Wondering if my resume would be competitive for top BB's or EB's with networking with a lower GPA but good work experience.
Want to transition into Investment Banking and out of Entrepreneurship because I feel as though Entrepreneurship pigeon holes my career and is inherently extremely risky. Want to build a solid financial foundation through IB and build a good professional network.
| +355 | Evercore Intern Seizure | 54 | 7h |
| +67 | JPM M&A is Gone??? Purely Coverage Banking??? | 31 | 6h |
| +58 | Is DCM actually underrated ? | 24 | 17h |
| +50 | How do I understand vs. just memorizing? | 5 | 16h |
| +48 | Losing my personality in Banking | 9 | 17h |
| +47 | Are all Tech / TMT groups sweaty? | 38 | 13h |
| +42 | Associate & Above IB exits | 16 | 3d |
| +32 | Incoming IB Analyst: Best Ways to Prepare? | 10 | 9h |
| +27 | Which groups are ideal for laterals? | 12 | 11h |
| +24 | The good and bad with Wells Fargo | 1 | 17h |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
I would add another bullet or two to elaborate on you Spring IB internship. You can do this by adjusting margins, adding your address to the same line as your number and email in the header, and getting rid of either "projected" or "future" in the last bullet under the Fashion Tech company so it all fits on one line. If you need more space, you can try re-wording the first bullet under Fashion Tech to fit on one line as well. Other than that, obviously work on increasing your GPA as much as possible and network. You have solid experience already, so I would imagine you could be a very competitive candidate. But go into your MM internship with an open mind, it might end up being a great fit for you.
IMO it's better to have less positions on there and more in depth about a few positions. For your boutique investment bank gig, make a small section that highlights the deal that you were on. It's important to highlight project work and being able to seamlessly talk about projects. You could take off the Media Production Company one and expand on a deal you were a part of
I second this, had a section specific to a project/deal I worked on at a search fund my sophomore year and was the talking point of many of my interviews.
Your resume would be competitive especially with the sophomore internship at MM. Start reaching out now so you have a solid network to recruit off of in a few months.
EBs are anecdotally stricter on the GPA aspect (usually 3.7+) definitely still apply there, but BBs are often more forgiving of a 3.4.
That is great to hear, in terms of networking. I have compiled a list of about 50-70 bankers from different firms in New York that are alumni. If I can get some of them on the phone, how would I phrase it to indirectly ask for a resume push? Or is asking “for advice” enough.
Generally I would look to build a personal/professional relationship with them but I feel that with recruiting coming up, I really need to emphasize that I’m realistically going to need their help on a tighter timeline. Any advice?
Ask for any insight on their recruiting process or timeline and advice for the process. Everyone knows you are calling for help with recruiting, not just to make friends or have 50 mentors. Pushing/emphasizing that you need their help is too aggressive so keep the convo light and follow up closer to recruiting to touch base about their timeline.
Good start on the alumni, but expand your list beyond that - aim for 200-300 total contacts and start ASAP so you're not sending emails out a week before recruiting starts. Not sure if you're completely ruling out west coast banks, but those BB offices will be easier coming from a west coast school.
If the call is going well you can end the call by saying something along the lines of "How can I best position myself to be selected to move forward in the interview process?" This usually prompts them to either offer a referral or they might give you someone else i.e. someone higher up that could help you, or at the very least tell you where there are in the process. This was the case from personal experience at least.
All this emphasis on GPA these days is annoying.
I had a 2.5 GPA and was able to get into a very nice 5-employee boutique just fine. Been here for only 2 years and very close to helping close the firm's second ever transaction.
Haven't got a great bonus yet, but $45k salary goes a long way in Chicago.
wait, you’re a second year associate making 45 base?
This has to be a joke
Lmao
First off, I think your resume is very competitive. Yes, your GPA isn't great, but I think you have a good experience to counteract some of it. In addition, your high ACT would likely indicate that your low GPA isn't a matter of smartness, just circumstance maybe. I will say, however, that many of my friends who had lower GPAs (like 3.6ish) got almost immediately dinged in certain interview processes. Also, and I know that you weren't soliciting this and maybe this isn't the actual resume you would submit, but you have some formatting inconsistencies. Almost every single date is formatted inconsistlently. Your section breaker space in between "Professional Experience" and "Leadership & Other Experience" is bigger than every other section-breaker. You are missing dates and city on the fraternity (you format it the same way as other experiences so I would expect it there). Under your skills and interests sections, the colon (:) on some bullets is bolded while on others it is not.
Were your friends at a target and did they network? Thanks for the formatting issues, I'll take a look on my actual resume as this one was just made to be anonymous.
In terms of GPA, my story is quite reasonable (I think). My grandma passed away during my first semester on top of already trying to balance being a full-time student and running my business which became detrimental to my GPA - 2.3ish first semester. However, the valuable lesson I learned from this was that even at a low point in my life, having screwed myself for any job recruiting, experiencing my first real loss and with my back against the wall and all odds against me for IB recruiting, I chose to work extremely hard both in school and to gain the necessary work experience moving forward. Proud to say I have a cumulative of a 3.8ish after that first semester and am continuing to improve upon it.
No worries. I figured your actual one is different. In terms of me and my banking friends, we all went to school at a very non-target (For context, I'm talking miles behind UCLA, USC, and even ASU). In total, there were 6 of us seriously pursuing banking. 3 of us (including myself) had GPAs all in the 3.95+ range while the other 3 were more like 3.5-3.7. All of us diligently networked in the sense that we flew out to offices we wanted to get in with and would grab coffee with probably 10+ bankers at multiple banks. All of us had good experience with multiple internships at Boutique IBs, PE, GE, VC funds, etc. All of us were very personable and knew how to talk well. You get the point. I say all of this just to emphasize that we were all very, very competitive. At the end of the day, however, my 3 friends with lower GPAs struggled a lot with recruiting. Sometimes at banks where they networked even harder than me, they would get auto-dinged when I would get the 1st round. Sometimes, if both accepted into an interview process, they would have this additional interview where they were asked like questions about school but also like mental math questions. I was never subjected to any of that. I just wanted to give an example that high-quality candidates, even with great experience and a good story, can still be dismissed due to a lower GPA. To finish on a positive note, all 6 of us ended up getting into banking at good firms ranging from solid MM, BB, and EB. I'm sure you can do fine too, you just need to sell yourself well.
the entrepreneurship experience is pretty nuts. forget banking and become a billionaire instead lol
Career plan as of right now is to go into banking for 2 years to get a great financial background and maybe PE for another 2 or so and then apply for H/W/S to get an amazing network and start something after MBA with a great team. I think its the most risk-averse but also allows me to have an amazing finance background and still be under 30 when launch a startup.
Neque eius qui quo. Cum corrupti autem aut vel. Magnam temporibus neque adipisci pariatur.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...