Red flag

Hey there,

Here are a few in no particular order:

• Long, unqualified blank timeframes
• Excessive grammatical / syntax errors or typos / no structure or care // non-polished document
• Lack of employment experience (even if it's just 1-3 good internships missing)
• Excessive time needed for a degree (e.g. 6 years instead of 3) unless it can be explained by some activity that was running in parallel (e.g. started a company)
• No degree at all / missing education section
• Completely out of line GPA (from top 30th percentile upward)
• Non-target university (only applicable for super competitive offices)
• Language skills don't match the office requirement
• Objectively identifiable lying

Cheers,

Florian

Hard to say specifically but generally speaking I would say dishonestry (i.e., lying in your CV) or unethical behaviour (e.g., working in an illegal business).

The more common scenario of disqualification I have seen at McKinsey is when a candidate shows unethical behaviour during the selection process including interactions with recruiters.

Hi there,

I would consider the following as the main red flags:

• Very low GPA
• Lack of any kind of work experience
• Bad formatting / typos
• 3-4 pages length
• Lack of clear action --> results structure for the bullets of the experiences
• Long paragraphs (3-4 lines) for the bullets of the experiences with irrelevant details
• Long time gaps without any explanation

Best,
Francesco

Hi,

everything that basically makes two things impossible for them: (1) trust you, (2) put you in front of a client (i.e. you are not presentable / MBB cannot justify why they put you on the team).

Hence, if you have utterly bad grades and show no interest in anything in life whatsoever, this would not be able to be sold to clients. If information are not true or the truth stretched to its limits, they could not trust you.

Remember, this is a people's business, there is no algorithm or some machine-based learning kind of stuff judging you - every single day on the job you motivate, negotiate with, argue with, collaborate, mentor, guide people (colleagues, clients, 3rd parties). If those 2 points above are not met - game over.

P.S.: Feel free to send me your CV directly, I d be happy to take a look (feel free to anonymyze it to the extent required if need be).

Best,
Denis

I think you already know the answer to your question.

Always maintain highest possible standards for yourself and what you put in your CV and Cover Letter. Stretching facts/lying will only take you so far and its easy to get carried away given the pressures & competition. Its easy to get carried away and put things on CV to be accepted or pass the screening. Nah!

Strive to give your best every day (and with every person you come across) & keep a positive attitude in life. Good things will happen.

Horrible formatting, mispelling, inconsistency, bad GPA, lack of any experience whatsoever.

Hello!

I would say there are a few: 

• Periods of time without any information
• Inconsistencies in the data
• Inconsistencies and/or typos in the format

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Beyond the profile that might just not meet the requirements (academic achievements, work experience, etc) I would make the case it's mostly formatting, typos, etc. The rationale is that if you can't prepare a professional document for your own benefit, how can you prepare one for the company when you work there.

Hi there, 

• it should be easy to read (don't use crazy templates, keep it simple)
• irrelevant information
• gaps in experience/education 
• typos, inconsistency, mistakes

Hope it helps! 

Cheers, 

GB