I’ve left my job to give a full time hunt for Financial Analyst, Research Analyst, or Investment analyst position. It’s almost 3 months now and I haven’t received any call back about my application. I am from the Philippines and I am trying my luck here in Dubai, UAE. Can you please give criticism on my resume below, for me to improve my chances of landing a job. Thanks NAME Contact #: ########## Email: abc@yahoo.com Citizenship: Filipino Address: UAE UAE Visa Status:Visit Visa (Valid Until Feb 13 2016) Summary Ambitious finance professional with strong track-record of delivering top performance. Possess great experience in financial markets. Can undertake difficult mandates and meet tight deadlines. Consistently applies business analysis and critical thinking skills to develop and enhance operations. Other skills include: •Financial Analysis •Risk Assessment •Operations Training •Strategic and Tactical Planning •Advanced Problem Resolution •Process Improvements •Leadership •Critical Decision Making •Excellent Research Skills Education Trinity University of Asia Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Major: Financial Management 2010-2014 Honors & Awards Cum Laude Academic Excellence Certifications Passed Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level 2 June 2015 Professional Experience Global Service Executive HSBC August 2014- November 2015 -Process and settle UK failed straight though processing (STP) trades -Liaise with HSBC agents from 18 markets in order to settle Cross Border transactions. -Research on how to settle multi market flow transaction. -Rematerialize / Dematerialize from electronic into a certificated form of client holdings and vice versa. -Provide insights in daily team huddles and monthly Business As Usual (BAU) calls with business partners. -Calling and sending email to Client Service Team in order for them to advise client regarding the status of their instructions. -Implement a process improvement project -Cross train colleagues and assist when there are arising issues/problems. Intern Land Bank of the Philippines October 2013 – January 2014 (4 months) -Provide assistance to bank employees in their daily task to perform Local Banking Operations. -Electronically save cheques and ensure everything has been stamped by the bank -Validate authorized signatories of company representatives. -To check and balance out the cash that came in and out of the vault at the end of day. -Assist client to open up new account and provide answer to their queries. -Reconciliation of bank and book records. TRAININGS •CFA Level I Review Program (February 2014 – May 2014) CFA Society Philippines •Understanding Settlements (October 2014) HSBC Electronic Data Processing Philippines •Introduction to Trade and FX Funding (July 2015) HSBC Electronic Data Processing Philippines •Own Your development – GBP SC Capability Framework (July 2015) HSBC Electronic Data Processing Philippines •Lean Six Sigma - Yellow Belt (July 2015) HSBC Electronic Data Processing Philippines SEMINARS ATTENDED •Sustaining the Economic Growth Momentum (Oct 22, 2014) Fairmont Makati City •The Value of Value Investing (March 26, 2015) COL Financial Training Center Ortigas Center, Pasig City •The Path to Investing your Future (April 21, 2015) AIM Conference Center Manila Legaspi Village, Makati City •Why Bruce Lee Would have been Great at Finance (May 16, 2015) COL Financial Training Center Ortigas Center, Pasig City •2nd Philippine Junior Finance and Investment Summit (Sept 12, 2015) SMX Convention Center Manila
Do you know anyone in the industry? I’m not sure how different is it there but without having solid contacts you won’t get calls.
Ya I don’t have contacts here, I moved here because my girlfriend works here, but she’s not on Finance Industry.
How could these contacts help me in the hunt?
Off a quick read through, your experience doesn’t really discuss any accomplishments…Instead of saying “provide assistance…local bank operations”, add something at the end like “resulting in x and y” or “improving x and y”
What I have provided was the job description, should I really add the accomplishments?
Yes. It’s no good just saying that you have ‘excellent research skills’ or ‘leadership skills’. Much better to try and show how you might have demonstrated those things as part of your job or even at college. Did you lead any teams (even sports teams)? What research have you done? Abstract statements such as ‘good team worker’ etc won’t get you very far.
You are all over. Try to focus on a narrower range of skills. A Jack of all trades is a master of none.
Cut the BS. Don’t exaggerate. “Leadership”? “Process Improvement”? “Critical Decision Making”? seriously?! Nothing in your CV supports these astronomical claims. Aim for an entry job; don’t aim to replace Christine Lagarde.
And yes, mention some achievements. Did you create money? Did you reduce cost? How frequently are your analyses correct? Quantify your achievements. Mention what support your quality and quantity of work.
