So I've been tinkering with my resume for a few days. I easily have 3 pages worth of material, and was able to boil it down to 2 pages without much trouble. I've been reading articles that suggest a 1 pager is critical for places like MBB, i.e. if you can't demonstrate your key accomplishments in 3-4 bullets, then you're already not a good fit. Is there a consensus here? Is 2 pages ok? Or 1.5? Would 1.5 be preferable to 2 full pages? I mean, you're already onto a second page, but I could see the value in not throwing a full second page at the reviewer.
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How much experience do you have? Unless you are quite seasoned... 1 page max is the go-to.
Finished undergrad in '03, so about 8 years. Three employers since then, and two internships prior to that. Start adding education, personal interests / accomplishments, etc. it's difficult to keep to 1 pg. I can probably swing it though if that's far better than 2 pgs.
If you have been done with school since '03 there is no reason to keep internships on your resume. Even if they were prestigious who cares if they didn't translate into a prestigious full time gig. You should definitely be at one page.
One page maximum, if you have accomplished enough to warrant a second page you won't need it because they will already know who you are. If you can't impress with three bullet points the addition bullets are not going to help.
Agreed with R2... internships aren't really valid at this point as I assume they are getting pretty old and have been surpassed by your full time experience.
Just make sure the pieces you are included are all timely and worth having on. If it is 2 pages with valid info that is different than fluff that makes it longer.
Thanks for the input. Internships axed (they were only 1 line each as it was - really just going for name brand value without saying anything about what I did). I'm pretty close to 1pg now.
Make sure your bullets points + are "achievements" instead of just "responsibilities", + are focusing on what MBB is looking for (http://www.mckinsey.com/careers/how_do_i_apply/what_we_look_for.aspx).
This might help you weed out some of the information in your resume.
there is no reason to have more than 1 pg unless u've been working for 20 years w/ significant experience
I've spoken with people from McKinsey here in Canada, and they don't seem too overly concerned with a 2 page resume. For my BA application, I submitted two pages and got an interview (but I did have intern experience at 6 different companies during undergrad). From what I understand, one page is ideal if you can get all your relevant points on there. If you go to two pages, try to have a summary of the bright spots on your resume near the top of the first page - that way you make sure the recruiter sees it, and he or she can read the rest if they want to.
NEVER make it longer than one page. You aren't that important. Even she kept hers within one page: http://www.joycemeng.com/joycemengresume.pdf
[quote=Schwarzmanegger]NEVER make it longer than one page. You aren't that important. Even she kept hers within one page: http://www.joycemeng.com/joycemengresume.pdf[/quote]
This is precisely the reason why it shouldn't always be one page. Where's my white space? Where am I supposed to write my notes when I interview them? How am I supposed to digest that wall of text?
Presenting things in aesthetically pleasing way is also an important skill in consulting.
Seriously? There's plenty of white space on that resume. And it is aesthetically pleasing. There's a fair amount of text for one page but it is well laid out.
Besides, you have a separate evaluation sheet anyways.
Concur - keep it to one page...start each bullet with a past-tense verb along the generla lines of "led X which resulted in Y" - each bullet should end with some sore of quantified result if at all possible. Inlcude GPA and test scores - exclusion suggests you have something to hide.
Good luck.
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