Should I add in irrelevant work experience?

I have worked on a freight dock since my senior year in high school and have balanced that with running two clubs college. I took a summer off last year to work an unpaid internship at Merrill Lynch and started back on the freight dock when the internship ended.

While this blue collar work experience is irrelevant to investment banking, should I put it on the resume so that they can see that, while my GPA isn't a 4.0, I have paid part of my college while balancing extracurricular activities?

As my resume currently stands, I have my GWM internship at ML, my leadership of the business group (the other group is a sub-group so it's under that) and a job at as a cashier at a grocery store (seems more relevant than a freight dock, although it was from my sophomore to senior year in high school).

 

I definitely wouldn't list the cashier position since it's before college. I wouldn't list the freight dock as its own separate line item under work experience unless you were in a leadership role managing others. However, it probably would help to put a line in your education saying something like, "Worked 30+ hours a week at freight dock to help finance part of college tuition" - this will show that you have good time management skills and able to tough things out. Don't worry about just having one internship under work experience - most people only have this anyway.

 

Lol you worked as a chef? Damn bro, you must have been in a trash frat if your parents were too poor to put your through college wihtout you working. Who wants an analyst with Post Childhood-Labor Stress Disorder? You must be a really battered guy. Best advice to you would be go for the MBA so you can get another round at frat rush and join a dank top tier frat where you will meet people with rich dads who can hire you

 
Best Response

I think you may have to gauge your interviewer and decide if you think it'll add value. I worked some odd jobs while I was in college, and while I was interviewing for post grad jobs, one of the interviewers mentioned he never had finance experience until after grad because he spent his summers working for his dads contracting company. After that, I shared my experience and we both found that common ground to talk about. Some people will find it interesting and want to talk more about it and, others wont. It may make you interesting or likable. It's really up to you to be able to determine it. Personally I would be very interested in hearing about how you worked as a chef and lived on a damn beach.

If this is for internship interviews (soph and jrs), a lot of companies know that most intern applicants wont have any deep experience in finance. You're mainly hired on the premise that you can learn quickly, good academically, aren't a pain to work with, have basic understanding of financial concepts and you know your way around basic excel, ppt, word.

 

Yes, ENGBanker, I dealt with customers at Wonderland. >___

The difference between successful people and others is largely a habit - a controlled habit of doing every task better, faster and more efficiently.
 

When I landed my ML PWM internship sophomore year (2010), the only job I had on there was when I sold cars in high school (2007). I was able to spin that pretty well since I was working in sales, and in PWM you have to "sell" clients on your ability to make sound financial decision and the stories behind the numbers for the stocks you pick.

What did you do at the amusement park? You should try to spin it into showing that you picked up a skill or two that are transferable to PWM. For example, were you a ride operator? If so, then you should have developed an uncanny attention to detail to maximize the safety of riders. Were you a booth vendor? If so, then you should have developed skills that allow you to effectively communicate with people and to sell them various products. etc.

Just be sure to make up for any lapses/shortcomings in relevant "work" experience by highlighting your key EC points and your passion for finance and learning in your interview.

Best of luck!

 

Reprehenderit incidunt illum error alias voluptatibus ipsum temporibus. Quasi quisquam placeat ut sequi. Aspernatur voluptatem in sunt eum nostrum ut.

Ratione voluptate est beatae eos reiciendis ut. Tenetur voluptas deleniti est et accusamus et. Totam ad quia enim et dolor non vel aliquam.

Ipsam facilis nisi minima non corporis necessitatibus officiis. Rem magni mollitia dolorem tempora. Et ipsam quo nesciunt id. Laudantium sed ut inventore iusto dignissimos est. Eaque et praesentium et veniam et. Placeat quia cupiditate qui fugit temporibus maxime.

In voluptatem beatae voluptatem eum. Corporis et sint labore accusamus. Accusantium molestiae aut facilis quaerat aut ad tenetur. Et id et est suscipit autem. Voluptatem doloribus et quis est.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (199) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”