Resume to break into M&A
Would somebody help me critique my resume?
A little about me: I'm 24 years old, I'll get my MSF degree this summer from a non-top tier NY college (it's AACSB accredited - don't worry), I have 4+ years experience in taxes and accounting
I would like to break into M&A advisory with one of the Big4 audit firms or M&A IB. Do I stand a chance with my record? what can I do to improve my chances (CFA, other certification or programs, books, etc)? What can I improve in my resume?
Any comment will be greatly appreciated.
http://www.razume.com/documents/25127
Sidenote: I'll try to improve my GPA, still have 50% classes left.
sorry, your resume sux, no chance
Go kill yourself.
I'll appreciate it if you could let me know why
The resume looks pretty good, many MSFs provide a lot of placement assistantance, but assuming yours doesn't I guess just try to get your foot in the door somewhere. Maybe clean the format of your resume up a little bit.
Thanks Jackie I feel more relieved now! I'll try to fix the format a little.
Your CV isn't bad however, it looks better for asset management than BB M&A on account of CFA level I, managing a USD 100,000 fund, these things are good to have for most finance jobs though.
Polish the format a bit Drop the currency risk case study Indent the academic coursework Separate fitness and tech into 2 line and elaborate on fitness briefly
However I believe you can crack a big 4 M&A easy! Well done on the MSF in advance!
Good luck!
Thanks for the comments I really appreciate your time. On the suggestions, I think I'll leave the currency risk case because it reiterates my modeling and excel skills which I believe are very important for M&A.
I think I'm a bit too late for a career in asset management, I mean it would imply starting from zero, and I haven't passed CFA level I yet. With M&A at least I have a lot of excel, modeling, accounting, and taxation skills which makes me a better candidate (I think so...).
How can I comment on my enthusiasm for fitness? It's more like bodybuilding but I don't want to sound like I'm zero brain big muscles. I'm thinking of using:
What about if I put guitar playing and singing, would that sound stupid? I don't do professional singing but I'm considering professional classes and used to be in the church's band (only as a singer, my guitar skills are average)
Sounds fair on the M&A positioning. I thought that modelling currencies is something you probably would never do in M&A, but it's good to have excel skill.
Fitness (running, swimming) is good enough If you have a music certification such as Grades from Cambridge then put it in. Otherwise leave out the music.
Your resume is fine, start reading about M&A, check out the M & A Portal make sure you know what's happening.
Don't ever say you're a guru anything or I will punch you.
I don't know how the above posters are saying this is solid. Quantify some shit, stop using dashes and having 3-4 different types of indentations. Get rid of shit like IBM lotus notes, outlook....actually the entire MS office suite, because last time I checked you could master those even if you had an extra chromosome. Double check to make sure your CFA candidacy is stated properly.
Oh, and get rid of that god awful qualifications shit at the top.
You can probably forget about doing M&A with that background as is. Big 4 is a possibility. Good luck.
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I think my resume is much better now.
I've made some of the changes suggested. I think I'll take my chances leaving the summary of qualifications, to attract attention to read the full content.
Flake, I'm not sure what to quantify based on my previous experience and what's wrong with my background?
This is the so far final product: http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/1456/resume2.jpg
[quote=Cybaster]Thanks everyone for the feedback. I think my resume is much better now.
I've made some of the changes suggested. I think I'll take my chances leaving the summary of qualifications, to attract attention to read the full content.
Flake, I'm not sure what to quantify based on my previous experience and what's wrong with my background?
This is the so far final product: http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/1456/resume2.jpg[/quote]
Get rid of that summary shit. Seriously. None of that is even impressive and you have it as the first damn thing on your page. Not only is it ugly looking it also tells me that the rest of your resume will be bad if this is the kind of shit you highlight.
Yeah... thanks both for the advice, I'm reading M&I now on how to write a resume for banking. I have to work on it a little more and then I'll upload another version. Is it OK to leave my academic projects?
I have no idea what projects can I list doing back-office work and what am I going to quantify.... this problem leaves me feeling miserable and hopeless.
Despite Flake's comment being harsh I have to agree with him. You're just describing different duties you carried out but show no data or numbers to back it up. Regarding the summary, take it out. You boast about being proficient in PP and Word/ say you're fluent in English, that's pretty clear from the resume don't you think?
Go to M&I and check their template/advice and start over again from there.
Excel modeling skills are a given... kind of like saying you can read and write....use the resume "real estate" for more compelling info
After a long time dealing with final projects and exams, it is now that I could finally work on my resume again. I'm uploading the last version.
So now, what are my chances to get in? I'll greatly appreciate any constructive criticism. This resume building is getting me tired!
Thanks in advance!!!
PS: This is my last quarter and I'll try to do some presentations in my finance club.
http://www.razume.com/documents/25884
[quote=Cybaster]After a long time dealing with final projects and exams, it is now that I could finally work on my resume again. I'm uploading the last version.
So now, what are my chances to get in? I'll greatly appreciate any constructive criticism. This resume building is getting me tired!
Thanks in advance!!!
PS: This is my last quarter and I'll try to do some presentations in my finance club.
http://www.razume.com/documents/25884[/quote]
Couple of things: - Dates should be on the right hand side. Currently it is difficult to quickly get an overview of what you did when. - Too much blank space at left hand side. Agree with the post above that it should be one line. - Line spacing is inconsistent and too big before bullet points in academics. - Not a fan of spending that much space on academics and specific courses. - Under bachelor of accounting: "Three-year" instead of "Three-years" - Under Tax assistant position: "Adjustments were pointed (...)", rewrite - Under financial reporting analyst: inconsistent capitalization following colon.
Personally I would adopt the M&I format and rework the whole thing, but that's up to you.
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