Advice on how to improve my Resume for a London Graduate Position in S&T or Investment Research

Hello,

I am currently completing my second Master's Degree at a French University and will be applying for the graduate positions at the investment banks in London for the 2011 intake. My desired position is either a sell-side analyst (S&T) or a research analyst role in the banks' investment management arms.
I would greatly appreciate any constructive comments that you might offer me in terms of my Resume presentation, suggestions to make it more 'bankable' or anything else that you might think would increase my chances of securing a position.
Resume available at: http://www.razume.com/documents/16470

Thank you in advance for your help and advice!

 

get rid of the "career objective and personal profile" section - you should be making all that clear to the recruiter with whom you speak. btw that section says buy-side and your post says sell-side...might wanna be careful about the details. i'd also add in a space after each experience otherwise it just looks too dense.

my recruiting experience only entails the U.S. so european standards may be different. best of luck.

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Best Response

Your education is confusing the fuck out of me. How many undergrad degrees do you have? If they're from the same school don't re-list the school. Consolidate your courses all to only the most relevant, I don't give a fuck that you took Eigenvalues & Orthogonal Matrices of Sand Storms on Neptune , ditch your stupid high school info, and throw them down at the bottom of the section.

Your first bullet... uh, was this job in fixed income or commercial banking? Why would a bank give a shit about attribution of their notes? Where you guys syndicating the debt? I may be off base here but, they're first lien senior secured on that shit (unless they're to GM), let spreads get their dick blown off, I don't care long as I get my principal back or refid. The covenants should protect you guys from that and even if that's what actually went down you looked at for a while and that's it? Show the value you added and what action you took. Again I may be off base, and correct me if I am, but don't bullshit these guys. If you can't carry a conversation on every one of your bullets don't throw it on.

VC Consultant? Where did you consult any VC's? I see what your getting for with the alt asset manager thing but c'mon. Take off the one bullet that says you where congratulated, file that one under who gives a shit.

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 

agree with the above + would remove that weird 3 month school. Looks like some certificate bs. Also, reword "cooperated with colleagues", say you did it yourself or leave it off. Get some numbers and results in those bullets, especially most recent positions. They are way too generic. Finally, MS Office is not a skill, achievement, or interest. I consider that in the "references available upon request" category (i.e: i know, you dont need to tell me)

 

Thank you very much for the insightful ideas. I have a Double undergrad degree (US and UK) so that is why it is a bit confusing. I would also duly note the comments about my credit analyst experience. For the buy/sell-side jobs, I would be applying to both so this is the buy-side version of the resume. In terms of career objectives I wouldn't normally include this, but I think people 'like' it in the UK. Regarding the VC experience I was actually working at a VC fund and performed consulting work for the clients as well as projects to advise on ideas for the structuring of the upcoming investment fund of the company. I did the 3-month course when the financial crisis started and was advised that the university was quite respected in the City and would add an additional edge to my application as well as (I don't really know whether that is true, but I presume so) I would have higher chances of having my CV screened by the computer as a potential fit. So, it is making my Resume as good as possible but also trying to cheat the screening machine or software. So, once again thanks to all for the comments and would appreciate any more in light of my post here.

 

Who were the VC's clients? I guess technically that would be the LP's, but wouldn't that be undermining the general partners if you were telling their investors how awesome hedge fund and pe investing is comp'd to VC? At least in the US, VC funds really almost never invest in other funds much less hedge fund or private equity. Maybe with angels but even then that doesn't really make a ton of sense. Maybe Europe has a different definition of VC.

And again, DO NOT BULLSHIT. I'm not saying people don't get a way with it, but it's never a good idea and not fair to the other kids that didn't. What are you going to do once you get past the screen (which is dumb to structure your resume that way, take the extra effort, make an intro and "hand deliver" it.) at the interview, "Hey real quick, let me give my real resume, the first one was just a bunch of bullshit to get past the screen,".

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 

Well I was told by some bankers that they actually computer screen the Resumes. Obviously, I cannot know myself whether that is true or not. Regarding the HF and VC, I had to structure a project to look at the potential investors that might invest in the VC Fund, so to recap: Hedge Funds investing in the VC fund, not the other way around! I thought it is quite clear, isn't it? And with respect to the CV/BULL SHITTING it is not bull shitting at all. I don't mean to bull shit or tell lies it's just finding the best possible way to present yourself and have a chance. @Brown_Bateman: any constructive ideas, rather than just comments? Thanks ! Still thanks a lot for the comments which I think are quite interesting and I would definitely take a note of them.

 

Listen I'm not trying to tear you down, you've obviously worked hard. But yes the VC thing is confusing. Unless the hedge fund you worked for is very well known I have no idea.

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 

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