Edgy Resume? Yes or No?

A friend of mine is applying for positions in finance now. She is a sophomore at an Ivy and trying to get experience in finance. She is targeting mostly office assistant positions.

She showed me a resume template that is really cool and edgy. It's a non-traditional but very clean template.

Any advice if anyone was in a similar position and had success submitting a non-traditional resume for finance jobs?

Attachment Size
Resume Template 436.67 KB 436.67 KB
54 Comments
 

If she's applying for a SA position, I would NOT suggest using something edgy and advice sticking to the standard format. However, if she is going for an office assistant position it may catch someone's eye and prove to be a positive aspect.

I would air on the side of caution and remind your friend that banking is a conservative field. People going through resumes want to be able to find the relevant information fast, particularly at BB and MM banks. It may be more acceptable at Boutiques, but that's just a guess.

If that's her resume, she shouldn't have any issues finding an office assistant job, but I would honestly suggest leveraging the university's network and try to get a shadowing/externship at a boutique bank/hf/pe. I think that will be much more effective/educational than an office assistant job.

Best of luck!

 

It should say - "starters" "entrees" "dessert" etc. would be hilarious. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I actually want this template. I think it would look so much better when I apply to tech sales jobs.

"It is better to have a friendship based on business, than a business based on friendship." - Rockefeller. "Live fast, die hard. Leave a good looking body." - Navy SEAL
 

Andy, you need to keep on pumping out new templates in order to maintain viewership. You know that. Just take this one.

Make Idaho a Semi-Target Again 2016 Not an alumnus of Idaho
 

When I'm processing 150+ resumes, I want to be efficient. I want the key information to be roughly on the same place on each page.

If you're going edgy, non-standard template, you're slowing down my process and making me think more than I should have to.

If your resume content (ie your GPA, your experience, your interests) is hit-it-out-of-the-park fantastic, you may be able to get away with it. But if the content is that great, it will be just as great in standard template.

Chances are, it's not that great. So all you've done with your edgy template is annoyed me. Maybe only a little bit. But I'm looking for reasons to whittle 150 resumes down to 4 or 5. An edgy template pushes me closer to putting it onto the "no pile".

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

is she hot?

You killed the Greece spread goes up, spread goes down, from Wall Street they all play like a freak, Goldman Sachs 'o beat.
 

General question for you guys: on what sort of a scale do you asses your excel-skills? Since there is no evidence on the level of her excel-skills in her resume in this case (i.e. she could know how to basic forumlas, but no VBA)

 

Unless this resume secretly yours, which i have a feeling it may be, you probably should have left the name off. It also shouldn't be in font size 64 and taking up roughly half the page. Also, not sure if you're looking for actual critique, but the date on that second internship is a little wonky or you/she is from the future (which should go under special skills). As mentioned by many of the posters above, probably a dope format for something outside of finance (which if you're going for office asst. you're probably ok).

 

She told me to leave the name. It's not my resume obviously lmao... I am just trying to help a friend out

It ain't what you know, it's who you know
 

The reason employers/recruiters like similarly formatted resumes isn't because they're boring old people, it's because they're easier to read that way. Ingenuity is great, but knowing when and when not to be creative is just as important. Resume format isn't where you get creative. What this resume says to me is "this person is probably going to start writing e-mails in Haiku to 'stand out'".

Also, nice try directing the reader's attention away from the massive white spaces. The name is so incredibly big I actually forgot to look at it or care to remember it.

 

I wouldn't call this edgy, I would call it poorly formatted. Like someone above said, it looks like a restaurant menu. A resume is supposed to draw your eyes to the key selling points, rather than putting the name in 10000 pt font and obscuring everything else.

When you finally figure out where to begin reading, the only things that stand out as "edgy" are: 1. She apparently has 2 bachelor's degrees, one of which was completed in one year? 2. The leadership positions are from 5-6 years before entering college. Putting high school accomplishments is often pushing the envelope, but now we're listing middle school activities? 3. This is a Columbia student and she's trying to get a office assistant position?

.......I get it now. Congrats, you've successfully trolled me.

 

Oh for heaven's sake, just put it in a traditional format.

Here's what I think reading this resume: Why does a ballet student want to work in finance? To begin with, she is probably used to exercising 4 hours a day and will certainly feel the difference between exercising and sitting down all day.

Also, seeing that she has done ballet and gone through the process of taking the time to put together a creative resume, it strikes me that perhaps a more creative field in general would be better suited to her. I'm not saying she can't work in finance, I am saying that maybe she might enjoy herself more if she worked in a different kind of finance (film, non-profit fundraising, tech). The most creative one gets in finance is choosing which blue you're going to have as text and moving around little text bubbles on a powerpoint presentation.

Office assistant jobs for pretty girls are a dime a dozen, she will have no problem ever, during most of her life, getting an office assistant job in finance. Maybe she should try for something more challenging to get. Such as an internship.

 

Delectus animi praesentium accusantium consectetur accusantium molestiae non. Enim est quaerat beatae totam. Facilis aut incidunt debitis sint.

Eius omnis hic magnam consequatur facilis. Ipsam et minima repellendus id quia. Aut odit inventore enim totam sit ipsa non. Dolorum illo non sint qui vel quo placeat dolorem. Ducimus sit dicta consequuntur rerum.

Eos delectus ratione provident. Enim est hic nihil ea sed.

Dolorem odio molestiae soluta magnam temporibus voluptatum commodi. Amet ipsam maiores rerum deleniti.

 

Totam harum suscipit quia sapiente iusto. Quisquam architecto modi iusto sed laudantium similique. Sunt et nesciunt earum hic. Consequatur debitis omnis dolorem doloremque accusamus. A ea explicabo vel porro aliquid.

Quia facere quidem et asperiores ad. Accusamus animi tempora et consequatur dicta sit asperiores voluptatum. Molestiae harum eaque est ea quo ad neque. Et voluptatibus harum sed quia corrupti non quis. Aliquid qui omnis itaque accusantium in. Commodi qui nihil debitis eius voluptate alias eligendi.

Qui et minima iste omnis sit dolorem esse. Numquam nam molestiae iure enim quod dolorem.

Ut eius quidem eos amet rem. Suscipit iusto aspernatur ut ad sunt. Sunt dolorem fugiat labore ad corrupti nam.

 

Dolorem eaque soluta incidunt ullam maiores. Et iusto deleniti blanditiis suscipit. Nihil harum atque aliquam et. Autem aut debitis aperiam tempora.

Atque nobis molestiae voluptas corporis voluptatem expedita. Quia natus est quisquam qui quaerat est. Eum sit non ratione. Tempora ut unde voluptates nobis id officiis.

Necessitatibus sapiente ullam unde. Sint voluptatem eum repellat tempore vitae. Voluptatem atque impedit voluptatibus dignissimos. Sunt corporis eos perferendis dignissimos aut.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan No 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (45) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”