I posted this in the resume forum, but the IBD forum seems to get a lot more traffic. Also, I'm going for MM IBD (but casting a wide net) so I need they eyes of those with banking experience. Thanks in advance for the help.
Notes:
This is the first draft of my revamped resume since leaving my last job and also my first time putting it up on WSO, so I appreciate all critiques. I know it needs a lot of work... so tear it apart.
In an attempt to "bank-ify" I went against conventional wisdom and put the modeling stuff near the top and also included corporate finance coursework.
The 4.00 GPA is just a place holder on this template, so I won't list anything until my first grades are recorded.
So you joined your frat after college??
Underneath frat's name is the "Chapter Advisor, Alumni Advisory Board" title. I put in the "Leadership" section to break up the resume and add another angle and still reference my fraternity without just adding it in activities since I'm no longer in undergrad... bad idea?
I will change the first bullet point to "Served as an alumni consultant..." in case the title is glanced over. (may also just remove the entire section)
It has good flow and relevant work....one minor point - the will complete section of courses..unless you completed them by the time of interview i would leave them off and only talk about classes you have taken b/c you never know what someone will use to question you at an interview that is basic knowledge for one of those classes that you havent taken yet
Point taken +1. That's one thing I went out on a limb on, but the potential of opening a can of worms during an interview is a very solid reason to only list current/past courses. Thanks!
glad you can use the advice...i made the mistake once and the associate went on a ten minute tangent grilling me...thankfully i nailed the rest so it didnt hurt but still sucked
@jwalsh16 - yea I really appreciate... hearing about personal experiences is valuable stuff.
Not reading all comments above me, forgive if anything I say was mentioned previously.
Remove coursework for MSF. General rule of thumb is that it's okay (but potentially risky during interviews as you may get grilled past your knowledge) to list courses current enrolled in, but never courses anticipated in the future.
Consider moving the Financial Modeling Training section somewhere else, it's not formal education and it looks odd juxtaposed between your undergrad and graduate studies. Perhaps placing it under the Additional section would be best, especially since you titled that section so broadly with Additional instead of the more common Skills & Interests.
Quantify more. Consider adding how many people were on your team at the PWM role, how many asset management firms you interacted with, how many fund managers you dealt with, how many clients you contacted for business development, how many analysts were on the school investment fund with you, etc.
Decrease the list level for the 2nd-4th bullets under the PWM role. Looks odd to me to see a full sentence bullet, then three sub-categories treated as being on the same list level. Consider adding a colon to the end of the first bullet, then selecting the entire remainder of the material below it and decreasing the list level by one.
Hope this helps.
Thanks so much for the suggestions.
Someone already addressed the coursework section (same thought as you) which I will be changing... but you reinforced the idea, so thanks for that.
Modeling - I originally had it at the bottom and still have that version saved. I know its unconventional to put at the top... my thinking was if you glance quickly at the resume you will defiantly see it and if it was at the bottom it almost buries the Series 7 and 66. But I understand where you're coming from and will most likely move it back to the bottom.
Will definitely quantify more. This section is most important and needs the most work.
For changing the list level... any suggestions on the bullets themselves? I would probably need to change them if they are on a different level. What are the accepted styles for each level?
Once again, thanks for all the advice... MUCH appreciated.
I coach students at the Stanford GSB on their resumes and cover letters. The template we use is similar to yours. Agree on the comments above regarding coursework --- it feels granular compared to your achievements on the job.
I think you should take your first bullet point and use it as a descriptor of your analyst position (flush left, not bulleted). Then, I think you should focus more on your achievements -- for example, "Communicated directly" with asset management firms is really more of a job description than an accomplishment. Same goes for some of the other items. Call out the highlights, such as successful recommendations of asset managers, or new business brought in (you don't have to have done it solo, you could have supported a team effort), or other excellent things you would have done in order to get where you are today.
A resume should always include the highlights of the cool stuff you did, not a description of everything you did.
Thanks,
I completely agree about reworking my FT work experience bullets. This is my first draft so I will go back to the drawing board with everyone's advice (yours included). Thank you very much for the help!
This looked pretty impressive for a first draft. BTW, I am assuming you are looking for portfolio management jobs, right? If you had a track record, even at the undergraduate fund, you should mention it. Like any investment manager, you can spin the numbers -- believe me, I did all the time when I was writing commentary at a long-only shop.
I would align the dates in the education section just like you did for the experience section. If you have any experience with programming languages or VBA in Excel I would list that, and if you do not you might want to look into learning a bit of VBA as it's quick to pick up.
GPA is a bullet, make it with major and overall. Why are you moving away from PWM to MSF? I thought that you would go to MBA
Good point... and I just reformatted my degree line to say "Bachelor of Science in Business Administration" b/c I just remembered that is what my diploma says.
So underneath what would suggest my next bullet look like... something like this?
"Majors: Finance, Economics GPA: 3.41/4.00"
That is my cumulative, but does that make it look like I'm inferring that is my major GPA? My major is 3.5 so since both are middle of the road I only listed cumulative but open to suggestions.
As for why I'm doing the MSF... I worked in PWM for about 1.75 years FT and I wanted to move out sooner rather than later. Not enough WE to do an MBA and the fact that the MSF is only 1 year and has very focused curriculum is what drew me to it. Also the program I am doing is very solid and places a ton of people in the city I want to be in for the long term.
I think that the majors will be the same like with your degree after the comma. And then the GPA is in a separated line with a bullet. I think you can put either way for major and overall, but in your situation, it is fine with overall.
Could I know what school is it?
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Great school !
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