Zero Work Experience, what do I put on my CV for Spring Weeks? (UK)
Hi, I'll be starting at a target university (Oxford/LSE/Cambridge) studying Accounting and Finance this September. Would love to get a spring week (not picky, anything will do, but IB/PE/AM/Corporate Banking would be awesome). Did well on my A Levels with A*A*A* but I guess most/all competitive applicants will have done really well too.
Now the issue is that I essentially have 0 meaningful work experience. I've done the CFI's FMVA certification (which is fairly extensive) but obviously that isn't work experience. I've also participated in 3 of those AmplifyME Finance/M&A simulations, ranking 2nd out of ~60 in one of them and 3rd out of ~90 in another, but again, not work experience.
I do have some research projects and a market research internship but these aren't related to finance in any way. What can I do? Any tips on how to structure my CV/Resume given that I don't have much to show for work experience? And is there anything I should try and do in the month before starting (I don't think I can get any work experience, so perhaps some of my own projects - financial models)? I'll definitely try and join some societies and get some meaningful positions, but that might already be quite late and likely past the deadlines of many firms.
Thank you for reading and I would really appreciate any sort of advice.
Sorry about the weird formatting, I meant 3 x A* for my A Level grades.
Honestly man, you’re good just try and link the skills that you learnt during your market research internship to the job description of the spring weeks you apply to and you’ll be good, you’ve clearly demonstrated an interest in finance.
Thanks. Reassuring, but what do you suggest I do in the meantime? Don't want to waste this crucial month.
Most first year CVs don’t have real work experience and HR knows that. Spring CVs are mainly made up of insight days (that banks will start advertising soon so watch out for those), retail jobs, and courses (amplify me, forage etc). It’s just about using what you’ve done to highlight the skills needed in finance jobs (comfortable with numbers, attention to detail, organised, team player etc)
Some people who got springs and summers posted their first-year CVs on TikTok so you can search for that for proof
Thank you, I'll have a look for some samples. I do want to try and stand out though, is there anything you would suggest I do in the next month? I don't want to waste it. I was planning to make some models (perhaps M&A) on some big deals lately, think I might learn a lot that way. Let me know if you have any other suggestions. Thanks!
A little tip I received from someone and used to get spring weeks was to include numbers in many of your bullet points, even if it seems exaggerated. During interviews, when walking through my CV, I was able to show I was highly analytical in my experiences and I think it also makes a CV stand out more compared to looking at a bunch of words squeezed onto a page.
Thanks, I've been trying to do this as much as is reasonable.
Forgot to mention as well, but make sure it's not too finance-heavy, like I know that volunteering is always a good experience to add if you have it as it makes you not seem like a neek tbh
Should I detail my volunteering experience or keep it brief? I've been making some M&A models of recent deals so I thought I might dedicate some more space to talking/describing the research I did.
I'll be very honest, you can mention the M&A models and recent deals you've worked on but to an analyst looking at it, it doesn't matter. The 2 reasons I have for this is that it makes you look like a finance hardo(trust me you don't want to give this impression at all) and also during the interview they will rip into that part which I highly doubt a first-year would be able to answer successfully and in great detail. Detail your volunteering experience and make your CV seem like your intellectually curious and most of all just seem like a human that does other stuff in their spare time apart from concentrating on finance.
FYI, Oxbridge dont do finance bachelors so you're not being as anon as you think.
Haha yeah I'm aware, didn't think it was such a big deal to have my uni out there.
It’s no big deal, we could all tell you’re from the LSE anyway.
I mean it's up to you, but if you're not being anon, just say the uni lol
Hey OP I can also suggest joining a society as soon as term starts so you can indicate that you've taken time out of your evenings to network with peers and understand the world of IB and what you're getting into. Looking at your bio, it appears you are at a University which has very good connections with industry (it's right next door to GS, just for one example) and you absorb a bit more info than you can see online.
Good luck though and feel free to ask further questions if you require!
Thanks, this is what I'm planning to do. The only issue is that by the time I'll have the opportunity to join societies, it will already be well into the application cycle. So was just trying to figure out how to manage until then. Seems like I should be alright provided I can spin my limited experiences the right way. Would you recommend that I use some space on my CV to talk about research projects or not?
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