Extracurricular activities and grades - Experienced hire - MBB

Hi Anonymous,
Thanks for asking the question!
Based on my experience, screening is usually based on 3 criteria (by order of importance):
- your professional experience and school (usually we have a list of target schools and target Masters)
- your GPA / grades (really depends on the office though, I know for France and LATAM that they don't ask for your grades for examples)
- your extracurricular activities (e.g. associative, digital activity, or sports activities)
If the 2 first criteria are met, the second is a “nice to have” for screening but a “must-have” in the last round where all candidates are great and there are little differences like this that make a candidate stand out.
I hope that helps, feel free to reach out to me if you have any follow up questions
Thanks
N.

Hello,

I think your work experience will be far more important - your skillset, leadership, and teamwork capabilities will mostly have been determined there. 

I don't know how much time you have for extracurriculars outside your job, but it is probably also a good idea to have a few things up your sleeve that are not directly related to your consulting work, whether it be some office initiatives, volunteering, or something else. This is less important than work experience, but it can be helpful in portraying yourself as a well-rounded candidate and interesting person who does more than just work. So overall I would definitely focus more on your work experience, but you should also take this feedback on board and make sure that your extracurriculars look good. 

From the way you phrased your question, it seems like this might just be a question of rephrasing a few things to make sure that your extracurriculars more closely get at what the consulting companies want (show your leadership, initiative, teamwork, and so on). If this is the case - you already have the extracurriculars but are getting feedback to talk about them in a different way on your CV - by all means work through that. You've done all the hard work already, you just need to make sure your CV is showing it.

Hi there,

The following are the key elements normally considered for CV screening:

• Work experience
• University brand, Major, GPA
• Experience abroad
• Extracurriculars and volunteer experience

If your profile is not strong on the extracurricular, definitely rephrase/expand it and make it stronger there. What they commented is true, usually extracurriculars are excellent to show leadership skills.

If you have more questions please feel free to PM me.

Best,

Francesco

Hi!

Based on the information you provided, I think they would like your CV to present more clearly and in greater detail your leadership skills, either in a professional environment or in extracurricular activities.

I recommend spending some time revising your CV and making your impact as a leader more apparent.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Anto

Hi there,

Quite simply the hollistic extent of your consulting-related experience (including education and brands) is what matters.

Work experience is far more important than just extracirricular activities, however, extracirriculars are a great way to add depth/fullness to your resume!

As an experienced hire, experience is paramount. 

Either your experience + educational background / grades get you the interview… or it doesn't. Extra-curriculars won't change that.

Afterwards it is mostly about the case. Until last round where you get the behavioral/fit interview. In that round you have to be able to tell compelling stories that showcase your consulting abilities. Having the right extras may help the conversation, so explore well what you have. But if you don't have those extracurricular activities you should have good stories from your work experience.

Hey there,

To make it brief, as an experienced hire, the importance of your professional experience far outweighs any extracurricular activities.

Extracurricular activities are mostly relevant for entry-level roles, for the simple reason that they do not have sufficient work experience to demonstrate experience in

• Leadership
• Impact
• Entrepreneurial Drive

(to keep it somewhat close to the McKinsey PEI; same for other firms)

Cheers,

Florian