Woefully bad resume, dont know where to start

Alrighty, so I'm halfway through my sophomore year in college (non-target school? I think??) and so I'm getting ready to start sending resumes to anywhere I think I might have a shot at getting something useful over the summer. Mostly boutiques. Anyway, I could REALLY use some guidance in the resume department. As it stands now, my resume is hardly fit to wipe one's ass with, I mean this thing is rough, As is my college GPA.

A few specific questions:

I haven't declared a major yet, but I'm 99% set on poli-sci, which would make my GPA within my major 3.7. Is this something I should add?

I also did a program last summer (which I understand is mildly selective) in which I visited a number of commercial banks and learned about how they operate, (BAC/ Merrill Lynch was one of these banks and a sponsor of the program). It seems to me like it would be very much meaningless to include this nonsense on my resume, but please, tell me if I'm mistaken.

One last thing, I feel as though I should remove my pre-high school education, but my dipshit "advisors" have told me I should leave it, so I could use some input on that from someone half decent.

quick caveat, I removed my personal info (i.e. address, phone number etc.)

My dumb ass cant figure out how to properly integrate my resume or a picture thereof into this post, but here is a link to it. God bless whoever goes through the trouble to open it and help me out. Just delete the spaces before and after "imgur" I guess. There's gotta be a better way to do this.

https:// imgur .com/a/OyS8i

7 Comments
 

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Best Response

I looked at your resume. You need a lot of help.

I can't critique much as you need an overhaul. Your career services office at your school should help you to get a good base resume going and then if you post on here it can be fine tuned.

I mean, it doesn't even look appealing. You need to clean up the formatting greatly and first of all work on the content.

You're a sophomore, so make a plan of what you can do to change in the next year or two that would make your resume stand out.

Some key areas I would focus on: - Good ECs - Leadership roles - Internships - And for God's sake lock yourself in a room until you have a better GPA. Aim for 4.0s from here on out to pull up that 2.7 and debate your major if needed.

"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
 

Ok, step one, find a template that works. That layout is so unappealing.

You want to emphasize white space which is akin to a clean aesthetic.

Secondly, it should flow in order of importance; experience>education>activities.

Also, write a summary.

You're a sophomore in college, your resume is a work in progress. Relax a bit.

But, focus on getting those grades up.

 

1) Start from scratch and use a format which doesn't look so dreadful 2) Take off all of your high school accomplishments and focus on college: What clubs are you a part of on campus? Have you ever had a part time job? Include it even if it was just cutting lawns during the summer. It doesn't show finance experience but with how weak and blank your resume is now, it shows work ethic. If you've never had a job then you need to get one. Nothing crazy, but something part time wouldn't kill you to get some work experience under your belt to show prospective internship firms that you know how to show up on time, communicate with supervisors, etc.

Like others have said, stop stressing. Fix the format, fill in with college clubs, events, competitions, non-finance jobs, and then network to get that internship.

Good luck, feel free to DM me if you want more specific help.

 

To whomever it still concerns, I've made some major changes to my resume, taking into consideration the recommendations made above. As a side note, my grades this semester are on track to be FAR better than in the past, so hopefully I won't have to worry about my sub 3.0 GPA for much longer.

 
  1. you're only a 2nd year so remove your GPA entirely.

  2. Find a template and put in some effort to make your resume look presentable. Use bullet points and don't do first-line indent, this isn't an essay.

- Put your titles next to the place of work. e.g. (Panera, New Haven - Cashier and Baker)

  1. Remove your high school education and anything related to high school.

  2. too many non-relevant awards and memberships.

  3. Remove "experienced in powerpoint and excel".

  4. If you're a poli-sci major from a non-target then why are you trying to work in finance. Change majors, go to economics or finance or accounting.

 

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