trying to find a new job, any advice would be appreciated

Water Cooler Careers
#1

-currently 23, graduated from top tier Canadian school with BCOM degree in finance, CFA level 2 candidate.

-worked at a family office/ hedge fund two summers as research analyst and then landed full time, been working for about 2 years now.

-our only investor is the portfolio manager and we originally had hopes to grow and find outside investors. Since then the PM has changed his mind and basically want to retire because he really doesn’t need the money and stress.

-now I have to find a new job within the next 4 months (can still work at current job until fund closes later this year).

-have applied to 60+ jobs anywhere in the world, mainly focusing in Toronto and Vancouver.

-ideally would like to move to another buy side analyst job but will be happy with almost anything that has room to grow.

-so far, I’ve gotten 1 interview out of the 60+ applications at a pretty big buy side firm but not as analyst. I would still be really happy with it because I think it has potential and I can move internally in the company.

-at the current job I basically recommend stocks to my PM but I don’t need to do any DCF modeling, so not much experience in that field and as a result I don’t think I would get sell side equity research jobs.

-I think the knowledge and skill that I’ve gained from my current job is not fully expressed on my resume and I feel like during interviews I can show them that I know more than they think I know (I think).

-the firm that I work at now is small and unknown so I’m afraid that when people look at my resume/application they discount my experience, skill, and knowledge.

-I’m scared that after the 4 months is up I still won’t have a job and I think it’ll only be harder to find a job when you’re unemployed.

-have also considered going back to school to complete a masters in something but haven’t done too much research.

So this is my current situation, any advice, constructive criticism, stories would be greatly appreciated.

#2

What does your resume look like? And no, I don’t mean the content, I mean the template. I have applied to like a quarter of that amount around various US cities (mostly FL since that’s where I am) and have had 4 interviews in 6 weeks. A guy I know who I went to undergrad with had his resume formatted by CBS career center once he got his MBA and I have used it ever since with a TON of success. Having a world class resume template can drastically increase the number of interviews you get.

Just curious, how are you recommending stocks without doing DCF models? I mean, you are attempting to value these securities right? very small number of other ways you can do that…

#3

I am applying to a lot of jobs too with no calls yet. I do not have any relevant experience. 3 years of back office in Asset management is what I have…Would u mind sharing the template you mentioned. Appreciate it…

#4

With two years of experience, you should be able to get a comparable job, somewhere. At this point, you will be assumed to not be completely clueless, but are still inexpensive to hire and are young enough to take a lot of abuse.

  1. Yes, have an experienced person review your resume: if not a career office, then someone with years of industry experience and who has reviewed other job applications. The main issue I have seen is that people fail to emphasize specific details and do not tell a good story of their background. When your application is vague and generic, there is no reason to pull yours out from the pile. It takes a bit of knowledge and experience to bring out the relevant details in your background.

This is especially important in your case, since few people will have heard of your company. So they will need to be convinced that you did sophisticated work there.

  1. It does not sound like you have done much networking or cold calling in your job search. In addition to applying to online jobs, you should get in touch with friends of friends, alumni of your university, and even new acquaintances on LinkedIn. You do not have to ask them specifically for jobs. Just let them know that you are searching and want input in planning your next steps. First of all, you might get lucky and someone might direct you to a job opening. Second, you will have spent some time practicing conversations that will make you appear more knowledgeable in actual interviews.

  2. You do not necessarily have to find a job in the next four months. I’d say you can comfortably be unemployed for six months after your job ends, assuming your financial situation allows for this. You can justify your time off by saying you were traveling, spending time with family, or doing other things like that. I understand that it is scary to have no job, but most people spend at least a few months between work.

Of course, you should try to be as aggressive as possible within the next two months from today. The reason I am saying this is that year end compensation is being handed out in finance companies, and as ar result, other people are starting to look for their next steps. Now is a good time to look for openings to fill newly vacant positions.

