29 Comments
 

How's about a bullet under your undergrad institution reading something like 'semester exchange at xyz, marks of abc, courses in hijkl.'

Brief and descriptive enough to show where you partied for a semester.

Bonus points if you ran with the bulls.

if you like it then you shoulda put a banana on it
 

definitely list the study abroad experience. that looks wonderful.

however, just list the cum. gpa i'd say. is your cumulative that bad or something?

and i'd list if you know japanese or not.

 

How old are you?

If you're young enough that you've only taken 1 class out of the probably 15 or so that make up a finance/accounting double major, you should still have plenty of time when you get back to the states to take an active role in on-campus groups, clubs, etc before you graduate. I'd imagine it would take you at least two years to get all that class done, which is plenty of time to build your extracurriculars. You can't really ride the Japan thing all the way through school as an excuse for not being involved...

If you're a senior...how the hell have you only taken one finance class as a finance major?

- Capt K - "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
 
captk

How old are you?

If you're young enough that you've only taken 1 class out of the probably 15 or so that make up a finance/accounting double major, you should still have plenty of time when you get back to the states to take an active role in on-campus groups, clubs, etc before you graduate. I'd imagine it would take you at least two years to get all that class done, which is plenty of time to build your extracurriculars. You can't really ride the Japan thing all the way through school as an excuse for not being involved...

If you're a senior...how the hell have you only taken one finance class as a finance major?

Basically in my freshman and sophomore year, I had all my CORE (general ed) courses taken care of. In my 2nd semester of my sophomore year, I took one class that relates to my major and got an A in it.

Initially, the reason why I chose to study abroad was so I could get the extra 30 credits in order to sit for the CPA exam. However, recently I have a higher interest in finance so I am planning to apply to companies when I come back, and drop one of my majors in order to graduate that year (I could still graduate on time if I declare accounting as my major).

Therefore, I will not be able to declare any leadership positions in groups when I go in for the interview during fall recruiting.

 

1) Yes, you need to play up the study abroad experience as much as possible. It really stands out, especially over studying abroad in Europe or somewhere more "traditional" - I studied abroad in Asia so I can tell you for a fact it will play a huge factor in interviews.

More than just the experience, knowing the language is also a huge plus. A year is enough time to get to a very high level, so make sure you note this.

2) Not having leadership positions will be a negative, but depending on your other experiences it may not be a huge deal... if you have had other experience you can spin into sounding like leadership it won't be as big a deal especially with study abroad experience. Need to know more details here.

3) I would just put your overall GPA assuming it is good (3.5+). I wouldn't say it's unethical to list major GPA as 4.0 but it sounds like you are a freshman or sophomore and haven't really started the major yet.

 

1)Because my parents are Japanese, and grew up speaking Japanese in the house, my language level is pretty high. However, my reading and writing are not yet at business level.

2)Do you think its a good idea to have a section called "leadership" on my resume and state some group projects where I acted as the leader?

3)The reason why I am concerned that the company might consider this unethical is because I am declaring accounting as my major as well and haven't taken any accounting major-specific courses yet. So therefore, having 4.0 major GPA may seem unethical when I apply to big 4 firms (I am also looking at CPA as a career prospect).

 

Don't forget that a lot of banks will ask for an unofficial transcript or official transcript when you apply. When they see you only have one class from your finance major, I'm sure they won't look kindly upon your inclusion of a "major" GPA.

 

1) I think you should just put your hometown address. 2) Yes you should...just write down expected. 3) Eh its your call...might be a conversation starter.

When you apply, you should make sure that you let them know that you are studying abroad next semester. I don't think you can apply to BBs anymore, since they had an earlier deadline just for those who are studying abroad in the spring semester. Gluck

 

You have good experiences but their value is being diluted by how text-heavy your resume is right now. The first thing you should do is make your resume more readable. Could a sleep-deprived banker effectively skim this in less than a minute and catch those points (and ultimately give you an interview invite)? Use that as your benchmark.

  • You need spacing between sections and between experiences within sections
  • Your professional experience is being overshadowed by your clubs/extracurriculars by sheer volume. Cut one of the extracurriculars/leadership experiences entirely and/or significantly cut down on the number of bullet points under each. You can always make an "Activities" (or "Community Service" bullet either in "Education" or "Skills and Interests"
 

Also, - I agree that "Barbarians at the Gate" as your first interest would get you laughed at. - "Limited Conversational Proficiency" sounds unnecessarily clunky. Re-word (lots of possibilities, take out the "limited", try "basic" instead, etc.)

 

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