187 Comments
 

I saw some random ; (that sign, dont know the name for it) on a resume once. I was just wondering how would this just end up in the middle of your resume (literally in the middle somwhere white)

"too good to be true" See my WSO Blog
 
Dying's For FoolsIncluding your photo w/ resume (unless you are applying to become a model)
This is not always true, it depends on the country.
Valor is of no service, chance rules all, and the bravest often fall by the hands of cowards. - Tacitus Dr. Nick Riviera: Hey, don't worry. You don't have to make up stories here. Save that for court!
 
El_Mono
Dying's For FoolsIncluding your photo w/ resume (unless you are applying to become a model)
This is not always true, it depends on the country.

Yep. It sure didn't hurt me. I included it and got a BB SA position and invitations by all banks I sent my cv to. I'm from Germany and our cv's get pre-screened by the German divisions and then sent to London. In Germany, a photo is always included, in London it's not. Anyway the recruiter encouraged me to include the pic. If you look like someone people want to go get a drink with, the photo in this particular situation is a +.

 
CartwrightSomeone once admitted that they are over 10 years old and don't know the name for a semicolon.

lol i've heard personally from a friend who wrote the wrong firm in the cover letter. every once in a while after sending out i re-check it after having a minor heart-attack that i've done the same thing. i proof read all, and read-out-loud changed sections for firms i really want to get in to anyway, but i still go back and check

 

I once saw this on a sophomore's resume' under interests: "Just jazzed about life in general."

"Cut the burger into thirds, place it on the fries, roll one up homey..." - Epic Meal Time
 
seekingalpha2Lying about know French...called him out on it in the interview..could not get past "Bonjour"
I did this to a kid once. He was completely caught off guard. I asked how he was doing and he responded in English "thanks."
CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

Putting your phone number wrong because you inversed the numbers and not realizing it until you recieve an email telling you that you should fix it.

"One should recognize reality even when one doesn't like it, indeed, especially when one doesn't like it." - Charlie Munger
 

Swapped Led for Lead. Whoops. Only submitted one application with that on there, good thing it wasn't something I was that excited about.

 

On my BarCap application, I didn't finish filling in the questions they ask on the app... Like midsentence I accidentally submitted my application... Doesn't really matter, I wasn't gonna get in anyways, but i still felt like an idiot...

 

Autocorrect/spellcheck changed what was supposed to be "word" to "[nonsensical word]" – fucking painful at the time, went out to some firms for SA positions.

fdba Emory Blaine and BBA or otherwise trying to find the perfect pseudonym.
 

Back in high school some kid stated his interests as driving and sleeping and crossed out sleeping with a pencil.

Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art - Andy Warhol
 

One kid at school put an ampersand '&' instead of dollar sign in front of his figures for the money he managed in student leadership. "&11,500" looks so good in a bullet point.

Another kid put "Increased in-store sales figures by 37% from $16,250 weekly to $14,000." I was like, I don't know what's worse, that you somehow managed to create a negative increase or that the percentage is wrong any way you look at it."

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 

One of my headlines on my resume was "Hobbys" instead of "Hobbies". Incredibly embarrassing and it went out to the most prestigious bank. Still got invited.

 

I saw a girl put her name in size ~24 pink, non-standard font. I couldn't even identify what font it was; it looked like the "Curves" brand logo.

This girl also had no white-space. She had listed every extracurricular from high school on, even when she was just a member of a club and didn't actually do anything. Easily 15 different entities, each with their own line. Member of the anime club? Wow, that's bound to impress Goldman.

 
West Coast rainmakerI saw a girl put her name in size ~24 pink, non-standard font.
Boss.
I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 
A Posse Ad Esse
West Coast rainmakerI saw a girl put her name in size ~24 pink, non-standard font.
Boss.

As long as she has huge tits and a nice ass she's gold

 

my own (project finance element of CV):"waster to energy" where it should have been "waste to energy"

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

Note, however, this presupposes that you had jobs every year (i.e. you didn't end up covering up a missing year of work; for example, if you're most recent internship was jan 2008-mar 2008 and you didn't have any internship since then, then that could look a little bad because you now claimed to have had a job in jan 2009-mar 2009 when you really didn't.

