it is provided as an example only since I have found few public examples or references in consulting books on the consulting-style CV. I do not claim that this CV is best in class, primarily because a CV should be tailored for context and impact. For example, some resume folks would argue that one use more situation-, task-, action-, result-type characterizations in the project descriptions and use more active voice. I totally agree with those characterizations and strategies at a block-and-tackle level. The purpose of this post is to highlight the macro-level difference of a typical, consulting-style CV that I have seen used in different firms. A core difference is on the emphasis on projects rather than chronology or functions.

Edit (4/9/09): I am not an expert on resumes. For those that want information on writing better resumes and getting permanent consulting jobs, a great site to visit is Management Consulted.