  1. In case it was not obvious, now is a really good time to ask for favors from your boss, in terms of introducing you to business contacts. If he has any positive regard for you at all, he should be willing to at least call up some people he knows to see if they have any hiring interest.
#5

Iprofit4sure, can you please share the template you have?

#6

Share that template shun

#7

Oh ya’ll want the template?! *Chris Rock voice*

#8

Like everyone else is asking, do you mind sharing your template with us? The template I use is very simple, starts with education section and then experience section. Not sure how I can change it to make it more attractive to companies.

Also, I value stocks by using comps.

#9

Like everyone else is asking, do you mind sharing your template with us? The template I use is very simple, starts with education section and then experience section. Not sure how I can change it to make it more attractive to companies.

Also, I value stocks by using comps.

#10

Thanks for taking the time to write all this, much appreciated. In regards to the first point about providing specific details about my job and telling a good story of my background, I write something along the lines of “generated investment ideas in various sectors by analyzing industry research, company specific information, and past and projected financial statements.” Is this what you mean by specific and telling a good story? Truthfully, I feel like the things I do at my job requires a good understanding of the capital markets and economics but when writing the job description part on my resume I can simply sum up the things I do in one bullet point.

#11

http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/career-management/sites/career-management/files/files/2.1%20%20Professional%20Branding_Corporate%20Finance_Resumes.pdf

if this template is similar to the one you are referring to then yes mine is pretty similar

#12

“generated investment ideas in various sectors by analyzing industry research, company specific information, and past and projected financial statements.”

What is missing here is the general basis on which you chose the companies, and how well your recommendations performed. If you looked at financial statements of five companies and chose the best investment of the five, how did you come to that decision? How did your fund perform relative to its benchmark? How did your specific recommendations perform?

You can also add functional responsibilities. Take the Columbia resume for instance. When you REALLY think about it, lots of the points here are actually pretty mundane. However, together, they give the impression that this applicant had a real and substantive job. She “educated” (every time you open your mouth, you are educating someone) other company employees (note the use of the term “internal clients”) and (normal) clients, “developed and pitched” investment ideas (I prefer to say “presented”), “constructed and maintained financial models” (built some spreadsheets), and a bunch of other stuff that I’m pretty sure you would have done in your job. She essentially claimed credit in her resume for talking to other employees about work. I’m sure you can do this too, or better.

The other thing worth replicating is that the template quantifies almost every contribution. She hosted 12 companies, published 150 weekly reports, marketed 83 bond deals, and so forth. Again, lots of this is probably really mundane in real life. If I am in sales, and I forwarded an email to another group, tada, I just marketed a deal. Phrasing matters.

Finally, there is this important point in the template: “Assumed senior analyst responsibilities from October 2012 to June 2013, approximately two years ahead of the traditional analyst advancement timeline”. Employers always look for hints that you are more advanced or outperform people with comparable experience. From my experience, it is usually really easy to come up with evidence of this when you work for a small company.

So anyway, my point is that there is a lot you can do to add substance to your resume if you know where to look. DO NOT be afraid to dress up some of the statements, as long as you can qualify what you said in an interview. I’d say my main weakness in job searching myself has been that I am not good at claiming credit for my own achievements, as it feels uncomfortable like bragging. It took some coaching from outside parties for me to realize this, and I get the feeling you have the same issue.

Anyway, good luck. As I said earlier, it would be optimal if you found some more experienced person to edit your actual resume, and also get moving on the networking efforts.

#13

Yes, that is it more or less. Slight differences are in mine but nothing that would be significant. The issue may be that you haven’t worked at a large well respected and well known BB bank/Financial Services firm. Maybe try targeting them to really get a well known name on your resume FIRST. Obviously do not want to take a back office role at one, but maybe not one you really want or is considered your dream job. I had my first job in Alts at a very well respected and well known financial services firm so who knows maybe I am getting interviews because of that? In any event, I think as I may or may not have mentioned before, if you don’t know much about DCF or haven’t worked with it? Then start learning. You have the internet at your fingertips and trust me there is ALOT of world class information regarding anything finance that you can learn for free…so find that information and be able to speak to it, freely, and on the spot. Once you can do that, I think you aren’t going to have an issue at all.

