• Although tough to earn, a job at McKinsey could lead you to a six-figure salary.
• A clear, direct cover letter could get you in the door, recruiters and a former McKinsey manager said.
• The best cover letters demonstrate top problem-solving and leadership abilities, and a passion for working with clients.
• Recruiters also recommended keeping your message short and to the point.
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McKinsey and Company is super tough to break into but well worth the effort when it comes to salary. Partner salaries average more than $800,000 in total pay, according to job-review site Glassdoor.

One of your first chances to prove your value to this uber-competitive management consulting firm is through a cover letter. As stated on McKinsey's website: "Your application (i.e., cover letter, CV/resume) is our first and primary evidence of your written communication skills, so present it in a thoughtful and compelling manner."

While the company's website notes that a cover letter isn't required in an online application, "unless you wish to alert [McKinsey] to an unusual circumstance or to provide information on a reapplication," recruiters emphasized that it's still an important part of the hiring process.

"McKinsey recruiters expect to see applicants with elite problem-solving and leadership abilities who can articulate their achievements, accomplishments, and diverse experiences concisely," said Caroline Stokes, the CEO of executive search and coaching firm FORWARD, who has experience recruiting and coaching job seekers for many top firms, including McKinsey. "A person's leadership style and executive presence can be determined from this letter alone, so it needs to fully represent how the person would operate in this management consultancy environment with other high-performing talent and clients."

Portia Kibble Smith, an executive recruiter at Karat who has four decades of corporate experience and has placed many candidates at McKinsey, added: "The single biggest reason for a cover letter is that when I talk to hiring managers, they're probably reviewing each resume for 10 to 30 seconds. They're shuffling through them so quickly that you need some way to make the strongest part of your resume pop. That's what a cover letter is for."

These experts and others shared their best tips for writing a letter that gets a hiring manager's attention.

Emphasize leadership, an entrepreneurial drive, and a passion for client-facing work

Smith said you should first make it clear that you're interested in working with clients - not just interested in working for McKinsey.

"Demonstrate your passion for client-facing roles, and that you have the tools to hit the ground running on day one," Smith said.

Second, Smith pointed out that the cover letter is your opportunity to pull out the single-most impressive part of your resume and bring it to life.

"Draw them in with a compelling story so they know your resume is worth more than half a minute of their time," she said. "One example of this is from a candidate that I helped place, who went into detail about their experience leading teams in the telecommunications industry and the value they helped create in a client-facing role."

Lastly, she advised not shying away from your background, but instead leaning into it.

"If your MBA is from KU [University of Kansas] and not Harvard, the hiring manager already knows this, so there's no need to hide it," Smith said. "What opportunities did you have in Lawrence that may not have been available in Cambridge? Is there a unique perspective you're going to offer to the clients that they can't find anywhere else? That will get you noticed."

Will Bachman spent four years at McKinsey after business school as an engagement manager, plus another year at the firm during his pre-MBA tenure. Within his management role, he was involved in recruiting for the firm - specifically vetting prospective MBA students and conducting interviews - before he left to cofound Umbrex, a global community connecting top-tier independent management consultants.

Bachman emphasized that McKinsey evaluates applicants on four dimensions: personal impact, entrepreneurial drive, problem-solving skills, and leadership abilities. As a result of this focus, he said that all successful candidates must meet the high bar on all four dimensions, and need to be absolutely distinctive on at least one of those four - which should come out in your cover letter.

"McKinsey consultants are taught to 'lead with the answer' when creating a presentation, and applicants ought to do the same in a cover letter, opening with a powerful anecdote that illustrates one of those four qualities where the candidate is most exceptional," Bachman said.

He also advised not diluting your message by trying to demonstrate competence on all four; instead, you should wow the reader with a story that shows how you are amazing on one of these dimensions.

(Finally, he shared that at McKinsey, the consultants like to capitalize the word "firm" when referring to "the Firm," so for extra credit, you can adopt that practice in your cover letter.)

Don't just rehash your resume, and keep it short, sweet, and prompt

Atta Tarki is founder and CEO of ECA, an executive search firm in which 10 out of their 11 managing directors are former consultants themselves with experience at McKinsey and other top consulting firms, and formerly spent six years as a management consultant at LEK Consulting. As such, Tarki works with hundreds of McKinsey consultants aiming to transition out of the firm a year, and has placed consultants with eight out of the top 10 strategy consulting firms.

Tarki advised focusing on something unique in your cover letter that's not in your resume to make your note stand out.

"Most cover letters are just checking the box and rehashing the resume," he said. "In the extremely rare event that someone looks at it, that [approach] won't help you, and instead it should try to highlight some of your hobbies or things that make you interesting as a person/for the role."

Tarki added that in the age of Twitter, less is more, whether you're talking about your cover letter, resume, or other communications related to your McKinsey application. He also hammered the point that it's important to get the basics right when applying, such as keeping your emails to HR brief and professional, not having any typos in your cover letter or other parts of your application, and being very responsive when communicating with the firm.

"Within hours is great and within the hour is excellent," Tarki said. "Within 24 hours is acceptable. Anything slower than that raises yellow flags."

He also emphasized making sure every single sentence in your application adds value. "Don't replace quality with quantity," he said.

Not sure what this looks like in practice? We asked these experts to offer some samples of great cover letter lines.

Bachman suggested that your cover letter to McKinsey could begin with something like this opener, which he wrote himself:

[Partner's first name],

I'm interested in joining the [name of practice] as an experienced hire.

Recognizing the value the Firm places on entrepreneurial drive, I thought I'd share the story of how I conceived of a new revenue stream for my current employer, developed the business case on my own time, managed to gain alignment among senior managers to approve funding, and then, as the head of this new service line, built a $50 million annual revenue business with a 22% EBITDA margin ...

Here's another example of an opening paragraph of the kinds of notes that stood out to him when vetting candidates:

[Partner's first name],

I'm interested in joining the [name of practice] as an experienced hire.

Recognizing the value the Firm places on personal impact, I thought I'd share the story of how I built a nonprofit that has distributed a free interview suit and interview coaching to 3,000 low-income residents in my city ...

If you know a partner at the firm, then your cover letter should be addressed to that person. Bachman suggested that in this case, your cover letter could begin like this:

[Partner's first name],

I've thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to get to know you and your colleagues over the past several months, and as we discussed at [venue] on [date], I'd like to be considered as a candidate to join the [name of practice] in the [desired city] office …

Smith also shared the following cover letter template that she uses to help her candidates craft their introductions to McKinsey:

[Partner's first name],

Delivering exceptional results for clients isn't rocket science - it's a lot harder.

It takes a genuine desire to understand a client's business and goals, from both a granular and big-picture perspective. It takes insight into the client's business trajectory, products, market trends, untapped opportunities, and competitors. It takes critical thinking, robust analytical skills, leadership, and a passion for strategic problem-solving.

It takes someone who can partner with clients and colleagues to find innovative approaches to problems and work as a key member of the team to develop impactful recommendations.

These are the things I truly enjoy doing. I use a systematic approach to problem solving that includes analyzing the issue, defining desired outcomes, asking the right questions, looking at the challenge from both creative and strategic viewpoints, and brainstorming in a team environment to form possible solutions. A brief example of my success in problem solving is [example, including results for company or clients].

As a recent graduate of [school] with a [degree] in [major], I am eager to work with an organization like McKinsey, where my education and experience in [area of experience] will add value to both clients and the firm.

It would be a privilege to speak with you about a consulting role with McKinsey, my qualifications, and a potential match. My resume is attached for your review, and I look forward to the next steps in the selection process. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

[Your name]