WSO Public Resume Review System (Free) or WSO Finance Resume Review Service (Paid)

In line with the new changes that are coming to WSO, this new Resume Review System should help out everyone here vying for those coveted finance positions. Any comments in this thread that are not constructive or does not give specific feedback to a resume will be deleted. This service has now been given its own Forum so that each new Resume can be given its own thread. Please ignore any non-resume threads in this forum (used to be called the Investment Inn). If you would like a more thorough and professional critique of your resume we also offer a paid option called the WSO Finance Resume Review. Also, make sure you check out our testimonials.

You can upload your resume free online for a critique from the community. Please read on for more details.

It’s easy:

  1. Make everything and anything on your resume that might give away who you are generic. Remove/change your contact information. The obvious stuff includes changing your name, address, email, etc. etc. After that, how specific or general you keep it is up to you (eg: “Merrill Lynch Summer Analyst” vs. “Bulge Bracket Summer Analyst”). You get the idea. Leave things like your school, GPA, formatting, hobbies, and any other small things intact.
  2. At this stage you can upload your anonymous resume as a .pdf or .doc file that can be easily accessed and viewed in public on the internet. Some of you may have file hosting space from your school, etc. For those who do not check out www.mediafire.com. You can upload files there and them share the links in this thread.
  3. Whether you decide to use a free third party posting service here or the paid WSO service, when you give the community the link to your resume please let us know what position you are applying for, the firms you are targeting (BB? MM? Both?), and any other background information or questions you’d like answered.

WARNINGS!

  • Things could get ugly. Be ready for some harsh criticism. While your identity is protected, if you are a regular poster and decide to go with a third party service, realize that you are putting up your own resume: people can see it and will make judgments.
  • This is definitely not for the faint of heart. If you feel that getting some good, hard-hitting honest feedback will help strengthen your case, then put your resume up. If you do not have SUPER thick skin, do not post your resume. Again, the paid version of the service provides more anonymity since you are not the one posting the resume but users on WSO can be very harsh.
  • I know I’m repeating the same point, but do not begin complaining if after you post your resume, people start making some insensitive comments. You are expected to take the good with the bad since this is a free service (or relatively cheap). After all, while it may be embarrassing that you have, “Prepared over 30 pitch books with perfect attention to detail”, it will help you out in the long run to exclude that bullet.

Good luck! In the good spirit of fueling ego, any certified users that feel their resumes are top notch should definitely send them to share at [email protected], so others can see what goes into a strong resume.

Also, when you provide advice to the candidates, specify to whom you are addressing your thoughts AND YOUR BACKGROUND ("2 years in IB and 2 years in PE" or "Junior in college").

ps - Thanks to Alphaholic for the idea.

Get a Pro to Review Your Resume

 

Resume #1, you have a very strong resume but I would make it slightly less cluttered. Be more efficient with the space at the top regarding selected coursework (that box takes up a lot of space) and maybe take 1 bullet out of the top position. Other than that, in my opinion you should be good to go, even in this tough hiring environment. Good luck!

 

Some serious contrast between the two resumes here... Patrick, I'm a bit disappointed that you even put number 2 up here as one of the "free" reviews, if that is what it is. He/she needs to actually spend some time on the resume before asking other people to... that being said I'll make some comments.

Resume 1: Looks very good, seems like you are in good shape, taking good classes, have a good GPA at a good school. I see this getting plenty of first round interviews. Nonetheless, some formatting suggestions. Rather than making your headings larger than the rest, simply make them bold like you have them, and keep everything the same size, this will save some space and allow you to spread everything out a bit more and make it easier on the eyes. I assume you are not just saying "finance oriented major" on the resume. Put what you are majoring in, your experience clearly shows that you have the skills even if you aren't actually majoring in finance. Your skills look/sound good, but you emphasize them a lot on your resume, so you better be ready to get grilled on them going into an interview. Overall, looks very solid.

Resume 2:... Not so much. Education needs to be at the top first and foremost. Calculate your actual GPA... what in god's name is an 8.5/12? You are graduating in fall 2010? An entire course on Excel solver? Need to make the scholarship sound more impressive, and if you won a writing contest, your cover letters better be DRAMATICALLY better than your resume. Honestly, I don't know how much people can do here for you without knowing more about you and your experience/life. You need more on the resume... extracurricular activities, clubs, personal interests? Sorry to be harsh but you need to get on your high horse and get better grades and more experience if you want to land a job in IBD in this market. Compare your resume with number 1... who would you choose to hire/interview?

