In this week’s edition of reader Q&A, I cover questions about tailoring an investment banking resume for sales & trading, breaking into finance from pharmaceuticals and the relative importance of international experience, in this case experience in China. I continue to receive many investment banking summer internship questions as well as lifestyle and “breaking in” questions so stay tuned for more on those.

Tailoring A Resume For Sales & Trading

“Found your website through ibankingoasis forums and it has definitely helped me shape up my resume. Before I read this site, I did not have any of the “bankify” qualities you mentioned. Definitely top notch.

I’m currently a junior in college and am still deciding between investment banking and sales & trading. I’m wondering, do you have any expertise on what a more sales & trading oriented resume should include? I am reading through my resume now and it lacks numbers. Most of the work I have done in the past cannot be quantified.

Finally, would you recommend a resume editing service such as the one provided by Vault?”

Inquisitor:

Thanks for your comments - I’m glad you have found my site helpful.

There’s not much of a difference between sales & trading resumes and investment banking resumes for entry-level positions. If you are just out of school and have only had internships for work experience, sales & trading recruiters would look for the same qualities that investment banking recruiters look for: leadership, ability to work hard, and interest in finance/business.

The key difference is that sales & trading is more numbers-oriented than investment banking is. When I interviewed for hedge fund jobs they all asked me if I had experience gambling, playing poker, etc. because the gambling and trading skillsets are very similar. In sales & trading interviews they will ask probability questions, whereas in investment banking interviews this is rare unless you get a brain teaser.

If you can’t quantify much of your previous work experience, I would either think creatively for a way to do so, or get across your comfort/familiarity with numbers and finance in some other way, using either your interests or coursework.

You also want to express that you can “think like a trader” - e.g., weigh risk and reward properly. This is another big question that will come up in interviews. Even if you can’t quantify your previous work, is there a way you could express your ability to properly consider risk and reward? If so, I would add this theme to your resume.

In my experience most resume editing services are not worth it - they can make very generic/basic improvements, certainly, but the best way to improve is to contact your friends in finance and ask them to review your resume and offer suggestions.

That said, my own investment banking resume review service is definitely worth it, and comes with a 100% money-back guarantee.

Breaking Into Investment Banking From Pharmaceuticals

“Thank you for a wonderful blog. It is a tremendous resources and I really appreciate you taking the time out to answer everyone’s questions. I have a question that is more specific than those covered on your blog, and I would really appreciate your thoughts on the matter.

My short-term goal obviously is to enter investment banking. I love to read about deals. I want to do deals. My background is in Biochemistry and Biotechnology, and I have 2 years of experience doing Business Development in the pharmaceutical industry. I do some valuation work and deal structuring, similar to what investment bankers do, but not to that scale.

What is my next step to enter investment banking or private equity? Should I get an MBA or do I already have enough experience? Thanks in advance!”

Inquisitor:

Thanks for your kind words. I think you have a good background to break into investment banking. Having done Business Development, you understand valuations and forecasting, both of which are very important in finance.

However, since you’ve already done the job for 2 years, banks may be hesitant to hire you as a 1st year investment banking analyst, but may not be ready to hire you as a 2nd or 3rd year given that you haven’t worked in the industry before.

With your background, getting an MBA and then going into banking from there is definitely one route you could take - you would be out of work for 2 years, but could come in as an Associate instead.

If you want to work at a bulge bracket, you should probably do this and get an MBA. However, if you want to get into banking as soon as possible, I would recommend starting to contact headhunters and friends in the industry and focus on getting hired at a middle-market or boutique investment bank, for several reasons:

1. It’s easier to work at one of those places and they hire far more people from non-standard backgrounds.
2. They haven’t been affected by the credit crunch as much as the bulge brackets and are still hiring people.
3. You can easily lateral from one of these to a bigger bank after a year there if you’ve done well. Or you can stay if you like it there.

It’s a tradeoff between time and prestige - do you wait for a few more years of experience plus an MBA to have a good shot at getting into a bulge bracket, or do you jump in now at the risk of not having as prestigious a name?

That’s one that I can’t answer for you because it depends on your goals and background.

Do Investment Bankers Place Importance On International (China) Experience?

“Thanks very much for all your helpful and informative posts. I’m looking for summer internships at bulge brackets, but it’s tough because my GPA is only around 3.5. I’m really worried that I’m not going to get first rounds as a result. This past summer I worked in China and it’s clear that I know the language and Chinese business well, but I’m not sure if this is enough to help.

I only want to work in New York, not Asia. I know that for NY, Chinese doesn’t really matter. I’m just wondering if there’s any need to play up my Chinese background in order to get interviews for summer internships.”

Inquisitor:

Hi there, I’m glad you have found my posts helpful.

I think you’re overly concerned about getting first-round interviews for summer internships. Your GPA is fine - the bigger concern is the market this year, as many firms have slowed down on hiring with the looming recession. Investment banking summer internships should stay relatively safe, though.

That said, your international experience in China will help you a great deal in the recruiting process - you need to play up your China background with everything you’ve got. Make sure everything on your resume says “China”, “Chinese business,” “fluent in Mandarin/Cantonese” in some shape or form.

Bankers, just like anyone else, follow trends and do whatever’s hot at the time (witness the massive LBO boom in the first half of 2007). Right now, China is the hottest area internationally and if you can convince them you’re the expert, you will stand a much higher chance of getting interviews/offers.

One of my friends at work was similar to yourself - he was born and raised in China, came to the US when he was young and is fluent in written/spoken Mandarin. He has used this background to get a whole host of positions he didn’t really deserve based on his own merits, all because he played the “China angle” successfully.

Even if you want to work in NY, it doesn’t matter because any language and international experience is a positive and Chinese is a HUGE positive right now.

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Tags: boutique investment banks, bulge bracket, Business Development, China internships, Chinese business, Hedge Funds, international experience, investment banking, investment banking analyst, investment banking jobs, investment banking resume, investment banking summer internship, MBA, middle-market, pharmaceuticals, Sales & Trading, trader

Posted on Friday, January 11th, 2008 at 7:00 am.