Consulting · tuned for McKinsey & Company's published résumé guidance

McKinsey & Company Resume Template for Veterans

Education-first classic with one sharp story per role, written so each bullet can become a personal impact, entrepreneurial drive or inclusive leadership example in the interview.

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Marcus Hale
Arlington, VA • marcus.hale@email.com • (555) 010-2201 • linkedin.com/in/marcushale
Education
B.S., Economics (minor in Systems Engineering) — United States Military Academy at West Point2021
  • GPA 3.7; Dean's List; captain, club rugby
Professional Summary

Former Army infantry captain who led 140 people and $38M of equipment through a live-fire certification and a nine-month overseas deployment. I break unclear problems into testable pieces, build the analysis myself and bring skeptical stakeholders along. Now targeting an Associate role through the McKinsey Military Fellowship.

Professional Experience
Company Commander (Captain) — U.S. Army, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry RegimentJun 2023 – Present
Fort Stewart, GA
  • Raised the unit's equipment readiness from 71% to 93% in five months. I rebuilt the maintenance schedule around the four failure causes behind 80% of downtime and ran weekly reviews with three supply sections.
  • Changed a battalion-wide training decision by modeling cost per trained soldier across three plans. Senior leaders adopted my plan, which saved $410K and 1,900 training hours a year.
  • Led 140 soldiers from 23 states and 6 countries of origin. I set up a mentoring program that cut first-year departures by 35% and moved four junior leaders into roles two levels up.
  • Built a live-fire certification plan in 30 days when the usual timeline is 90. All 12 teams passed on the first attempt.
Operations Planner (First Lieutenant) — U.S. Army, 3rd Infantry DivisionJun 2021 – May 2023
Poland (deployed) / Fort Stewart, GA
  • Planned the movement of 1,200 people and 300 vehicles across four countries. I spotted a rail-schedule conflict 10 days out and re-sequenced the plan, keeping arrival on schedule.
  • Wrote a two-page decision memo comparing three basing options for a colonel and allied partners. The memo became the template for later deployment rotations.
  • Negotiated shared range access with a Polish army unit, adding 40 training days per quarter at no cost.
Skills

Analysis:Excel modeling, Cost-benefit analysis, Root-cause analysis, Scenario planning

Leadership:Team of 140, Cross-cultural teams, Executive briefings, Coaching

Tools:Excel, PowerPoint, Tableau, SQL (basic)

Involvement
Volunteer Mentor — American Corporate PartnersJan 2024 – Present
Remote
  • Mentor two junior enlisted soldiers leaving the Army. Both received job offers before they separated.
Certifications
  • U.S. Army Ranger School graduate
  • Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

What McKinsey & Company looks for

McKinsey says it hires smart, driven problem-solvers from any field, and what matters most is how you think through hard problems and the impact you create. Most client-facing candidates take a problem-solving game called Solve, a personal experience interview (PEI) and a case interview. The PEI covers personal impact, entrepreneurial drive and inclusive leadership, and McKinsey asks you to bring two detailed examples for each. Your résumé is where interviewers find those stories, so every role needs one you can explain step by step: your role, your actions and the result.

Bullet formula: [What you personally did] to solve [an unclear, high-stakes problem], [how you broke it down or brought people with you], resulting in [a measured result]. Write each role so it holds at least one story you could tell in the PEI.

Do

  • Write about your own role. McKinsey asks candidates to focus on "your specific role" and "the key actions that were critical to success", not what the unit did.
  • Map your roles to the PEI themes. Aim to have two stories for each of personal impact (changing someone's mind), entrepreneurial drive (a hard goal on a short deadline) and inclusive leadership (leading people from different backgrounds).
  • Show that you can structure messy problems and pull clear conclusions from data. These are the first skills McKinsey says its Military Fellowship trains.
  • Put a number in every bullet you can, such as people, dollars, hours or readiness rates. The case interview tests the same analytical instinct.
  • Using AI to polish your résumé is fine. McKinsey lists that as encouraged.
  • Any job or branch can work. The Military Fellowship is open to U.S. applicants "from all services, backgrounds, and specialties."

Avoid

  • Don't exaggerate, and don't let an AI tool invent achievements. McKinsey lists this as not allowed.
  • Don't describe only what the team did. Interviewers will ask what you did.
  • Don't bury analytical work under military shorthand. Say what you analyzed, what you decided and what changed.

Words from their postings

problem solving, personal impact, entrepreneurial drive, inclusive leadership, structure ambiguous problems, synthesize, engage and dissent, apprenticeship, client impact.

Veteran programs

  • McKinsey Military Fellowship: a 10-week DoD SkillBridge internship at a U.S. office on real client teams, open to all services and specialties.
  • Veterans@McKinsey: a network of 300+ members across 36 offices in 15 countries that recruits, mentors and supports veterans and military partners. Its sponsor is a senior partner who served as an Army officer.

Where veterans land

Associate (consultant), Implementation consultant, Military Fellowship (SkillBridge) intern, Internal roles such as legal and operations

Sources

McKinsey: Interviewing at McKinsey (what we look for, PEI, AI guidance)McKinsey Military Fellowship (SkillBridge)Veterans@McKinseyMcKinsey careers blog: Three reasons veterans excel at McKinsey

Guidance compiled from McKinsey & Company's public career pages, checked Sep 2026. MOS Roadmap is not affiliated with or endorsed by McKinsey & Company.

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