Why the gap from Jan 2014 to Aug 2014?
Don’t write “settle” a lot. Find another word.
Use more technical terminologies (don’t exaggerate though).
Your experience as an intern and Global Service Executive is mostly in administrative activities. This was the case? If not, re-write it.
Remove the CFA Level I Review Program. Passing without a Review Program is better than passing with it. You passed for God sake, so don’t mention this.
Call HSBC in the UAE. Tell them you’re an ex HSBC-Philippine employee
Call City Bank, intrigue them by saying you are an ex HSBC
Send your CV to Qatar as well. They offer similar packages, and the market is less competitive. Life is not as appealing though
Good Luck
Hmm well given that HSBC just announced a “global hiring freeze”, it’s probably a good idea to look elsewhere for now.
Anyway, first of all, take off the Summary, Seminars, Skills and Trainings sections.
Also I agree with the guy who said to highlight your achievements.
mas or menos its very good resume
Great points by all so far. Under your experience I feel you need to be more detailed with what your tasks were. I use the format:
X Company
Position held Date range
- What did you do, what program you used, why you did it, and the result (if applicable)
ex: Reconciled month end book balances using X accounting software in order to comply with corporate governance
People want to know not only what you were responsible for, but what tools you learned how to use, why your supervisor asked you to do something specific and what you learned/ what the result was from doing it. Use quantative examples where applicable.
Thank you so much Audacious!!
By the way, the Gap from Jan to Aug 2014 has a break down of these,
April 2014 was my graduation date
and from April to June it was purely Level 1 review
and after the June exam, I tried to find a job and started on August 2014.
Should I elaborate those things in my resume?
Furthermore, I’ve resigned since November 2015, and up until now I haven’t landed into my new role. But I am actively job hunting from November up until today.
How should I include those gaps in my resume?
@Ohai - If I cut all of those SUmmary, seminars, skills, and training , my resume would only be a page long. no further details would be shown. What should I elaborate inside my resume?
Your resume should only be one page long. Trust me - if the only thing you can mention is your attendance to a Bruce Lee themed seminar, you should not put anything else there.
If your resume is anything to go by, I would spend more time researching the industry (figuring out what you actually want to do) and learning how to job search properly.
Given your lack of experience, your resume shouldn’t be more than a page long.
I’ve had 3 full-time jobs, and my resume will not be more than a single page. You should cut the summary/bio at the top. It’s extraneous info, and it adds absolutely nothing of substance to your resume. Sections on your resume should be as follows: 1) Experience, 2) Education, 3) Activities (organizations you belong to and your role in said organizations), and 4) Additional (certifications, language skills, test scores, interests, etc.)
As the other guy said, your trainings and seminars are also worthless. Take them off your resume.
Use something like this as a go-by: http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/files/SampleAlumniResume.pdf
I wonder if people are going to stop reading at line #3 when they see he’s a foreigner. Is that going to cause red tape and expenses for a potential empoyer?
Good point. As a foreigner on a work visa, I’d highly recommend you take this off the resume. That is an autoding.
After a month of job hunt here and lots of interviews,
they are always seeking for a relevant experience. and it seems like they only see my experience as a customer service rep. in which i would like to break in to financial analyst, research analyst, equity analyst,
can anyone help me on how could I win the position
you have not worked as an analyst in your previous companies and you quit your job to get an Financial/Research/Investment analyst role.
you are aiming for probably one of the most challenging and hard-to-get jobs in Finance yet you do not have any experience. why would they go for you when there are other people out there with the relevant experience?
this is like aiming for something impossible.
if there is anyone who could get hired for similar roles without proper experience or MBA let me know cos I want to work in investment banking as well.
but I would not quit my existing job unless I have solid reasons to believe that I have more than what an average person can offer for the mentioned positions. quitting your job without finding a new one was a mistake in the first place and probably you will end up in a situation where you desperately need money so can accept any job offer.
I believe there are entry level positions for those task, and those are the position I’m aiming now.
my previous interviews are basing more on experienced individuals, so now ill be hitting an entry job. Sigh, after almost 2 years, now I need to go back from the start.
most of the companies weight my task in hsbc solely as a customer service assoc. sigh… but in fact it was not really a CSA but as a processor in an investment banking.