6 Free Financial Modeling Lessons...and More.

Enter your e-mail below to get our Free Tutorials.

< previous | next >

UG Recruiting Part I: How a resume becomes an interview
 

Marcus_Halberstram's picture
PE
(Neanderthal, 3,435
 
Points)
 on 10/25/12 at 7:45pm
post of year.jpg

Mod (Andy) note: elected by you - the monkeys of WSO, this is the 2011 Finance-forum post of the year (from Jan 28, 2011). I'm reposting it here on the homepage for any monkeys who have yet to see it. Thanks Marcus_Halberstram for a great post!

Since it is recruiting season, Im posting a multi-part series on how the whole process works to help the prospective monkeys better navigate the process, hopefully with a higher degree of success.

Lets start with the first time a bank sees resumes.

HR takes each target school and sets up resume drops. Each of those schools are then assigned a basket of analysts and associates to review resumes, decide who gets an interview and to conduct first round interviews.

I recently got 75 resumes from a target school of which, at most, 20 will get interviews. Of those 20, 8-12 will get superdays. Of those 8-12, 3-5 will get internship offers, of those 3-5, 1-3 will get full time offers. So of the 75 resumes, 1-3 will actually get a FT offer. To give yourself the best shot, it helps to know the way the process works and how a resume turns into an interview. Obviously those are approximations.

Part 1:
Resume Selection
A team of 6 of us (4 associates, 2 analysts) receives an interview pack of cover letters and resumes neatly indexed and sorted in alphabetical orders. From the 70-80 resumes, we're to come up with a list of 20-30 interview candidates. 20 we'd like to interview and 10 back-up and to rank the 10 back-ups from 1 to 10, so if a slot opens up, the top ranked alternate candidate will get an interview.

These are all Ivy league kids... resumes as low as 3.2 as high as 3.9 with a dual major in some ridiculous combination (think applied mathematics and chemistry). Almost every student was HS valedictorian or something along those lines. I quickly flip through the book circling GPA and majors... and ding any GPA under a 3.4, 3.4 to 3.5 I look at for an extra 4 seconds before before deciding if they have something else to make them well rounded (+2 senior level positions in clubs, varsity athletics, obvious interest in finance). I also immediately kill any resume with a typo. I only look at cover letters very briefly to see catch any obvious typos as a reason to ding. (i.e. cover letters do NOTHING for you). I will note, I saw some shorter cover letters that had numbered bullet points, no more than 3. Why I want to work in banking, why I think Ill excel at Your Firm, etc... I actually skimmed through these, and this format/style is very effective in actually getting read (for better or for worse). And found that the other people in my recruiting team had the same reaction.

I only dinged about 15... still need to ding another 30 to get to the 20+10 back-ups. I go back again, too many asians, too many guys, I narrow the field down a bit more. Ding another 5-10. Still need to cut another 20 resumes. Now I read the resumes a bit closer... finance case competitions, internships, club-involvement, does this resume tell me he/she wants to be a banker? I end up not finishing before our recruiting committee meeting, but I have starred the resumes I like (high GPA 3.7+, some sort of past finance intership, varsity sports, and/or any other uniquely impressive/interesting aspect (e.q. interests: Thai slap boxing).

In the meeting: we like candidates with high GPAs that communicate a strong interest in finance even if they are comparative lit majors with no finance experience, did they do case competitions? Do they list interests in-line with an inclination to banking?

We cut candidates with high GPAs irrespective of major who have no aspect of an interest in banking on their resume. We cut candidates who can't highlight/explain their experience properly/impressively. We cut candidates who don't list interests outside of working/studying. We cut candidates with low GPAs (sub-3.3-ish). We cut candidates who are on the line and could have arranged/presented their resume in a more impactful manner... the thinking being #1- you're probably using one resume for all internship, which means you didn't tailor your resume for this position, which means you dont want this internship enough to warrant spending extra time making your resume as attractive to us as possible; #2- poor judgment call to list your 3 RA stints as independent experiences and place them above your finance case competition runner-up.

Candidates we're lukewarm on, or one person likes and everyone else is indifferent on, we look at like this: we say this person has X, Y and Z that we really like. If we can't get an X, a Y and a Z (i.e. 3 strong, compelling points) we cut them. We don't even read poorly formatted resumes, they are auto-dings. We end up getting to 18 interview candidates and 10 alternates. From time to time I hear a "this format is just horrible, I didn't even want to read it, its a shame though because they were a pretty strong candidate content-wise."

