BUILD A BETTER RESUMEFor Banking and Finance Careers

Ksenia Verdiyan

• Ksenia Verdiyan• Cornell MEng Financial Engineering 2014• 4 years of work experience: Goldman Sachs,

Bank of America, MIT Investment Management, Standard & Poor’s

• Cornell Career Services Investment Management Initiative

About Me

• High demand for jobs in Finance makes employers very selective

• Companies are looking for well-rounded individuals

• Recruiters use resume and cover letter to weed out applications much more rigorously

What’s Different about Finance?

Cornell Career Services offers:• CCS Career Guide• Career Counseling/Advising• Resume/Cover Letter Critiques• Vault Guide: Resumes and Job-Hunting Skills• Ask a Friend (someone who received several

offers)

Getting Help

Cornell Career Guide

You have to be a business major to work in banking/finance

FALSE: Employers in the finance field hire from a wide array of majors. You will want to be a “non-traditional” non-finance major (e.g., take some business related courses, get experience, extra curriculars, etc.)

True or False?

• Join a finance club• Take relevant classes• Externships• Expand your skillset: paper trading, Excel,

financial modeling skills

How to Improve Your Resume

1. 10-C: Financial Reporting by Students at Cornell2. Alpha Fund, Cornell3. Alpha Kappa Psi4. Apex Capital Fund 5. Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting (ALPFA)6. Board of Portfolio Managers (Cornell)7. Delta Sigma Pi 8. Energy Corps at Cornell University 9. Federal Reserve Challenge10. Financial Management Group 11. Cornell Club of Mergers & Acquisitions 12. Cornell’s Investment Club13. Cornell’s Investment Group 14. Mutual Investment Club 15. Phi Gamma Nu16. Pi Sigma Epsilon 17. Restructuring Club 18. Smart Woman Securities (SWS) 19. Social Venture Club20. TAMID Israel Investment Group 21. Undergraduate Asia Business Society (CUABS)

Finance Clubs at Cornell

• Tracked assigned stocks• Pitched new stocks• Collaborated with a team of 5 to research and

analyze consumer product stocks• Identified new company stocks for $10k consumer

product stock portfolio• Created pitch presentation for recommendations and

delivered to 100 club members• Assisted in growing portfolio by 10% in one year

Example: Investment Club Member

Dyson School of Management:• AEM 2210 - Financial Accounting• AEM 2241 – FinanceJohnson Finance Courses for Non-Johnson Students:• NBA 4120 - Equity Investment Research and Analysis • NCC 5500 - Financial AccountingHotel School:• HADM 2230: Financial Accounting Principles• HADM 2250: Finance• HADM 3200: Personal Financial Management• HADM 3250: Financial Planning and Wealth Management• HADM 4290: Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management

Finance Course at Cornell

Participants: Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, EY, Citi, Deutsche Bank, etc.• Freshmen: FRESH Program• Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors: Extern

Program and Cornell Days (apply through Handshake)

Job Shadowing Opportunities

Emphasizes Education,job titles,

and employers

Describes responsibilities and achievements

Chronological Resume

Reverse chronological order

FunctionalResume

Shows summary of skills under broad categories

Employment is shown, but not described

Includes Volunteer Experience & Activities

One of the highest paying jobs in finance is an Analyst role in an investment bank.

FALSE: If you break it down to an hourly rate you earn ~$17.00/hour ($70k ÷ 52 wks ÷ 80 hrs = $16.83/hour)

True or False?

They are skills transferrable to different work settings:• Teamwork• Public speaking• Written communication• Event coordination• Leadership• Mediating• Problem-solving

What are Functional Skills?

• Competent in handling market data: Completed courses in Statistics and Survey Research.

• High work ethic: Worked 70 hours per week last summer; have worked at least 10 hours per week at Cornell while remaining active in two organizations and maintaining respectable grades.

• Enjoy speaking before groups: Provided campus tours and information sessions to prospective students and parents. Presented to department managers at Sears.

Demonstrating Skills & Competencies

Keep in mind…

Back each one up with clear, specific examples and facts.

• Provided effective client service by assisting patrons with menu choices and fast delivery of product• Assisted in the resolution of problems of

dissatisfied clients ensuring a successful visit• Handled multiple priorities including order taking

and delivery, side work, and cashier duties

Example: restaurant waiter

It’s a NOT good idea to get an MBA right after your undergraduate degree if you want to work in banking.

TRUE: Many of the banks are set up to hire only at the undergraduate (low experience, lower degree) or MBA (3-5 years experience, higher degree). They don’t have any positions in between.

True or False?

• Communication skills = presented, facilitated, wrote, observed, communicated, composed, documented, explained

• Leadership skills = managed, led, supervised, motivated, delegated, evaluated, governed, empowered, coached, guided, instructed

• Organizational skills = organized, coordinated, produced, arranged, catalogued, reorganized

• Detail oriented = edited, audited, checked, compared, examined

• Quantitative skills = analyzed, quantified, calculated, budgeted, appraised

• Teamwork = Collaborated, involved worked with

Actions Verbs

You need a GPA of 3.8 or better to get a job with a big Wall Street firm

FALSE: Most financial firms prefer a 3.0 or better. More competitive firms prefer a 3.4 or better.

True or False?

• Use a template, make it visually appealing• 1 page, PDF format• Know when to use past/current tenses• Be truthful, without underselling your skills and

abilities• Use effective language: action verbs and succinct,

descriptive phrases• Quantify your accomplishments and show results

Resume Dos

• Use “my,” “I,” or other personal pronouns• Exaggerate your experiences• List descriptive qualities: “hard-working” or

“motivated” (instead show evidence)• List experiences unrelated to the job you’re

applying for• Put an experience that you don’t remember

details of

Resume Don’ts

“Winners are not people who never fail, but people who never quit.”

“The expert in anything was once a beginner.”

A Little Inspiration

WHAT ARE YOUR QUESTIONS?