Hi,
This is my first time asking for a resume review here - I'd really appreciate your help.
http://www.razume.com/documents/184976
I'm a senior at a non-target in the USNWR Top-100 (with no finance or accounting major). I'm looking to get a job in a F500 finance leadership program, a la GE's FMP. I've applied to about 15 so far across a variety of industries, and I'm getting nervous about not getting interviews. Please let me know what you think about the resume - I'll be submitting more applications in the next few weeks, so let me know what I can improve.
Thanks in advance,
Dublin
From the top down:
Your general format needs to be tweaked - your section titles should stand out more, Lose all of the indents.
Shrink your education section a bit - you don't need that much coursework, only show intermediate and advanced courses. Why is National Merit Scholar and your SAT scores just floating below?
Your TIAA internship doesn't sound finance-enough. There is nothing there; it almost sounds like an ops position - show me some hard skills, discuss what you actually did, how you did it and any results that were realized - not just a bland statement saying "Coordinated efforts of XXXX" That doesn't really show me that you are a strong candidate. Make position look like it is front office, even if it is not.
Same thing for the investment website. You're just giving me flat statements - how did you construct the reports, what did you evaluate, how did you evaluate it - any financial modeling, or analysis performed - any results realized from your efforts. Show me everything, don't just tell me something and assume I will know the whole story.
Same thing with the startup - how did you support the CEO - show me the value add there - show me the impact. Show me that you didn't support him/her by answering phones and cleaning the bathroom mirrors.
I would also reevaluate your leadership section for the same things - show me all of your efforts, how you've made an impact.
I would add a section at the bottom with your hobbies and such.
Check out this article for a bit more advice or email me if you have any other questions.
http://www.bankonbanking.com/2009/05/25/writing-the-banker-resume/
IBanker www.BankonBanking.com [email protected] Interview Prep, Resume Revisions, and the New Survival Guide – The most common interview questions and answers revealed! News, Articles, Products, Services and More - Stop by Now!
IBanker - thanks for the thorough review. I'm not sure if it was clear, but I'm not interested in IB - the programs and positions I'm applying to are finance rotational programs within F500 companies. A few of your comments seemed aimed at someone applying for IBD, so wanted to clarify that.
Here are a few follow up comments/questions:
From the top down:
How would you recommend making section titles stand out? Just capitalize them? That seems to be the only thing other people do (I looked through some other people's that are posted here)
I was struggling with the coursework list - I wanted to demonstrate a strong interest in and knowledge of finance, despite the fact that I'm an econ major and a business minor. Do you think that will get across if I take anything off? Also, where should I put NMS and SATs? They didn't seem to logically be part of my college experience...
As mentioned above, I'm not looking for front office. And I tried to be results-oriented by putting in numbers of clients, 'directed' 'executed' etc. How can I specifically improve it? I always hear that I should 'be results-oriented' and use 'action words', but I have trouble figuring out how to do that.
Do you mean a single line? Or a section? I was under the impression that a hobbies section looks cheesy (from people's posts here). Do you disagree?
Thanks again,
Dublin
If you are applying to leadership programs, I think you need to tweak your leadership section as BankonBanking mentioned (#6). From my experience in interviewing for, and currently working in a financial leadership program, they really want to see solid leadership experience. I don't see anything in this section that really points to this, other than the brief mention of your secretary position.
Make sure you emphasize on these points where possible, and follow the critique from the above post.
Also - how long ago did you start applying for these jobs? I know at my company, superday interviews (final round) are this week for 2010 starting classes (Jan and June).
J-rad, thanks for your response as well.
Would you recommend expanding my main leadership position (Secretary and VP)? I had been under the impression that non-internship items should be listed smaller than internships.
In answer to your question, I started networking at the beginning of the summer and started applying in September. I've actually had a hard time finding out what the timelines are for any of these programs. Which company are you at? Or if you don't want to share that info, do you know what timelines for these programs typically are (on average)? My understanding is that they're later than banking and consulting, but I don't know if that means offers in November or offers next April...
Thanks,
Dublin
Are any of these firms you are trying to apply to on your campus? GE was on mine at least 2 weeks ago and have already flown kids in for office visits.
Some places recruit in the fall and the spring, so you might be able to lock something up then but graduating in December may not make that any easier.
Paper Trail:
Unfortunately, none of them recruit on my campus. The only regret I have about picking this school is that the finance recruiting picture is very bleak (I didn't know I wanted to do finance until about halfway through junior year). I applied to GE and networked pretty hard, managed to reach the FMP recruiter and chatted for about 45 minutes on the phone. She mentioned that target school recruiting would be done first, then afterward they'd look at non-targets like me. Hopefully that means all hope is not lost, but I don't know, and I also don't know about any of the other firms.
I'm graduating in December, but I'm fully willing to not start working until next summer. I'm hoping the added flexibility will be a slight benefit in the eyes of some of the firms.
Do you know about any other firms? It's so hard to get a picture from the non-target perspective.
Dublin
I interviewed for GE's FMP. If you have questions, PM me.
Hi,
I'd really appreciate some follow-up comments regarding my questions above.
Thanks again,
Dublin
Thanks!
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