IB Professionals, What Makes You Push a Candidate’s Resume?
Hi fellow monkeys,
When you are meeting with students, more specifically non-targets/semi-targets, what do you look for that makes you want to push their resume.
For reference, I am currently a rising senior at a mid-tier semi target in Canada. I have some solid internships, I worked in PE, M&A (at a top 5 accounting firm in Canada), and ER. During my internship in M&A I worked on 19 deals with a total TV of 375M and at my PE internship I worked on 2 deals with a TV of 240M. The biggest issue that I have is my GPA it is 3.2, and yes while I know I shouldn’t give it an excuse, I usually explain it through 3 aspects - I had undiagnosed ADHD that hindered my ability to perform, I was taking care of my very ill grandparents, and a toxic relationship. (However, everything is sorted out now and I am expecting to finish this semester on the deals go or list). However, given that I leave my GPA off my resume, whenever i get asked about it on coffee chats, even if the conversation was going great, their demeanour/vibe completely changes. I had a few bankers go from “you have great experience” to “your GPA is a big hinder”.
So what else can I do to get bankers to push my resume, or look past my GPA
Do you have a higher major GPA that you can point to as an improvement? For example, my GPA was around 3.2-3.4, but my major GPA was around 3.8-3.9.
I'd also be careful about using excuses such as your grandparents and toxic relationship as a reason for your GPA. It can come off as though you are trying to defend your poor grades instead of acknowledging that your GPA isn't the best, but you have worked on it and improved. You could spin your ADHD diagnosis as that is a legitimate reason for struggling in school, but only if you have shown improvement since your diagnosis.
Honestly, there aren't many good reasons for a poor GPA, although your situation is reasonable in why you could have struggled. I'd try to keep the focus on your experience as it's very solid and refrain from mentioning your GPA unless it's mentioned first.
Perfect, I usually only mention my grandparents/toxic relationship if they say that others with ADHD have gotten higher grades, but I always try not to use it as an excuse but try to show my improvements 
I’d advise against bringing up undiagnosed mental health disorders in an interview, albeit a minor one like ADHD
How did you work on 19 deals in a single internship? Slightly confused
When I got on they had 10 live deals at all stages of the deal process, from preparing the CIM to LOI/DD stage. Then 9 other deals went live. Keep in mind that some of the deals are in the range of 3-10M
people care way more that you can talk about a deal or two in detail than 19 deals you barely contributed to
Bump
We have big 5 banks and big 5 accounting now?
The firm really loves to talk about how they are the 5th largest Accounting firm by revenue
I think I know the firm lol
National and saying Big 6 but accounting version LOL
I agree with the above points on putting your major GPA if higher. Unfortunately folks in this field all have high GPAs and sometimes just bias to those with similar academic achievement.
For me, it all comes down to whether there’s something I can relate to them (similar hobbies, hometown etc) if they are non-target, and whether I believe they will prevail and get through the process if I push their resume.
I know everyone is different but I would focus on finding similarities to banker and convince them you will be a great interviewee if they push your resume
Perfect thank you. I will start focusing on that, any tips on how to convince them with out sounding cocky, as that is a fine line that I am scared of crossing.
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