NEVER lose your BlackBerry www.conveniencesoftware.com

 

I have been reading this forum for quite a while and have found its content to be very useful. My goal is to join a bank's (MM, BB, or boutique) healthcare group (M&A/capital markets). However, if that is not a possibility I am also interested in equity research in the healthcare (pharma, biotech) sector. I have uploaded my resume as a JPEG on Imageshack. I would appreciate as much feedback as possible (the links are provided below). Please excuse the watermark. Thanks.

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/6593/genericresumep011wr1.jpg

 
Best Response
GnomeOfZürich][quote=Alphaholic]//<a href=http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/certified-users[/quote>www.wallstreetoasis.com/certified-users[/quote</a>:

Thanks for the link Alpha. Seemed like a really good idea until email part...

hey gnome, if you're worried I can assure you i delete the e-mail immediately. there are ~60 Certified Users and i can't tell you where any of them work (or their real names) because i honestly don't remember.

Sometimes it is possible for me to give certification to a user that shows particular expertise without receiving an e-mail but I'll have to read some of your past posts because I can't remember. As an FYI, a new feature to WSO called Groups will be launched this Tuesday which will allow Certified Users to have their own group with nobody else able to join and/or post. I think it will be a great place where a lot of knowledgeable professionals can network.

Thanks, Patrick

 

aspiringhealth, a few comments/questions:

  1. Overall looks like a very strong resume.
  2. You have a lot of education, but at what level would you be looking to join? Associate?
  3. Even though I don't know much about ER, I could see you getting a job in bio-tech ER especially with your patent work, so I would maybe focus on that...
  4. One question I think most of these places will throw at you is "why so much schooling?" how do you know you want to do this and if you did why did you go to law school?

good luck.

 

I have read the comments on this thread pertaining to posted resumes and found the feedback to be great. My resume is posted in the link below. I am looking for a BB full-time investment banking opportunity in New York.

I would appreciate feedback on anything that you feel can be made stronger. Thank you in advance for your time and help.

If you could please refer to my resume as Resume100 in your subject or post, it would be helpful to follow. Thanks.

http://www.mediafire.com/?qop3my62wem

 

Thanks j-rad. What you said makes sense. I think there is a tradeoff between becoming too flashy and not doing enough formatting wise to stand out. Since most bankers spend less than 20 seconds on each resume, and probably even fewer if your resume ends up being at the bottom of the pile, I've heard that at this point standing out in any way possible helps. If they can remember a resume in some way shape or form, they will most likely put it in the 30-50 resume pile. This is why I tried to get a bit creative with my formatting style and decided to do something different.

Anybody else care to share their opinion on my format and anything else that could be improved? It would be much appreciated.

 
curiusbanker:
Thanks j-rad. What you said makes sense. I think there is a tradeoff between becoming too flashy and not doing enough formatting wise to stand out. Since most bankers spend less than 20 seconds on each resume, and probably even fewer if your resume ends up being at the bottom of the pile, I've heard that at this point standing out in any way possible helps. If they can remember a resume in some way shape or form, they will most likely put it in the 30-50 resume pile. This is why I tried to get a bit creative with my formatting style and decided to do something different.

Anybody else care to share their opinion on my format and anything else that could be improved? It would be much appreciated.

you might want to start yor own thread in this forum, but my comment would be careful about sounding TOO Dorky / douchey.

Althoughi t is well organized and true, i am not sure i am a fan of the Multi-lingual, Mult-faceted - Multi-stuff format at the bottom.

What is "an accomplished painter" mean? maybe instead just say "enjoy"... Just have 3 bullets listing these things without the "Multi" bolded in front. we get the point without it. my opinions...but overall, very strong resume.

 

Hi guys,

I will be sending out my resume for 2009 SA programs at mostly MM IB's in the coming days. I am especially interested in feedback to make my experience as an intern at a boutique investment bank sound better.

for some reason this link only works in IE for me, not firefox

Edit: I will post another link as i made a few changes

 

Hey all---I am applying for full time Investment Banking (MM, BB, or boutique) in M&A/capital markets group.

