I had some specific questions regarding the CV. I guess I’m trying to strike the appropriate balance in having “personable” information on the CV that has little to do with your main employment. Specifically, I have seen some very formal CVs, and some less formal ones (usually listing supporting charitable and/or volunteer organizations or hobbies). Say that your primary focus of employment is in finance, but you have pursued other degrees and/or businesses. I know it’s common protocol to list all of your majors and education on the CV, BUT… if you have too many, wouldn’t you run the risk of looking too much of a degree gunner? I’m most likely going to list all of mine but… am very hesitant. I also went back on the search function and read up on some interesting discussions on the issue of having multiple professional designations - to which some were adamently against. However, in my field, it is not unusual to see 10+ designations (of course, they are within the same field [i.e. FRM, CAIA, CFA, or ASA, ABV, CVA]. I have seen some useless information on CVs as fillers as well like “I attended this conference…” So if you just totally had a brain freeze and was unable to read most of my post, my three main questions are: 1. If you are completely buffed up on various education degrees / majors / designations, would you omit some especially if they are unrelated to your field? 2. What kind of personal information is “acceptable”? 3. What’s more important - to have a cohesive, one CV per field, or to have a holistic CV that captures all that you do?
You want to list the 2-3 most impressive certifications; if the rest of them aren’t relevant for the job you want to attain and don’t make an important statement about you, don’t put it down. The error I most frequently encounter during resume reviews are resumes that read too much like laundry lists. Most good resume writers will tell you to customize your resume in some way towards telling the prospective employer what they want to hear; however, best resumes are the ones that not only accomplish this feat, but also tell a unique story about yourself. So, unless the story of your life is about collecting certifications and designations, this probably isn’t the way to go, especially on a finance resume. Lastly, remember that “less” is often “more.” To your specific questions (paraphrase of the previous): (1) Yes, unless they have some other related value (like CPA, actuarial exams, etc.) or demonstrate some other aspect of leadership/outstanding accomplishment (outstanding athletic/artistic skills, Fulbright/Rhodes scholarship, etc.) (2) See above, as well as other interests where you can build a common bond with interviewer (3) Definitely having a cohesive story is more important
I usually put my batting average for the bar. For instance; Struck out 9 times, hooked up on the 10th attempt. 10% BA. You’re pretty hot though, so I guess your BA could be an implied 1.
- What’s more important - to have a cohesive, one CV per field, or to have a holistic CV that captures all that you do? A number of people have a kind of “Master CV” that has a list of everything that you do. This is not a bad thing to have (and be sure to update it every 6 months), because you can forget all the things that you have accomplished in various fields. Remember that Curriculum Vitae is Latin for “Course of Life,” and is essentially a story of your professional life (and perhaps a bit of your personal life too; southern europeans and the french often include a little bit of the personal stuff - marriage and kids; anglo-american types sometimes include charitable work and board work, as well as physical accomplishments like running marathons. Aleksey Vayner probably went too far with his bench pressing 440 lbs, and I probably shouldn’t have mentioned getting blown by Madonna as a teenager, but it was fun. Germans sometimes… …actually I don’t know what the Germans do, but I’ll bet it’s very efficient). What’s important is that the Master CV is for YOU, not for a prospective employer. Then you decide what types of positions you want to target in a given search. Pare down your Master CV to target for a specific “category” of position. For example, I have a global macro CV, an emerging markets CV, and a quantitative analysis CV. These things pick and choose from the Master CV whatever will look best for a person seeking that kind of talent. I know that people say that you should customize your CV to every job that you apply to, but I find that that’s not really practical, since often times you get a mail saying “Quick, send me your CV,” and there just isn’t time to think through each and every last line if you want to get seriously considered. I prefer to do the “customization” in the cover letter, and getting the CV down to “category of job” is usually close enough, I think. This last point is one on which reasonable people can disagree, although I think that it makes more sense to customize the cover letter rather than the CV, provided that you have already gone most of the way by figuring out what category of job this CV is designed for. Remember, the purpose of the CV is not to get a job; it’s to get an interview. Once you get the interview, that’s when you pitch for the job.
If you’re looking to do something really novel and differentiated, consider this unique formatting of the CV courtesy of Aleksey Vayner: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/3105915/8832626 For better or for worse, you’ll certainly stand out!
Vayner would take Federer…impossible is nothing
ASSet_MANagement Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I usually put my batting average for the bar. > > For instance; > > Struck out 9 times, hooked up on the 10th attempt. > 10% BA. > > You’re pretty hot though, so I guess your BA could > be an implied 1. In college the preferred metric was slugging percentage.
Vayner never gets old. His bench press display was awful. He had 3 guys spotting him. 3!!! And he tells people he benches that much.
Ocean Mist Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I had some specific questions regarding the CV. […] Why are you writing a CV? A graduate degree application? The target of the document is fairly important.
Great advice! Main targets of the CV: 1. Attachment to trial exhibits for work 2. Professional publications 3. Places such as linkedin and legit directories 4. Free-lancing in other unrelated fields (I know I have to completely revamp it for this one.) The idea of having several CVs and a general all-encompassing one is great, especially because the fields I’m targeting are varied. ASSet_MANagement - Are you talking to me? If so, your check is in the mail.