Here it is...you know what to do.
I have someone who wants to forward it to a couple BB MDs, and I just want to make sure I'm in good shape.
Right off the bat, two things:
1. I don't have my GPA listed because, if you've seen some of my other threads, you know that it's not quite what I would consider to be up to par.
2. Everything listed there is factual and accurate. That being said, my modeling experience is not up to what I would imagine par would be for an IB analyst...unless everything I did in school is enough. Should I leave it off in order to avoid embarrassment or just leave it on?
Other than that, have at it. Thanks so much in advance, I appreciate it.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| My Resume (WSO Copy).pdf 54.85 KB | 54.85 KB |
1) wrong forum, there's a forum for resume review. 2) don't tell me "I know what to do" and never say "thanks" or "please" 3) remove your personal information 4) my eyes are bleeding from your resume
So sorry, I forgot about that. I'll repost.
Few quick tips: 1) drop the "about myself" and save that for a cover letter. 2) move education above experience while you're still in college 3) why is Bloomberg Ambassador above experience? 4) right justify dates 5) center your contact info
1) I would, expect I'm handing this off to someone else to forward to these people...won't have a chance to write a cover letter, and I'm looking to put anything relevant in front of their eyes. Should I still drop it for these cases specifically? 2) I have graduated, should I still or no? 3) My mistake, I had that changed but did not save before uploading. Was doing some tweaking earlier. 4) Will do that, thanks. 5) Same. Thanks again so much.
Why not write a cover letter that goes with the forwarded resume?
The thing about the M&I format is that is ubiquitous for any skill level, but you HAVE to spin your experiences. Take something average and make it exceptional. Don't think that your Bloomberg experience isn't relevant, because Bloomberg software is a powerful financial tool that lots of people use. So be the Bloomberg whiz.
And a sales role isn't a bad thing, because for any type of finance/business role you're going to need thick skin, and to learn how to deal with people on your side and on the other. Talk about that in an interview or cover letter, how you bounce back from rejection, how you deal with difficult situations, how you use tact to navigate carefully with other people.
And if you're trying to deal with BB MDs, I would suggest you think more along the lines of boutique, whether that is investment banking, asset management, commercial banking, private banking, or something with a lower barrier of entry. I only say that because I'm a sub 3.5 GPA from a non-target, and I face a pretty large uphill battle at any BB. My focus is on getting relevant experience even if it's from a small firm.
You'll probably have to consider either a back office role or an internship (unpaid) with a boutique firm. Seeing as you went to Valpo, you're probably near Chi, and you should use that location to your advantage. Decide what exactly it is in banking that you want to do, and then focus on networking with individuals who have that experience. After applying online, I find that it is horribly inefficient. Whether they are alumni from your school or work, or just rando's you meet through Bloomberg sales, just tell them you want to introduce yourself for 30 seconds of their time, learn more about their position, their background, etc. You'll obviously take more time than that, but your chances of an interview or a recommendation will shoot up.
Another big hurdle you'll have to overcome is why you didn't try this in school, so you have to show that passion now. Once you have a solid resume, craft a strong cover letter that you can customize per firm. Not just different names of the firms, but state what about their particular track record or latest M&A deals in this sector that you find impressive. Tell them about that one guy you know there who told you all about XYZ firm and how challenging and rewarding it is, and emphasize how you know you'll be an excellent candidate who will work hard and perform well.
Print them out error-free and meticulously proofread on a very nice paper. I suggest cotton or linen paper. I know it sounds irrelevant, but it feels incredible and people remember that resume when they pick it up. Remember, the devil is in the details. Sign it with a nice fountain pen, and then try and hand it in in person, so that they can meet you face to face. If not, then have that person who hands it off tell that MD, "EvanM would be an absolutely outstanding part of the team, and if you don't have room on your team or firm, then someone else would kill to have him."
Sorry, that went way longer than I meant it to be, but if you put your heart and soul into this stuff I'm sure you'll see results that you want. Good luck again!
Tiger832 I appreciate your input very much, and thanks for taking the time to write that.
Unfortunately my role with Bloomberg was related to the BAT, so no use of the actual finance side of Bloomberg was involved. It was purely a sales roll for the Bloomberg Aptitude Test, so not much to do with finance. I do have a good way to spin it for at least what its good for though.