So if you want to give yourself a leg-up in getting an interview:
- it helps but is not a guarantee if you have a high GPA
- you SHOULD absolutely address the question of "is he/she interested in banking?"; if you've never interned in finance and are a non-traditional major, you should be actively involved (pref. at a senior level) in the finance clubs, you should participate in finance/modeling training seminars sponsored by your school, you should have a section under interests with "Readings" or "Favorite Books" that have a finance tinge to them (more When Genius Failed or Fooled by Randomness or Barbarians at the Gate, less Monkey Business or Liars Poker)... Wall Street Journal, DealBook, FT, etc... I wouldn't advise adding that section if the rest of your resume already sells your finance interest... otherwise its overkill and you seem uninteresting and boringly uni-dimensional. You want to be well rounded.
- formatting is EVERYTHING and there is absolutely NO excuse for typos or inconsistencies in formatting
- cover letters, if at all, should be minimalist, the main purpose of a cover letter is to address an obvious shortcoming that is apparent from your resume
- a few other takeaways, if there is an over arching theme in applicants from your school... i.e. asian, indian, male-heavy (more-so than usual), etc... it helps if your last name starts with an A... since by the time we get half way through the pack, if we saw 10 male, indian Economics majors with 3.8 GPAs with heavy finance-oriented club involvement and varsity athletics and you're the 11th, you probably wont get an interview... it was impressive the first one or 2 times, less so the 11th. So some of it is, just the luck of the draw.

Get a Pro to Review Your Resume

Financial Modeling Training Guide to Finance Interviews Banking Resume
Tags:
Gr4v1ty's picture

Excellent perspective

ST
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 1:59pm

Excellent perspective overall! Thanks for your contribution!

Neil Patrick Harris's picture

Its really nice to see the

(Chimp, 11
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 2:31pm

Its really nice to see the interview selection process in depth. Thank you so much!
I only wish that last takeaway wasn't true.
I fit that description to the T and my last name starts with an S...

chubbybunny's picture

FML my last name starts with

O
(Orangutan, 264
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 2:45pm

FML my last name starts with an R.

I'm going to officially change my last name to one that starts with an A, hopefully this is will get me into GS IBD TMT group.

firefighter's picture

@Marcus: If you ding any

IB
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 3:02pm

@Marcus: If you ding any candidate below a 3.4, what about candidates who had 3.35 to 3.4 but didn't round? Do you think a 3.35 vs a 3.4 makes a difference?

Also, for on campus, do you have to target a specific number? e.g. if there are 25 great resumes but only 24 on-campus interview spots for your company, do you add one more spot for that candidate or just drop the weakest of the 25

bankingftw's picture

Please get this on the front

(Monkey, 62
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 3:41pm

Please get this on the front page. Required read for all undergrads.

Thanks!

"I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for the sake of mine."

APAE's picture

Interesting to read,

(Neanderthal, 3,660
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 3:47pm

Interesting to read, surprised given my candidacy I made it into the number of superdays I did if all this holds true.

A lot of people do certain things to add days to their life. I do things to add life to my days.

chubbybunny's picture

A Posse Ad Esse

O
(Orangutan, 264
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 4:03pm
A Posse Ad Esse:

Interesting to read, surprised given my candidacy I made it into the number of superdays I did if all this holds true.

It's cuz your black. You're a minority, ever heard of affirmative action?

illiniPride's picture

Thanks for the nuts & bolts

IB
(King Kong, 1,099
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 4:20pm

Thanks for the nuts & bolts perspective

Leadership can be defined in two words: "Follow Me"

Marcus_Halberstram's picture

machinegunfunk

PE
(Neanderthal, 3,435
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 5:54pm
machinegunfunk:

@Marcus: If you ding any candidate below a 3.4, what about candidates who had 3.35 to 3.4 but didn't round? Do you think a 3.35 vs a 3.4 makes a difference?

Also, for on campus, do you have to target a specific number? e.g. if there are 25 great resumes but only 24 on-campus interview spots for your company, do you add one more spot for that candidate or just drop the weakest of the 25

If you put a 3.35 instead of a 3.4 and the person looking at your resume happens to cut-off at 3.4, then you deserve it. I don't know why you wouldnt present yourself in the best light possible. You deserve to be dinged.

Second, not that its that much of a big deal... but it takes time to widdle the resumes down... and its not worth the headache at that initial weeding stage.

Financial Modeling Training
Guide to Finance Interviews
Banking Resume

accountspayable's picture

fuck, I'm an asian male with

IB
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 5:59pm

fuck, I'm an asian male with a last name starting with Y. No wonder why I did so poorly for OCR

kmzz's picture

low gpa, good & relevant exp

O
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 6:01pm

low gpa, good & relevant exp = ding?

Marcus_Halberstram's picture

kmzz wrote: low gpa, good &

PE
(Neanderthal, 3,435
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 6:29pm
kmzz:

low gpa, good & relevant exp = ding?

If you can't be a top performer in an environment as soft and forgiving as undergraduate program, why would anyone want to hire you alongside people who were capable of being a top performer in that same environment, regardless of your experience?

Financial Modeling Training
Guide to Finance Interviews
Banking Resume

quag_mire's picture

chubbybunny wrote: A Posse

ST
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 7:25pm
chubbybunny:
A Posse Ad Esse:

Interesting to read, surprised given my candidacy I made it into the number of superdays I did if all this holds true.

