I'll help you with your CV (Top IB VP)
Hi guys, after being a a silent reader for a while, I decided to join the forum finally. I have followed this website for about a decade starting from university. Meanwhile, I have become a VP (hopefully on my way to MD) for a major IB within Capital Markets / Securities / Sales & Trading and have reviewed hundreds (thousands?) of CVs. Interns up to VPs. I see the same mistakes being done over and over again and have a little free time on my hand. Hence, I wanted to offer my help. Let's see where this goes...
Feel free to post your ANONYMIZED CV and I will provide comments (pls upload a pdf or link to a google doc removing all your personal data beforehand).
Appreciate your feedback. It would be interesting to learn how your applications go. Below are some points I’ve pondered about:
It’s not always about the CV: let’s say you’ve studied accounting and did accounting internships but want to move into sales & trading or asset management. Even the best CV won’t help you here. What you should do is trying to get relevant qualifications and then include them. CFA or a part-time course. The more hardcore the better.
Don't waste real estate: the number of bullets per section should reflect the the importance you attribute to it. I see people having 5 bullets on some extra-curricular activity like a Trading Club and just 2 for the latest internship. Leave out ‘Interests’ if you are running out of space. Or leave out non-relevant jobs (e.g. student jobs, unless you want to signal to reader the reason why your grades are not stellar)
For the love of god - no pictures and no uber-styled CV. Content is king. If you don’t have the right content read the point above.
Formatting is an easy win: make sure your formatting is clean and text is correctly aligned. If you need to, include only very thin horizontal lines. Try using something else than Times New Roman, try Helvetica or Garamond. SPACE - if you can increase the spacing between lines, make your CV feel ‘light’, especially when you go for 2 pages. I am personally fine with 2 pages, consider whether you have enough to say though.
I’ll check in later and will add more. Let me know what you think.