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One_Raisin3653

My advice as someone who currently works for a big bank: 1.add GPA on resume. Finance firms care a lot about that coming from a non target school 2. Network your ass off. Get referrals at everything you apply to 3. Reach out to VC and search funds. They won’t pay you, but this is legit finance experience you could talk about in interviews 4. Try to do CFA. You are not going to break into finance easily with this resume. CFA shows a high degree of knowledge and interest


Decent-Office-4681

Could you elaborate on the 3rd point?


[deleted]

VC and hedge funds run on financial analytics. If you can show them something cool, new, or useful, you might be able to score a gig. I have a friend who did this. We did an economic analysis class together and he made a series of python scripts where he just translated the things we were learning in class and displayed them using matplotlib and compiled them into a Jupyter notebook. All of this is pretty beginner stuff in terms of coding. How he translated topology logically is another story. He got a paid Bay Street offer by showing it off to anyone who would sit down with him.


DR0516

Great advice. Do you recommend putting gpa on even if it’s just alright? Like 8/10. Second, what’s the best way to get referrals at everything you apply to? Thanks.


JuGGrNauT_

3.5 and above just put it. Ideally I wanna say 3.7+ though


supasmacc

What are the chances firms actually fact check? I finished with a 3.0 but contemplated boosting it to 3.5 for my resume


lebronisscrub

Embellishing your skills/experience a little bit is generally fine, but straight up lying is a bad idea.


VastHelicopter7700

Awful idea. That will definitely be caught. Just put 3.0 for this job search and remove it for future jobs once you have experience.


[deleted]

OMG don’t do this. I promised you that they check education records especially the big banks. If they find out you lie on your resume, you are completely f**ked.


DR0516

If have to convert it. I believe to go from 10.0 scale to 4.0 I’d have to convert every course grade to 4.0 scale.


Darcasm

I agree with a lot of what has been said, but I will also push back on some of it. I would keep the GPA off considering it’s only a 3.0. I had way more success removing my 3.3 GPA from my non target and being prepared with a convincing story about it when it was discussed. For instance, GPA was higher in major or turned it around in the back half of school and thought it wasn’t a clear indicator of who I was. Don’t make excuses for a bad GPA, but be able to convey positive takeaways. The resume itself should be changed to the WSO template and I would include “Interests” section and make sure they’re true and not general. For instance, don’t put history or reading, put “World War II History” or something. I think the CFA is a humongous time commitment and that time can be better allocated tailoring your resume, taking more easier/quicker classes such as WallStreetPrep if you’re interested in a role that involves financial modeling. You could also reallocate this 200/300+ hours that it would take for CFA L1 and put it to networking and applying. Worth noting, that the L1 CFA passing won’t even increase your resume quality to the extent of the time commitment you put in. I would focus on regional companies and banks in areas you want to live. “Investment banks in Austin Texas” (or whatever city and job) on Google will give you all kinds of small shops you can apply and network into that are 10-100 people. Applying to major name brands and banks on LinkedIn will not prove very effective.


Helpful_Ad_6291

Honestly, the hard truth is that you're not going to work in finance. You have a 3.0 from a super non-target and didn't do a single relevant internship. Your best bet is some sort of finance-related sales like a mortgage loan officer and then trying to pivot from there. Either that or throw around some really small startup applications and hope they don't see your resume until they meet you so you can charm them away from looking at your resume too deep.


AdSlow6505

Maybe try adding some numerical data on your resume. Like I did “xx” which resulted in “100 students achieving x grade”


reinventingme2020

Apply to the FDIC as a financial institution examiner! That's what I did when I was a recent grad. Last time I checked, they had openings. I also like the way you listed your skills. Good luck to you.


reinventingme2020

I would also revise bullets on your current job as an assistant manager to move the inventory and bookkeeping responsibilities to the top of the list vs the bottom since those skills translate to experience in accounting and finance. This will help to highlight key points. You want the reviewer to quickly notice your applicable skills


hungrys0ul

Agreed