Resume Guidelines from a WSO Drop Reviewer
I have reviewed a number of resumes from a recent WSO drop, and while I've received some really wonderful ones that I have passed on (at least one received an offer!), I had far too many that were just terrible, which should not happen given the wealth of advice WSO has to offer on resumes. So, I thought I could hopefully point out some things to do and not to do, but, admittedly, much of this advice will likely be found in previous posts of this nature.
This comes from an investment banking perspective, and also may seem somewhat judgmental -- but, looking at anyone's resume for 10 seconds requires some degree of snap judgment, and is an unfortunate fact of life.
Formatting Advice
- Always submit your resume as a PDF. If you’re stubborn and want a good reason why, the biggest is that the formatting can get all screwed up in a doc vs. PDF, and also that it allows me to see how you played with font/margins, etc.
- Don’t have too much blank space on your resume. Thick margins, lots of space in between sections, etc. imply to me that you’re sloppy and/or lazy – the first because you didn’t take enough time to try to fill up the page, and the second because you haven’t earned enough experience yet to fill up the page.
- On the other hand, don’t have ridiculously skinny margins, and definitely don’t go over one page. Also, make sure that the end of the text on your bullets matches the end of the text in your headers (such as with your dates).
- Fonts for the most part have been fine, but some play around too much…go for Garamond or Georgia if you want to be a little different, Times is standard (but I personally don’t like it), and Arial is okay. Narrow Arial and Century are definite no’s, and anything worse than that should obviously be a no. I understand there are non-Word-standard fonts people use, too, so just make sure it is legible and (not or) sophisticated. I suppose if you used Helvetica that’d be fine with me, but probably not for other people.
- In that vein, don’t get happy with italics, underlining, and bold. Don’t bold “key words” in your bullet points…I can decide what is important on my own, tyvm. If you use too much of all three, you are emphasizing way too much and it makes it harder to read.
Content Advice
- Do not have a statement about your “purpose” or “goals” or anything where you talk about how you’re hard working, intelligent, etc. Your resume should demonstrate those things, without you having to hit someone over the head with it. If you approached a girl at a bar, would you say “I’m really good looking and charismatic” or try to show her by being well groomed and sociable?
- List an interests section…I get lots of resumes with solid experience, but if I see intriguing interests, it will bump you to the top of the pile. Don’t just say “traveling” or “reading”…frankly that’s true of most intelligent people. If you say “African safaris” or “Utopian sci-fi novels” I really can’t stress enough how much more likely I am to pass along your resume/bring you in for an interview. If we’re going to be working with you all the time, we want you to be a pleasure to be around.
- Perfect the art of the one-line bullet point. Many people either have one bullet point for three lines/sentences, or have way too little for one bullet point. For example, “Drafted pitching materials” is a lot less effective than “Drafted pitching materials, including comparable companies analysis and sector trends.” Now I know two skills that you have. On the other hand, don’t say “Drafted pitching materials, including comparable companies analysis and sector trends; also formatted to be client-ready and created Excel macros to accelerate formatting.” It will extend easily onto another line, and the second part isn’t even impressive – a monkey could do that.*
- Don’t put details of your stock portfolio as “experience.” I too had ridiculously high returns in my own portfolio, but that doesn’t mean in any way I’ll be good at banking, and is pretty easy to do (or manipulate). There are better things to put down, such as the following two...
- Any “get your hands dirty” work will be interesting. So you worked in construction your freshman summer? Put one bullet about it, conditional on having some space to fill up, and certainly to replace anything in your experience like your stock portfolio. If you have solid financial experience, as well, this sort of job will make me think you’re hardworking and have some character.
- You should also include one bullet for jobs that have a sales component, such as retail, conditional on the same things as in the previous bullet. If you’ve had experience making people think they need something they didn’t think they did before walking in the store/taking your call, it will be very valuable in this business.
- If your gpa is below a 3.5, find a way to break it out and make it look better, whether putting "Major GPA," "Post 1st Year," and so on. Also, if you went to a school lower than, let's say, top 20, you really need to have powerful extracurriculars and internships, or need to double/triple major with a near perfect GPA. It may be an unfair assumption, but if we see someone who went to a mediocre school with less than a 3.9, we figure they either are lazy or unintelligent.
This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but merely a list of the main problems I saw with resumes I reviewed that came from WSO. I highly recommend sending your resume to alums/friends in the industry and having them rip it apart before you start sending it to internship/analyst resume drops.
Feel free to ask questions or tell me how egregiously wrong I am in the comments.
*I have been surprised at how non-bankers struggle with formatting, though.
great post, thanks
great post, thanks
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great, thanks for this. just
great, thanks for this. just skimmed this now but will def read it later
GBS
anaismalcolm: It may be an
It may be an unfair assumption, but if we see someone who went to a mediocre school with less than a 3.9, we figure they either are lazy or unintelligent.
might be the most ridiculous thing I've read on this site so far.
"Life all comes down to a few moments. This is one of them." - Bud Fox
Great Post! Sorry to be so
Great Post! Sorry to be so nosy but were you receiving reader's resumes to be handed off to potential internships? If so is it too late to send you one?
How could you add a bullet
How could you add a bullet for your "get your hand dirty job"??? On the experience, I have each of my internship into a section. Should I add another section for the "get your hand dirty" job?
noke2012: anaismalcolm: It
It may be an unfair assumption, but if we see someone who went to a mediocre school with less than a 3.9, we figure they either are lazy or unintelligent.
might be the most ridiculous thing I've read on this site so far.