 

I'd think normally it wouldn't matter. If they ask, tell them you made a mistake and give them anything they ask for.

However, if the position you applied for required a 3.5 and it looks like you purposely faked it to bypass the requirement, you might be disqualified for that.

 

Unless you are international or from a school that deviates from the 4.0 scale, I wouldn't worry about that as an "error"...better to include it but I wouldn't bat an eye at someone who didn't.

Minor mistakes I have seen are usually grammatical (missing word) or formatting issues (dividing lines of the same length, dates aligned, consistent bolding, etc).

 

lol

You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake, son.
 

Is this OCR? or on the website? I would find out who the HR person is overseeing your position, and email them to let them know you are updating your resume. DOnt say why, of course.

Array
 

THANKS, now people are walking by my office wondering why i'm laughing like an idiot....

Money Never Sleeps? More like Money Never SUCKS amirite?!?!?!?
 

Probably more likely to get her that job than her real credentials; dirty bitch.

I am going to call my kids Ctrl, Alt and Delete. That way if something is going wrong I can beat them all at once.
 

I don't even think you've made a mistake here. Economics is one of your majors, that gpa is your major gpa for economics. I would strongly suggest that you not say anything. No one is going to go through and calculate that. If they ever ask, just explain that it's your Econ gpa. And also don't feel bad, I know people who do this on purpose and I don't think it's wrong to do

 

I know how it feels. Everyone tells you "baaah, it's a small thing" but when it's your own application on the line you just can't help being paranoid.

But yeeeah, it's a small thing. Chill.

 

It's not how perfect your application is, but how compelling you are as an applicant.

Don't worry about it. Yeah, an essay full of typos is bad, but I doubt a reader will notice something like that.

Alex Chu

Alex Chu www.mbaapply.com
 

I agree with MBAApply as well as the others - unless there are a fairly substantial number of glaring or consistent errors in your resume and essays, it's really about your story and how you sell yourself as an applicant rather than a few random spelling/grammatical/punctuation errors. Good luck!

IBanker

 

.... dumb. should have never brought it up and played dumb if it ever came up. a 2260 vs 2290 is the same shit. pray they look kindly on your over-honesty.

 

You'll be fine. HR will only need your transcript after you graduate (AND get the job) and by that point it won't matter. They won't sit there and calculate your Math GPA.

 

Shouldn't be a big deal. There is no ethical lapse and therefore probably no need for disciplinary action. Probably depends on the significance of the activity and the time-significance of the activity (example: doing a BB IBD internship sophomore year can look more impressive than during freshman year because a sophomore will most likely participate in the 'full' summer analyst program whereas a freshman MAY be be in a less rigorous program).

 

You just realized? Honest mistake? You are full of shit, BUT they won't care about it so lucky for you.

Do what you want not what you can!
 

The bigger mistake is that you wrote it "Deans List" and not "Dean's List."

For that, you are screwed. Punctuation man. Cmon, it's all you're gonna be doing as a 1st year analyst anyway.

Also, Why Would You Write It Like This On Your Resume? This Doesn't Look Normal Does It?

My name is Nicky, but you can call me Dre.
 

The apostrophe is pretty shitty, but they didn't notice apparently because I got an interview. Unless they notice it now. Don't tell them!

 

Seriously dude, don't worry about it. No one cares. Most people read that and think "every kid with this cumulative gpa has this"

looking for that pick-me-up to power through an all-nighter?
 

I agree with the above, bring an updated version and if it comes up, mention that they probably have an older version.

If it doesn't come up at all and they're under the assumption you'll only be working their internship, then what your resume says doesn't really matter... They've interviewed you and confirmed in person that you're only going to work for them. In that scenario I'm not sure if it'd even be worth pointing out... Just go with the flow.

Now for my question: What kind of IB job are you doing for an REIT? Or is this just posted in the wrong section :-P

 

I doubt the people interviewing you will even look at resume until you physically arrive. Thats been my experience, anyways.

Just bring fresh copies, and also email HR saying "I've attached an updated resume that I'd like my interviewers to have for my upcoming interviews this week"

or something to that effect.

Also, is this seriously a question?

Array
 

No.. don't worry about it and don't bring it up. Stop stressing about stupid shit.