#14

learn dcf on your own. Bet you can do that in a week and repeat the process until you have it cold. Just gotta be able to show/tell that you can do it during the interview. Once you are in, you will learn their way and learn from watching as you go. Important part is getting in.

#15

The problem is getting into a technical interview. The last two ones I had, I specifically asked HR if my phone screens would be more technical in nature. Both times? mostly behavioral, which sucked lol. I think 90 percent of people can fake being a “team player” even if they are not, for example. Seems like red tape to me and if it were my way, the conversation would have definitely gotten more granular in both instances. This is why being right in the middle of the CFA curriculum is great, in my opinion,DURING a job search. Unless of course you are studying for the exams and not really remembering much of it or have a difficult time verbalizing it haha. If that’s the case, just work on it. Heck walk around your room and speak out loud in a very scripted but concise monologue, once you have that down, make sure to purposely make it sound NOT scripted. I did this for days for my first analyst job outside of college in between interview rounds and it worked. They told me that they had been waiting 8 months to fill the position so either I did something right or everyone else just sucked lol. Maybe a combo of both and luck also?

But I agree with what Ibenzo is saying for sure. As my uncle in Boston says, “Gotta get on the team, man” :wink:

#16

When you “walk around the room”, what do you talk about? Like how to construct DCF models or what other financial knowledge do you say to prepare?

#17

Yeah and why and how you do it, why your concentration on one or more critical factors in your analysis drives one more than the other. You want to talk about what makes YOUR thesis different from consensus. What you spend your time on the most when you build models, things that ACTUALLY drive a stock’s price. Sure you take the chance of making the PM or MD disagree with your approach but would you really want to work for someone if they do not have a world class view on deriving value? Probably not. I mean I wouldn’t.

Also, think about the low hanging fruit. Questions that you have a HIGH probability of being asked. For instance, all the interviews I had asked me the SAME question. They asked, “What has been the best pick you’ve made?” or “Pitch an investment idea”. Plan for stuff like that. It’s nearly guaranteed. Unfortunately, for your first interview, this may not be but a small fraction of what your asked. ie more behavioral.

#18

I completely agree with you when you said that I am not good at claiming credit for my own achievements because it feels uncomfortable like bragging. I’m scared to exaggerate in case the people who read it misinterpret it for something more. I don’t want to come off as lying during the interview if they think I did one thing when I didn’t. But I know what you mean, it’s important to sell yourself as the best candidate they can get for the job. Also in terms of networking, I haven’t properly networked since I graduated from university. But a couple of months ago I did go to an alumni networking event, it was there that I realized the only people who attend these things were people who needed jobs and networks. So it felt like the blind leading the blind to some extent.

#19

I know the general ideas and accounting of building a DCF model mainly from learning it in school and the CFA curriculum. But if you ask me to build one, it would probably take much longer than someone with experience. So I think if I practice lots and do some research on the internet I can get better fairly quickly. But as I was applying to these jobs, I was wondering if they provide training for hires who have work experience and not straight out of school. Because I imagine that the new grads who got equity research jobs weren’t great at doing DCF models since they didn’t have much experience so the training provided would have helped a lot.

#20

The first interview I got at this job I was referring to was with HR so no surprise they asked me behavioral questions. But after doing some research on glass door, the people who previously interviewed there all said that the second and third round (with other analysts and portfolio managers) are all based on behavioral questions. I understand that they are more interested in finding someone who is a good “fit” but in these cases it’s not even up to us to showcase our knowledge of capital markets; perhaps this is a good thing in case they ask me a technical question that I don’t know the answer to.