Resume/Cover Letter Help from Non-Target

After talking to a couple of bankers in the industry, I'm looking to submit my application for the M&A, CFA, and Retail teams at various BB banks. I am from a non-target school, so I don't necessarily have the best pre-established networks to connect through. Attached is my resume, feel free to rip it apart and make your own suggestions. I also am looking to draft a cover letter targeted towards the aforementioned teams, so any advice regarding what I should include and what I shouldn't would help immensely. Also, for cover letters, is there a template that one should follow for IB or is it just different for every person? What would be things that you would look for in an IB cover letter?

Thanks in advance to all who respond and critique.

 
Best Response

Mr. HSK, I humbly recommend you should do a better job of obscuring your information. Putting a label on top doesn't obscure the information (if you are genuinely concerned about privacy).

A few resume tips: - I'd remove the color - I personally don't love the date format, I'd go MMM yyyy ex. "Sep 2015 - Present" but that's me - Again, personal preference, but I don't think the bullets should be flush with the left side. Feels "tight". Push them out a bit - I'd put a space between your BA and your MS to denote these as separate experiences (as per your Experience section) - I don't think the FINRA exams are a huge deal. You certainly don't need to describe. Maybe condense to say passed the FINRA Series 7 and Series 66 exam. - Your work experiences have odd start and end dates. Gottesman is June 2010 to Oct 2011? Weren't you in school then for your BA in econ? And BAML is Oct 2011 to Nov 2012? - I'm assuming you put the square brackets to solicit an opinion if you should keep. I think you can leave it. - Your technology skills aren't relevant for IBD / M&A, I'd rather use the real estate to discuss interests (as conversational fodder / airplane test material)

 

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