Edit: On second thought, nvmd. Since this was a post of you actually taking your time to help ppl out I won't express my actual feelings on this statement.
GBS
I disagree about margins. I
I disagree about margins. I always tell people to widen their margins a bit. Typically up to .7
Wide margins = more concise, easier to read bullets = less eye scanning left to right = less up and down eye scanning = most of your resume won't get read.
I also disagree about spacing. I always space my CV a lot but not for a lack of content. Rather I realize my CV will not actually get read thoroughly, so spacing things out makes it easier on the eyes. Plus, less content = more concise content. My spaces are usually 15pt Times.
I'd add some other tips. 1)
I'd add some other tips.
1) Your CV needs a thesis and you need to structure your CV to reflect it. Example: On my CV, I really want to sell the internship I had - I worked times at a great fund. That internship is the largest section of my CV, greatly overwhelming my other work exp and education section. By doing that, my hope is the reader will remember me as Couchy: kid with really good internship experience at a top fund, ( but non-target and bad gpa ). see next point to see how i handle the part in parentheses.
2) Bold and italics need to be used to emphasize and potentially de-emphasize the major points to your "thesis". Example: My GPA is not great - so I include it at the end of my degree title, both in italics. Long sections of bold / italics are less pleasing to the eye and so a readers eye might just skip my GPA to jump straight to the more sexy, better formatted internship section.
3) Most important content always go as far top-left as possible. Unless the beginning is very very interesting, most content towards the bottom-right won't get read. Think of when you read a FB profile. If you're like me, you skip most of the content.
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The basic idea with these tips is that formatting is not just for looking good. It should help guide the reader to what is most important.
Question about the personal
Question about the personal trading "experience": is it OK to put it if you trade FX/commodity futures/options/other volatility products, and have a semblance of a hedging or risk management strategy? I understand why a generic stock portfolio may be mundane and unimpressive on a resume. However, it seems to me that trading in more unusual and ostensibly 'difficult' markets (75% of retail FX traders lose money) with at least a semblance of sophistication could potentially be different. But, then again, maybe not.
What do you do? If you don't
What do you do? If you don't mind me asking. Your profile says "Prospective Monkey."
anaismalcolm: - If your gpa
- If your gpa is below a 3.5, find a way to break it out and make it look better, whether putting "Major GPA," "Post 1st Year," and so on. Also, if you went to a school lower than, let's say, top 20, you really need to have powerful extracurriculars and internships, or need to double/triple major with a near perfect GPA. It may be an unfair assumption, but if we see someone who went to a mediocre school with less than a 3.9, we figure they either are lazy or unintelligent.
3.9+ seems to be pushing it a bit. Do you really see this many people with high GPAs?
I don't see how it's possible for so many people to be in the top 10-15% of every single class throughout every single class in their college careers. Is grade inflation really that common these days?
holla_back: anaismalcolm: -
- If your gpa is below a 3.5, find a way to break it out and make it look better, whether putting "Major GPA," "Post 1st Year," and so on. Also, if you went to a school lower than, let's say, top 20, you really need to have powerful extracurriculars and internships, or need to double/triple major with a near perfect GPA. It may be an unfair assumption, but if we see someone who went to a mediocre school with less than a 3.9, we figure they either are lazy or unintelligent.
3.9+ seems to be pushing it a bit. Do you really see this many people with high GPAs?
I don't see how it's possible for so many people to be in the top 10-15% of every single class throughout every single class in their college careers. Is grade inflation really that common these days?
3.9 would put you in the top ~1%. Ppl don't get it. A 3.9 means out of ~41 classes, like 3 weren't A's..... they were A-'s. Believe me, I'd know. I graduated 3.7 and in the top 10% (under your theory I would have been like top 30%). As far as "Is grade inflation really that common these days?", the answer is yes, but only at the top schools. Which is why I was gonna comment before but decided not to. Not only is it harder for "non-targets" to do well, but even when they do, its immediately discounted. Add onto that fukin random ass schools giving out A+'s and you really start to see how absurd of a game this really is. Its literally too asinine to even piss me off anymore, lol
GBS
GoldmanBallSachs: 3.9 would
3.9 would put you in the top ~1%. Ppl don't get it. A 3.9 means out of ~41 classes, like 3 weren't A's..... they were A-'s. Believe me, I'd know. I graduated 3.7 and in the top 10% (under your theory I would have been like top 30%). As far as "Is grade inflation really that common these days?", the answer is yes, but only at the top schools. Which is why I was gonna comment before but decided not to. Not only is it harder for "non-targets" to do well, but even when they do, its immediately discounted. Add onto that fukin random ass schools giving out A+'s and you really start to see how absurd of a game this really is. Its literally too asinine to even piss me off anymore, lol
Yeah, the whole grade thing just blows my mind. My college graduating class of ~350 people had like fifteen who finished up with GPAs above 3.5. Applying to business school this fall should be painful. Oh well.
3.9 gpa, come on now. lets
3.9 gpa, come on now. lets not get carried over.
great input thanks.
great input thanks.
syoon91: Great Post! Sorry to
couchy: I disagree about
SlyGuy: Question about the
I respect your
GBS
Some of the preference for
Schools that are fighting
GBS
GoldmanBallSachs: Schools
anaismalcolm: If you
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GoldmanBallSachs: Schools
Yes but to add to that, the
couchy: Yes but to add to
lol @ my completely
GBS
GoldmanBallSachs: lI may not
I have a 3.3. Definitely
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noke2012: anaismalcolm: It
John
Great post!
Great post, thanks for the