However, Given my Education and experience, if that is not a possibility I am also interested in equity research - Financial Services/Banking sector. I have uploaded my resume as a JPEG on Imageshack. I would appreciate as much feedback as possible (the links are provided below).
Thanks a lot!

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4978/indiancandidatecv.pdf

 

[quote=bigswinger]Hey all---I am applying for full time Investment Banking (MM, BB, or boutique) in M&A/capital markets group.

However, Given my Education and experience, if that is not a possibility I am also interested in equity research - Financial Services/Banking sector. I have uploaded my resume as a JPEG on Imageshack. I would appreciate as much feedback as possible (the links are provided below).
Thanks a lot!

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4978/indiancandidatecv.pdf[/quote]

You need to quantify your experiences. Reading that gives me no idea what you did or accomplished. Also, your spacing is horribly inconsistent, you have varied date forms and different formatting for each job. It needs to be redone to be consistent and give some idea what you did.

 

I have tried fixing formating problem. also I was little unsure of what u meant when u said doesn't give me an idea of what u did. nonetheless I have tried quantifying within the overall idea. could you please be little specific as to what would an employer want to know that will get him interested. Also request you to please let me know which part would be a waste or turn off which I should take out of the CV

here is version two

http://www.ziddu.com/download/3812456/indiancandidateCV.pdf.html

Thanks for help.

 

You have written under your second job: -Chosen to conduct due diligence for market evaluation and entry strategy for the assignment of one of the largest Indian group getting into Indian Retail Market -Carried out a detailed on ground study on Retail Sector in assigned region (Gujarat state) -Recommended entry strategy based on various factors -Recommendations were highly appreciated, implemented and PPI was offered

All four bullets say the same thing - none say what your recommendations are, whether they were actionable, what happened as a result, and whether your conclusions were correct (3 years later, you should have a chance of knowing this). The fourth bullet is particularly bullshit, especially the first four words, when it could be where you quantify your experience

You also really, really need to have someone who speaks English as a first language go through this with a red pen. You have problems ranging from using the word "like" in three bullets in a row to capitalizing apparently arbitrary words to continuing formatting inconsistencies (ie italicized description before title on one job, after on another)

The "20 hour lecture" is not adding value to your resume. The "core member" of school groups just screams chump to me.

Give it another shot man, I'm glad to help

 

Hey,

Thanks a lot for your help and pointing out the improvement area's. I have tried fixing most of them and made changes in my summer internship and modified the last section. please see this one and if possible let me know any changes/suggested additions/deletions etc for each job, education and other entries so that I can polish it completely in the next version.

Thanks a lot for your help

Here is V3

http://documents.scribd.com/docs/1mrtew7pjvlh2yog84fp.pdf

 

some points on a quick read through:

you're inconsistent in your Bn and Mn abbreviations. You have Bn capitalized at one point and written as bn as another. auto-ding.

Under your consulting internship, all of your bullets are basically one thought divided in to three bullets, which is not exactly how bullets are supposed to function.

I don't know Indian degress, but is "Bachelor of Commerce" really a degree? Wouldn't it be "B.A. in Commerce" or something like that?

The semicolon on your second CFA bullet is a bit incongruous. Maybe change it to the word "with"

I can't think of too much more advice right now, but I'd suggest you make a new topic in this forum with your resume, I suspect you'd get more feedback that way.

 

I'm not sure if people use this still, but I figured I'd give it a try. I'm going into my senior year and I'm looking for FT IBD offers. Please let me know what you think about the content, maybe things I should include/disclude. Any comments about my bullets and formatting or whatever are greatly appreciated.

http://www.razume.com/documents/16229

Thanks in advance!

 
brutalglide:
I'm not sure if people use this still, but I figured I'd give it a try. I'm going into my senior year and I'm looking for FT IBD offers. Please let me know what you think about the content, maybe things I should include/disclude. Any comments about my bullets and formatting or whatever are greatly appreciated.

http://www.razume.com/documents/16229

Thanks in advance!

Brutalglide,

just as a format comment, I think you have too much under the first header. I think your frat stuff and retail job should go under the miscellaneous header at the bottom. I don't think you should have the "Completing the Street" training program on there at all, I don't think banks like to see that (could be wrong though).

 

hello everyone, I think there have been some very good comments here so I'd greatly appreciate feedback on mine.

I am looking for boutique or MM banks' analyst programs/ equity research...I have master's in econ and having a LOT of problems even getting called back after roughly 30 applications...I do e-mail follow-ups after 7 days or so, and many of these have been through referrals from friends or connections...

