Published 7 min read
Your McKinsey CV: Formatting for Europe and Asia Applications
A McKinsey CV is the same core document as a McKinsey resume: one page, one font, dates in one consistent format, with every bullet built as action, method, and quantified result. The main difference shows up outside the US, where "CV" is the standard word for the document and a handful of local habits, photos, personal details, date formats, and grading scales, diverge from the American template. Get those regional details wrong and a strong candidate can still read as sloppy to whoever screens the document.
CV or resume: is there even a difference
In the US, McKinsey calls the document a resume. Everywhere else, including the UK, continental Europe, and most of Asia, the application portal asks for a CV. For an MBB application this is the same document wearing a different name. It is still one page for undergraduate and most experienced-hire candidates, still organized around education, experience, and leadership, and still scored against the same five factors: intellectual horsepower, real-world results, leadership, problem-solving, and people skills. If you want the full breakdown of that scoring logic and how to build the underlying management consulting resume content, that part does not change by geography. The confusion mostly comes from academic CVs, the multi-page, publication-heavy documents professors use, which is not what any consulting office wants from you.
The one-page rule still holds, almost everywhere
I reviewed resumes and CVs from candidates around the world in batches of roughly 400 at a time, and the one-page expectation held for the large majority of offices I saw come through. Two pages is more culturally normal in a few markets, Germany and France among them, where a longer CV with more personal biography is still common outside consulting. McKinsey does not adopt the local norm just because the office sits in that country. If you are applying to an MBB office anywhere, assume one page unless the specific office's application instructions tell you otherwise in writing. Two pages from a strong candidate reads worse than one page from the same candidate, because a screener working through hundreds of documents in an afternoon reads extra length as a sign you could not edit yourself down. Before you touch formatting at all, run your draft against the 11 resume mistakes that get candidates rejected, since most of those apply whether the document is labeled CV or resume.
The photo question, office by office
This is the one I get asked about most, and the honest answer is that it depends on the office and it changes over time. In Germany, France, and much of continental Europe, a professional headshot on a CV has traditionally been standard practice, sometimes close to expected. In the US, UK, and Canada, a photo is actively discouraged and sometimes stripped out by recruiting systems before a resume ever reaches a human, because of anti-discrimination hiring norms. Firms with global recruiting standards, McKinsey included, have been de-emphasizing or removing photos across markets over recent cycles, even in countries where a photo was once routine. Do not guess. Check the specific office's current application instructions or careers page for the cycle you are applying in, and if there is no explicit guidance, leave the photo off. A CV without a photo has never cost anyone an MBB interview. A photo that reads as outdated, overly casual, or unprofessional has.
Personal details that some markets still expect, and MBB usually does not
Traditional CVs in parts of Europe and Asia include a date of birth, nationality, marital status, and sometimes a passport number, listed right under the name. This grew out of local hiring conventions that predate modern data protection and equal opportunity practices. MBB firms recruiting on a global basis have largely converged on the leaner American approach: name, phone, email, city, and a LinkedIn link if you keep it current. Work authorization or visa status is the one exception worth including, because it is directly relevant to a firm deciding whether it can sponsor you, and leaving it off just means a recruiter has to chase you for it later. Date of birth, marital status, and an ID photo add nothing a screener needs to evaluate your quantified bullet points, and they open the door to exactly the kind of bias global firms are trying to design out of the process. When in doubt, cut it.
Dates, grading scales, and the small things that read as sloppy
Two formatting habits trip up international candidates specifically. The first is date format. Numeric dates get read differently around the world: 03/04/2026 means March 4th in the US and April 3rd almost everywhere else, so a CV with numeric-only dates is genuinely ambiguous to someone screening fast. Spell the month out. Write "Mar 2024 to Aug 2024," not "03/24 to 08/24." The second is grading scales. A German transcript typically runs on a 1.0 to 5.0 scale where 1.0 is the top mark, the reverse of an American GPA. A UK degree classification of a First or a 2:1 does not map cleanly onto a 4.0 scale for a screener who has never seen a UK transcript before. If your grading system is not the standard American GPA, add one clarifying phrase in parentheses, something like "1.3 (top decile, German scale)" or "First-Class Honours (top of cohort)." A reviewer moving through 400 documents in a sitting will not stop to look up your university's scale. They will either guess wrong or move on to the next resume in the pile.
US resume vs Europe/Asia CV, side by side
| Element | Common US resume convention | Common Europe/Asia CV convention | What to do for an MBB application |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length | One page | One to two pages | One page, regardless of office |
| Photo | Omitted | Often included, especially Germany, France, parts of Asia | Check current office guidance; default to no photo |
| Personal details | Name, phone, email, city | Sometimes date of birth, nationality, marital status | Name, phone, email, city, visa status if relevant |
| Date format | Spelled-out month preferred | Numeric DD/MM/YYYY common | Always spell the month to remove ambiguity |
| Grading scale shown | GPA out of 4.0 | Local scale: percentage, 1 to 5, honours class | GPA or local mark plus a one-line translation |
| Document label | Resume | CV | Match whichever word the portal itself uses |
Language, file format, and the parts nobody warns you about
If you are applying to an office where the working language is not English, McKinsey Germany, Japan, and Korea are common examples, check whether the portal wants a version in the local language, an English version, or both. Some offices want both submitted together, and this has changed across recruiting cycles, so pull the requirement from the application page for that specific office rather than a forum post from a few years back. On file format, submit a PDF, never an editable Word document, because fonts, spacing, and page breaks can shift when a file opens on a different operating system or a different version of the same word processor, and a broken layout reads as careless no matter how strong the content underneath it is. Name the file with your own name, not "resume_final_v3.pdf." A recruiter managing hundreds of files a week needs to find yours again without opening it first. And if your application also calls for a cover letter, the formatting logic in the McKinsey cover letter guide follows the same office-by-office caution: check before you assume.
The bottom line
A McKinsey CV and a McKinsey resume are the same document: one page, five factors the screener is hunting for, quantified bullets, and a short list of regional habits, photos, personal details, date formats, grading scales, that trip up candidates who assume their local convention travels. Get the core document right first with the complete consulting resume guide, then layer on whatever the specific office you are applying to actually asks for.
Go deeper
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Frequently Asked Questions
Should I call it a CV or a resume for McKinsey?
Use whichever word the specific office's application portal uses. In the US it is a resume; in the UK, continental Europe, and most of Asia it is a CV. The document itself, one page, quantified bullets, is the same either way.
Do I need a photo on my McKinsey CV in Europe or Asia?
Not by default. Some countries have a local tradition of including a photo, but global MBB recruiting has moved toward omitting it across most offices. Check the specific office's current application instructions, and if there is no explicit guidance, leave the photo off.
Should my McKinsey CV be one page or two pages outside the US?
One page, in almost every office. A few markets have a local norm of longer CVs, but MBB firms apply a consistent one-page expectation globally rather than adopting the local convention.
Do I need to include my date of birth or nationality on a consulting CV?
Generally no. Some regional CV traditions include this information, but MBB firms have largely converged on the leaner approach of name, phone, email, and city. Visa or work authorization status is the one exception worth adding if it is relevant to the role.
How do I show my GPA if my country uses a different grading scale?
Add a one-line translation in parentheses next to your mark, such as noting the scale and where your result falls relative to your cohort. A screener reading hundreds of resumes will not stop to research an unfamiliar grading system.
Does McKinsey want a CV in the local language or in English?
It depends on the office and the recruiting cycle, so check that specific office's application page rather than assuming. Some non-English-speaking offices want both a local-language and an English version submitted together.