Resume tips for finance jobs

[chisness]

What is the advice on the following:

1) Including school related experiences such as project oriented courses (one example: an entrepreneurship class where we spent the whole period researching an idea and creating an in depth business plan)

2) Poker (and how detailed this should be).
-Least detailed: make it a point in the "interests" section at the very bottom
-Medium: list it as an activity alongside clubs with a bit of detail like maybe stakes played or big tourney cashes
-Major: list as a work experience with complete info, maybe even including money earned

Not including it at all is of course also possible, I'm thinking just a mention under activities is the route I'll take so it can be talked about more if the interviewer has interest or ignored otherwise

[Evan]

It depends on how you structure your resume. Mine doesn't have an "interests" or "activities" section. It goes: work, relevant skills, school, reference. Personally I think poker really doesn't belong on your resume unless you have a specific reason to include it ("I'm applying for a job in banking/trading/cat wrangling and there are a lot of similarities to poker" doesn't qualify imo).

[chisness]

What WOULD be a reason then?

If my interviewer asks me what I did last summer, I'd say online poker. I'd let his tone/questions dictate the convo, but do you think it's ever appropriate to go into dollar figures?

[Evan]

[ QUOTE ]
What WOULD be a reason then?

If my interviewer asks me what I did last summer, I'd say online poker. I'd let his tone/questions dictate the convo, but do you think it's ever appropriate to go into dollar figures?

[/ QUOTE ]
Unless you specifically know that the interviewer will react well to it I wouldn't include it. It might also be worth including if you did something especially noteworthy (like winning a WSOP bracelet) or if you're underqualified for the job, assume you won't get it anyway, and it's worth taking a chance that will likely backfire but may work out well.

How you react to questions about what you've done is really up to you. I can't really tell you when to be more of less specific without having a lot more info. Even then, if my advice would be pretty worthless without actually being in the interview. That being said, it's not something I'd count on as a big positive.

[ahnuld]

I put poker on my CV but didnt talk about results, I just spoke about the similarities between poker and investing/trading/finance. Most of what I spoke of was the skill set, such as multitabling, dealing with partial information and stress management. Its a definite high risk move but if you go in with a plan for how to answer the inevitable question you can do well to put it on.

[BvlyHls90210]

[ QUOTE ]
Most of the people reading this advice will be applying for positions that are posted online/at their school's career office/wherever.

For positions like this, it seems networking is much less important. Networking comes into play when you're older and looking for positions that might not be as publicly advertised.

[/ QUOTE ]

I guess it depends what you are shooting for. If you are looking for a finance job that is good at all and offers any shot of good career potential, the networking, internship and other factors are going to be 100X whatever it says on your resume. But if you want some sort of deadend job, sure ignore the networking aspect.

[BvlyHls90210]

As far as poker on the resume, I think these are your options.

1) list it under your interests or activities sections
2) nothing

Note with respect to 1, I think this is a lame section to have on any resume, and just screams that you are killing space. Rarely does something in this section benefit you, most often it is just going to be a liability.

Listing "poker" will 99% of the time generate no reaction. However, if you were to qualify that at all, I think it is a huge liability, which is why I think the better option is to play it safe and not mention it.

I'm sorry, but the argument that poker is at all relevant to any finance job is incredibly weak. I know some here would disagree with that idea, but from the perspective of people in the real world, they would think it is pretty lame/strange unless you were extremely accomplished (i.e. won the WSOP). Saying you play 18 tables just makes you sound like a weirdo.

Mentioning money will make you sound absolutely crazy and will be a deal killer 100% of the time.

I also think if you are a senior applying for your full time job post graduation, if you spent your summer before junior year playing poker I don't think you'll ever get a quality finance job.

[PRE]

[ QUOTE ]
I also think if you are a senior applying for your full time job post graduation, if you spent your summer before junior year playing poker I don't think you'll ever get a quality finance job.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you put enough work into your resume, networking, and working your ass off it's still possible. I played poker and got a buyside equity analyst role.

[emon87]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Most of the people reading this advice will be applying for positions that are posted online/at their school's career office/wherever.

For positions like this, it seems networking is much less important. Networking comes into play when you're older and looking for positions that might not be as publicly advertised.

[/ QUOTE ]

I guess it depends what you are shooting for. If you are looking for a finance job that is good at all and offers any shot of good career potential, the networking, internship and other factors are going to be 100X whatever it says on your resume. But if you want some sort of deadend job, sure ignore the networking aspect.

[/ QUOTE ]

Um, internship = work experience on resume. Maybe I am undervalueing the necessity of networking to land these jobs because I go to a target school, but everyone I know that has gone to work for top finance firms got the job by just applying normally.

[SlowHabit]

ahnuld,

Please post trip reports!