Travel on resume

Hey guys. I know there's another topic similar to this from like 3 years ago, but I wanted to ask anyways.

I'm looking to get a BB internship this summer.

I have a pretty extenisve resume with no shortage of stuff to include, despite the fact that I removed any/all forms of excess spacing and put the margins at the absolute minimum.

I already have a job as an investment analyst part-time while attending classes. Also, I had an internship at Alvarez & Marsal in Chicago as an analyst.

I'm thinking about removing the short section I have on relevant coursework because I think my resume has enough finance shit on it already. I would be replacing it with an "Activites and Interests" header. In this section I would be including two things:

1) That I hiked the entire Appalachian trail over the course of six months.

2) Took my first semester as a Sophmore off from college and went backpacking in New Zealand for 3 months.

Do it? Yes/No?

22 Comments
 

Backpacking and New Zealand in the same sentence on a Resume doesn't look good. Lol :) J/K.

 
Best Response

Don't listen to the above two comments... Absolutely put both of those on there under activities... You kidding me? The interviewer will know your finance acumen by asking you questions so putting the course work is unnecessary given your background... I guarantee if you put those two experiences under an interest section that you will be hands down the most interesting candidate at your super day and the interviewers will want to hear about it = Hook... The above is some awful advice... Disregard

 

Thanks for your opinions. Very helpful.

I was under the impression that I shold be grabbing their attention with something on the resume. So, if I'm not specifically saying:

Hiked Appalahian Trail - Hiked 2,180 miles over the course of 6months on a two-man team

What should I be saying instead? Just "I like hiking and backpacking?"

Thanks again

Array
 
CriesThanks for your opinions. Very helpful.

I was under the impression that I shold be grabbing their attention with something on the resume. So, if I'm not specifically saying:

Hiked Appalahian Trail - Hiked 2,180 miles over the course of 6months on a two-man team

What should I be saying instead? Just "I like hiking and backpacking?"

Thanks again

under personal interests put somehting along the lines of "hiking - including entire appalachian trail and new zealand" give a general statement and maybe an example or two is what i mean.
"... then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it."
 

I would be specific.

What do you think is going to garner more attention... simply putting "hiking" like many other candidates or something specific like "Hiked 2,180 miles over the course of 6 months on a two-man team." If I'm looking through hundreds of resumes I might give you an interview just to see what kind of person hikes over 2,000 miles. Are you Bear Grylls? A grizzly bear? Gandalf? Also, if you can hike 2,000 miles for 6 months I think you are probably determined enough to handle 100 hour work weeks.

 

yes be specific, kobalt put it to the point, good advice from Brians part right there.

Dont put tons of bullets under interest, but two specific unusual ones might easily catch positive attention. I rather put "won 12 soccer championships on a national level, captain of the team and participant for my countries national selection" than just "soccer" (just as an example).

"too good to be true" See my WSO Blog
 

Keep it brief but add any interesting details. I did the same thing after a MD told me that he already knows that given my school and internships that I have knowledge in econ/finance, and that I should include things that really differentiate you from other candidates. I did a backpacking trip through the middle-east last year, and it helped me land my last internship. Ignore people saying its a waste of space.

 

I think these are both relevant experiences that can make you stand out. Kids with high GPAs in finance/econ from good schools are a dime a dozen. Keep it brief, but find a way to bring it up in an interview. Both experiences could serve as pretty solid anecdotes for behavioral questions.

I'm going to New Zealand on Friday. I'll be spending a lot of time on the northern half of the south island. Any recommendations on where I should go?

 

If it's relevant, include it. If it's not, there's no need to include it. I don't know how travel is related to banking, unless you're applying for international locations or for geographic groups...

 

thats pretty stupid. Under that logic every single time you see a kid with an ivy league school on his resume than you should automatically ding him as well since the high tuition costs signal a rich kid.

What if you spent a month in two summers abroad at London and China studying a course? Or if you simply put "Travel" under Interests.

Do these signal that I have too much time?

 

In quod rem et aut odit tenetur. Non in aperiam ea et rerum sit.

Delectus alias recusandae omnis dolores cupiditate quia. Suscipit laborum officia non temporibus eos voluptate consequuntur et. Consequuntur dolorum sunt repudiandae deleniti ut quisquam. Veritatis omnis asperiores aut. Eveniet quibusdam laborum cumque dignissimos sint unde in. Qui reiciendis ut sed est ipsum possimus et.

Commodi tempore at sunt non. Doloribus exercitationem ea fugit dignissimos nisi ex. Tempora delectus quia consequuntur libero et aut. Quaerat ab cumque rerum architecto illo deserunt nobis.

Et dolor quod cum molestiae et. Facilis magnam sed magnam beatae. Et omnis impedit facilis accusantium omnis. Vel vitae aperiam sit quae.

Career Advancement Opportunities

May 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

May 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

May 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

May 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (65) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
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...”