The reason it is going to BB MDs is not really because I singled them out, its because someone approached me with the idea. She is a former grad (has worked at a few BBs in client facing roles) and has offered to help. I am in the process of contacting boutiques as well, so I'm getting that covered as well. But I'm not going to turn down a free pass to have my resume in front of an MD at any of the big banks either. I interview very well, and I know I have much more skill and knowledge than my resume conveys. The key part is getting them to at least take an interest in me.
While Valpo is close to the city, I am currently not. I live in WI, about 2 hours away. So, networking is very difficult. I don't really have the money to just go down there for that anyway. I'm looking at taking a crappy part time job just to finance this job search (how ironic) but so far I have not and just going to Chicago isn't in the cards. You'd be surprised how poor the relationship is between Valpo's alumni and the business school. In fact, it is very bad. And a search on Linkedin of every single alumni (on Linkedin) in finance shows about nobody that is in this career area other than the one I mentioned. Also have no family and only a couple friends (like the woman I was speaking of earlier) to go off of, so it is a huge networking uphill battle for me. Perhaps impossible at this point, not sure. Nothing is truly impossible, but there is an asymptote that you can get damn close to. Anyway, point of all this is that I am going to have to do this though pure networking, and take what I can get. And hopefully I can make an impression that way.
Yeah, you definitely have a long road/tough slog ahead of you. Good luck.
This book really helped me when I was trying to craft my resume.
http://www.amazon.com/Polished-Adding-Resume-Letter-Interview/dp/061534…
Thanks a lot for that, I'll check it out.
WSO Resume Review Score*: 6.0 (out of 15 possible)
Some explanation of the grading:
1, Wording/Bullets: This score represents the overall wording of the bullets and content throughout the resume. Are there action words? are the experiences explained clearly? Does the candidate quantify their impact where possible?
Layout/Format: This score represents to overall layout and format. Finance professionals are notorious for being anal. Although this score is somewhat subjective, there are certain things we look for including consistency, spacing, clean look, clear sections, proper order, good margins, etc.
Overall: This score represents the experiences and school of the candidate and is the hardest to change in the short term. Improving the Wording/Bullets and Layout/Format scores can bump this grade up (usually by 1 grade at most), however, this grade depends largely on the School, GPA, Internships, Leadership, Extracurriculars of the applicant, etc.
We are going to try to provide a candid / direct grading system for as many resumes as we can in this Public Resume Review forum, with the hopes that it will lead candidates that need help on #1. and #2 criteria to consider the WSO Resume Review service that has experienced professionals ready to help bring the #1 and #2 score as close to a 4 or 5 as possible. Due to time contraints, I can't provide more detail and I can only provide this grade to each candidate once (if you try to repost and updated version under a different username, i will recognize it and ignore). What I will say is that if you aren't at a 4 or 5 in Wording and Layout, we can probably help you make significant improvments.
Some more guidelines for total overall score:
3 - 6: Needs MAJOR help / improvements in several areas 7 - 8: Has some major flaws but also has some good areas 9 - 11: An average to slightly above average resume that could still use some help but it is on "ok" shape 12 - 13: A competitive resume that should be able to land some competitive interviews 14 - 15: An impressive resume on all or almost all levels. Wording/Bullets/Layout/format and overall experience, grades, school, etc are all excellent or very good.
We suggest if you score in the bottom 3 categories listed above that you strongly consider the WSO Resume Review service. Whatever you decide, best of luck!
Thanks, Patrick
Honestly you need to change the format. Way too much information listed and unless you have serious experience that deserves to go into heavy detail you really shouldn't have more than 3-4 bullet points under a job.
As a matter of advice and seeing your posts in other threads, if I were you I would try to first land a PWM role or honestly anything because at this point you have no experience (relevant for FO work), not a great GPA, and a way off target school on your resume. Instead of just asking everyone else on this site you have to kind of just take life by the balls and start making moves and no excuses.
Networking into a BB job at this point is going to be utterly impossible unless you had a killer connection. If I were you I would start small, just get a job anywhere and start trying to at least get some relevant experience and then eventually trying to network with BB's again.
Good luck man.
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