-- "Those who say don't know, and those who know don't say."
 

I'm in PE, not IB, so I can't say I've ever reviewed a resume/app for a BB before, but my gut feeling is that you should not send another version of your resume. It may hurt you to some degree, but if it really is only just one mistake, and that one's not THAT bad, you will hopefully be okay. Sending in a new, different resume, is very abnormal and may seem weird. I've dealt with people sending in resume's at my PE firm and no one has ever done that.

If you are contacted by anyone at one of these firms who puts you in contact with anyone else etc, you can attach your new resume, without the mistake, to that email and just say you've provided it again "for your convenience".

 

My boss didn't even know the name of the company we acquired. Your resume falls so low on the importance scale that it is unlikely they'll ever know -- unless of course you call attention to it by sending out a new one.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

I sometimes update my resume with information that i have not yet achieved just to see how it will look lol... I also know i will have a 3.5 after this semester because of how the classes are going. that being said... I'm an idiot and sent in my resume that was revised with info I will not have completed until December 18th.

 

theres not really an application process. its just a resume that I sent to the guy my family friend knew... but it was a mistake. I checked my resume and noticed I still had a 3.5 on there and knew i messed up... now i am unsure what to do...

 

A mistake is a type-O or a grammar error. This is just blatant misrepresentation...

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Flat out wrong on the Interests point. I for one, as well as many others both on this forum and who I know personally, have had strong conversations spring up because of the Interests section. During one of my earliest superdays that ended up being the first offer I received, I had one interviewer who deadpanned me with a question about one of the more esoteric things I had listed and I decided to go for broke with my answer. Jumped into it headfirst with very evident enthusiasm and ended up spending more than 20 minutes talking with this guy about it who turned out to be an equal enthusiast.

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 
APAEFlat out wrong on the Interests point. I for one, as well as many others both on this forum and who I know personally, have had strong conversations spring up because of the Interests section. During one of my earliest superdays that ended up being the first offer I received, I had one interviewer who deadpanned me with a question about one of the more esoteric things I had listed and I decided to go for broke with my answer. Jumped into it headfirst with very evident enthusiasm and ended up spending more than 20 minutes talking with this guy about it who turned out to be an equal enthusiast.

I'm just curious, was this a more specific interest or something general? I feel like everyone lists football, traveling, but only pretty specific things can elicit this kind of response from an interviewer.

 

^ I agree. People who I've talked to have told me that interesting interests/activities (not related to finance) is important to show different sides of the student.

 
swagon
skigirl9Even if you are as handsome as Brad Pitt
or soulja boy
skigirl9or as charming as Charlize Therone
or soulja boy

dumb

I eat success for breakfast...with skim milk
 
swagon
skigirl9Even if you are as handsome as Brad Pitt
or soulja boy
skigirl9or as charming as Charlize Therone
or soulja boy

I really wish I could have went to rutgers and been your roommate. Would Have saved WSO a lot of time.

Eventus stultorum magister.
 

yea, as said above, i beleive you are wrong about not including interests. It is only 1 line and cannot hurt you. There are many times that it won't be brought up or looked at, but if you can connect with the interviewer about something other than finance than they are more inclined to like you as a person (making you a desirable person to spend time in the office with).

Array
 

yea, as said above, i beleive you are wrong about not including interests. It is only 1 line and cannot hurt you. There are many times that it won't be brought up or looked at, but if you can connect with the interviewer about something other than finance than they are more inclined to like you as a person (making you a desirable person to spend time in the office with).

Array
 

I vouch that one should place their gender on their CV for the following reason: we are hiring a new Ops person so thought we'd kill two birds with one stone and get a hardbody in as well. So when the hiring manager came to selecting people for interviews a "Nicky" was selected, turned out it was a dude, we were very disappointed.

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 
OreosI vouch that one should place their gender on their CV for the following reason: we are hiring a new Ops person so thought we'd kill two birds with one stone and get a hardbody in as well. So when the hiring manager came to selecting people for interviews a "Nicky" was selected, turned out it was a dude, we were very disappointed.
Nicky? nice name
WSO Content & Social Media. Follow us: Linkedin, IG, Facebook, Twitter.
 

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Eventus stultorum magister.
 

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I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 

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