What would you do with this resume?

I know my resume sucks, so tear it to shreds. What should my next steps be if I'm looking for a successful career? Internship? Suicide? Obviously the job search has been horrible over the past 6 or 7 months, and I know I'm not getting a great job. I just want to know what steps I should take, so maybe I can at least get into a decent MBA program down the road.

XXXX XXXXX X XXXX XXX XXXXXXXX (XXX) XXX-XXXX [email protected]

EDUCATION Rutgers University, School of Arts and Sciences, New Brunswick, New Jersey B.A. Economics, May 2009 Cumulative GPA: 3.47, Economics GPA: 3.7

HONORS Dean’s List Omicron Delta Epsilon, International Honor Society in Economics

COURSEWORK Financial Economics Econometrics Intermediate Macroeconomic Analysis Financial Accounting Economics of Capital Markets Money and Banking

WORK EXPERIENCE Private Wealth Management, NJ Intern, September 2008 – December 2008 •Contributed to successful identification and recruitment of high net worth client development •Co-managed an intern team, which identified over $10 million in assets •Controlled client records through Excel and Outlook

Local Hotel, NJ Intern, May – August 2008 •Performed audits of all departments throughout resort to ensure effective controls and efficiency; reconciled financial discrepancies in all departments •Developed spreadsheet for budgeting monthly gas expenditure •Research and analysis of company’s operations and data from Controller

Electronics Expo, East Brunswick, NJ Salesperson, October - December 2007

Ballyowen Golf Club, Hamburg, NJ Outdoor Service, April 2003 – November 2006

SKILLS Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Outlook, C++, Visual Basic, EViews

ACTIVITIES ODE – The International Economics Honor Society Macroeconomic Forecasting Competition Voluntary Income Tax Assistance Program Diverse Business Student Association

Help!!! I was thinking grad school, but I'm already 38k in debt so I need to put that off for a bit. Currently working 2 part-time jobs to lower the debt a bit.

5 Comments
 
Best Response

If you're thinking about an MBA, try to do something that you are interested and will be able to speak passionately to. If you afford to live off of a non-profit salary for 2 years, then I would recommend taking that route. Otherwise, realistically, you are probably looking at a operations/control type of position - which many find interesting, but it you don't, then it will be rough. Without knowing what you are interested in, it willbe hard to say what you should attack.

Regarding your resume, it definitely needs some work:

Your education section is huge and should definitely be cut down. Keep honors to one line, coursework to about 1 line, and keep it in one education section - there is no need to break education into 3 separate sections when it all relates to your UGrad.

You definitely want to punch up your language and verb choices for your employment section. Also, try to focus not just on projects, but on results - and although I rarely say this, a few of your bullets could use a few more words to further explain a point that you are trying to convey.

I would take off your last 2 jobs for sure as they add nothing to your candidacy, and just look like fluff.

Make sure your formatting is spot on (we can't see it here, of course).

If you have done any volunteering, or interesting EC work, you should include that on your resume, and you can probably expand on at least a few of your interests, such as the eco competition - a few words will do.

Overall, right now your resume reads like a grocery list and is filled with as much excitement and interest as one would put in said list. You need to have your resume tell a story (a true story) and entice the reader to learn more about you. Your resume should walk someone through your experiences and highlight achievements, not run down a list of things and names without much real value.

Stay confident, figure out what you're interested in, rework your resume, and make a go at it. Best of luck to you.

IBanker www.BankonBanking.com Articles, News, Advice and More Break Into Investment Banking

 
*On a serious note, you should blow out your PWM experience to about 5-6 bullets reflecting some serious actionable results.

I'm making it up as I go along.

------------ I'm making it up as I go along.
 

It seems like you are just listing your responsibilities, which reads like a bland resume. I like to see more quantifiable results. For example: - Contributed to successful identification and recruitment of high net worth client development

What resulted from this identifcation? Did it increase revenue or improve a process by xx%? You can make accomplishments stronger by thinking each bullet point by thinking about the "wow" and the "how". As an undergrad or early career professional, I understand there aren't always results but try this exercise for each bullet point. Here's are some resume examples that may help you:

Undergrad resume example: http://bit.ly/UTkvP Early career resume example: http://bit.ly/mKBwP

Good luck!

 

Well I would love to have something about increasing revenue or improving processes, but I feel that for both my internships I did next to nothing. The PWM internship was cold calling 99.9% of the time, so I find it hard to twist anything about that.

 

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