I'm not getting selected for any meet/greet events, and I think my GPA is the problem. I'd like to interview for a position at MBB about 1 year from now, but am afraid my chances are not high if I'm not getting through these already.
I'm based in europe, where undergrad+grad is the standard. I have a graduate degree in engineering, at one of the top engineering schools in europe. My GPA there is good (4.0, I think I was in the top 10% of my cohort but it's not something they track), and I have a list of extracurriculars and an award as well. Currently I'm doing an Engineering Management traineeship at Mars Inc, where I'll become the manager of my own team starting september for my 3rd year. And also there I have some cool extracurriculars. In summary the last ~4 years have been pretty good.
However, they ask for GPA averages starting from highschool even for recruitment events. And my GPA for highschool is average, the undergrad one is low (2.3). I do have a double mayor and some extra curricular events, but it's not good.
My problem is the reason why. It's very personal.. I had a few traumatic life events as a teenager. After that I spent some years depressed and honestly struggeling. I did the minimum to pass what I wanted to pass but was pretty much 'out' otherwise. I had another thing happen right before the graduate program started (it's been a fun ride..) and finally got therapy after that, which has helped a lot and my CV shows it for sure.
I feel like there is no way I'll get to the interview stage without the explanation of what happened, if they don't already toss me out based on the numbers. I also don't know how to mention this and sound like a winner instead of a victim (I'm a woman, and it's sexual assault related). I'd prefer to not mention anything at all, but am not sure if there is a way around it. Even if everything else on my CV is stellar enough to get the interview, I feel like I'd still be asked about the undergrad degree and what happened there.
Is there any advice or experience for something like this?
Hi Francesco, Thank you so much for the answer. I'm the same person from the original post and today I was contacted by a McKinsey recruiter on LinkedIn. I have a phonecall with her tomorrow morning about a job offering they have that they think my profile fits perfectly. Do you have any advice on what to do? Will they ask for my grades still, and what do I say if she does? I'm happy to have been approached like this, but also freaking out haha