I am strongly considering taking out the two work sections where I was a tutor and a volunteer because I realize it is too long...I would also appreciate feedback on the color/format, I know people have strong opinions on that...

any comments are greatly appreciated! here is the link:

http://www.mediafire.com/wsoresume

THANK YOU!

 

Hello All -

I'm one year into working in ops (irrelevant, I know).. trying to make a leap from the back office. Applying to entry-level analyst positions.

https://viewer.zoho.com/docs/vOcaSi

Looking forward to the insight - thanks in advance!

"It's all about money, not freedom, ya'll, okay? Nothing to do with fuckin' freedom. If you think you're free, try going somewhere without fucking money, okay?" - Bill Hicks Fake it 'til you make it!
 
Back Office Bay:
Hello All -

I'm one year into working in ops (irrelevant, I know).. trying to make a leap from the back office. Applying to entry-level analyst positions.

https://viewer.zoho.com/docs/vOcaSi

Looking forward to the insight - thanks in advance!

may want to post this as a new thread in the forums. overall, decent format although not a huge fan of the Summary of qualifications. I prefer showing if possible through action oriented results, not telling you are "Detail oriented", for example.

//www.wallstreetoasis.com/wso-finance-resume-review

 

Thanks WSO - Will repost in a new thread.

I too am not extremely satisfied with the summary of qualifications, but haven't been able to determine an effective way to highlight analytical/research skillsets such that they counter the lack of their use in my current role. Again, thanks for the advice.

"It's all about money, not freedom, ya'll, okay? Nothing to do with fuckin' freedom. If you think you're free, try going somewhere without fucking money, okay?" - Bill Hicks Fake it 'til you make it!
 

Hellos guys I just graduated high school 2 months ago and I wrote a CV.. not finance oriented but I'd still really appreciate some tips.. I don't have many achievements but I worked with what I had. Thanks!

You speak in in varying levels of verbosity.You often adopt the typing quirks of others as you find it boring to settle on styles.
 

Any thoughts on this resume? The wording has been read by many and I am confident with it, but I am trying the new human voiced technique because I feel it will help me stand out. also looking for thoughts on format. I am trying to be a credit analyst after graduation.

Thanks.

 

Hi, I posted a link to my resume below. I have a rather strange work history. When I first graduated college in 2009 I got my first job out of college and I was the first office hire for a new startup oil and gas pipeline fabrication and construction company. The business took off they did 2 million the first year 10 million the 2nd year 20 million the third year and were on pace to do 40 million the 4th year when I left. However, I kept getting promoted. when I started the only records were a file cabinet with a file for Jan, Feb, March and April with receipts in them. I took it from that to being directly responsible for 7 accounting employees and as many as 200 shop and field employees 4 years later and my title was Chief Financial Officer. I started off making 12.50/hr. When i left 4 years later I was making over 150k/yr. I left to start my own business with my wife which we ended up closing the doors 3 years later. I live in a small town in central, PA and the only jobs I've been able to get since then are 2 low level payroll processing jobs through the temp agency making 15/hr. I don't have the traditional progressive work experience a controller or accounting manager would have yet that is my first job on my resume after college. I didn't start college until I was 25 graduated at 29 and am turning 38 next month. The job interviews I did get were for entry level accountants and they said they thought I was over qualified and I wouldn't be happy doing entry level accounting. The mid to higher level accounting positions I've applied to I've never got a call back for an interview. I'm convinced it's because my resume is too long and too wordy. And advice or tightening it up and making it appeal to hiring managers and recruiters would be greatly appreciated.

PS I can't attach my resume as an image or a link because I'm a new user. So I purchased WSO credits to hopefully get the privilege of attaching my resume as directed in the beginning of this thread. I think that should be updated so people don't waste there time. I will update when I get the right to add links and images to posts.

I'll just post the link as text. If you could copy and paste into your browser to view. Thank you Nope that won't work either

 

Greetings, I have a completely non-traditional background. Came to the U.S at age 16, lived with relatives until age 19 and started doing odd jobs while trying to get myself in school. I have a very very long story but I graduated a year ago and all I have secured is an internship that is ending soon. I have applied to hundreds of places and only had one interview. I do believe that there maybe lots of things with my resume, please share your feedback.

 

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