It's cuz your black. You're a minority, ever heard of affirmative action?

LOL, either that or you're a chick with a huge rack...was this for IBD or S&T though, cuz the barrier to entry into S&T, from my experience, is MUCH lower...

LIBOR's picture

SB. Of no use to me since I'm

EN
(Neanderthal, 2,156
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 7:40pm

SB. Of no use to me since I'm a senior at a non-target, but posts like these are really helpful to anyone in such a position.

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

Option Monkey's picture

What about FT positions? Is

 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 7:45pm

What about FT positions? Is the online application process basically worthless?

txjustin's picture

Marcus_Halberstram

O
(Neanderthal, 2,447
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 8:07pm
financialnewbie's picture

I had a 3.40 last semester.

(Monkey, 55
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 8:39pm
wolverine19x89's picture

So if all of these apps are

O
(King Kong, 1,845
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 8:49pm

If your dreams don't scare you, then they are not big enough.

"There are two types of people in this world: People who say they pee in the shower, and dirty fucking liars."-Louis C.K.

firefighter's picture

Marcus_Halberstram

IB
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 8:57pm
Marcus_Halberstram's picture

These cutoffs are largely

PE
(Neanderthal, 3,435
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 9:02pm

Financial Modeling Training
Guide to Finance Interviews
Banking Resume

firefighter's picture

If a 3.38<>a 3.40, does that

IB
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 9:05pm
zoov's picture

This is an extremely useful

 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 9:54pm
Marcus_Halberstram's picture

machinegunfunk wrote: If a

PE
(Neanderthal, 3,435
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 9:48pm

Financial Modeling Training
Guide to Finance Interviews
Banking Resume

anaismalcolm's picture

Is the books suggestion

IB
(Orangutan, 329
 
Points)
 on 1/28/11 at 10:15pm
General Disarray's picture

Say your overall gpa is on

IB
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 12:25am
Edmundo Braverman's picture

+1 Nice to see you back,

ST
(Human, 14,330
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 3:23am

humble_dude's picture

too bad for me Asian male

O
(Orangutan, 357
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 3:49am
rufiolove's picture

General Disarray wrote: Say

IB
(Neanderthal, 3,218
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 4:44am

1/2 of the WSO Bash Brothers
"Licensed to Ill It"
We all know Bro J did it...

honza's picture

does completing a Bsc 1 year

(Chimp, 3
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 5:50am
Walkerr's picture

Very interesting post, thanks

IB
(Gorilla, 569
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 7:24am
dominatingtheT's picture

Thanks for this. That crazy

 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 9:15am
gamenumbers's picture

I am an associate and have

IB
(Gorilla, 678
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 9:46am
HarvardOrBust's picture

gamenumbers, If the email you

PE
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 10:20am
GotBushels's picture

Marcus_Halberstram

IB
(Orangutan, 371
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 10:37am
APAE's picture

chubbybunny wrote: A Posse

(Neanderthal, 3,660
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 10:42am

A lot of people do certain things to add days to their life. I do things to add life to my days.

chubbybunny's picture

A Posse Ad Esse

O
(Orangutan, 264
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 1:29pm
Dibbs's picture

Great post.

IB
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 1:24pm
gsduke's picture

chubbybunny wrote: A Posse

(Baboon, 168
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 4:21pm
SunTzu's picture

A lot of you need to realize

O
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 4:34pm

C.R.E.A.M.

ambition56's picture

THIS IS AWESOME! Based on my

ST
(Gorilla, 601
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 4:59pm
quag_mire's picture

ambition were you interviewed

ST
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 5:03pm
ambition56's picture

I've only had one technical

ST
(Gorilla, 601
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 5:17pm
futuramo's picture

ambition56 wrote: THIS IS

IB
(Baboon, 141
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 8:04pm
ambition56's picture

In most of my interviews, I

ST
(Gorilla, 601
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 9:04pm
APAE's picture

chubbybunny wrote: A Posse

(Neanderthal, 3,660
 
Points)
 on 1/29/11 at 11:11pm

A lot of people do certain things to add days to their life. I do things to add life to my days.

TheHungryOne's picture

gamenumbers wrote: We also

IB
 
Points)
 on 1/30/11 at 12:21am
happypantsmcgee's picture

TheHungryOne

O
(Almost Human, 9,621
 
Points)
 on 1/30/11 at 12:43am

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford

WishYouWereHere's picture

A Posse Ad Esse

IB
 
Points)
 on 1/30/11 at 1:35am
HarvardOrBust's picture

Not to be a dick, but why did

PE
 
Points)
 on 1/30/11 at 2:58am
gamenumbers's picture

happypantsmcgee

IB
(Gorilla, 678
 
Points)
 on 1/30/11 at 11:30am

6 Free Financial Modeling Lessons...Straight to Your Inbox.

Confirm your name and e-mail below to get our best tips

Monkey Stats
Account information
We respect your Name and E-mail privacy. By joining you accept our terms of service.