2. CV Review
The information contained here are solely my own and are based on having
reviewed and modified a fair few of resumes over the years (colleagues,
peers and my own).
As I am based in Sydney, my thoughts come from a Sydney (and Australian)
perspective. I have not catered for the cultural differences in other
markets e.g. 1 page US CV in Investment Banking. In addition to this, the
information here has a specific industry slant (banking, finance and
technology). Other industries have other style guidelines.
I have used this template as the center of discussion.
Let’s begin.
3. CV Review: Personal Statement
Your Name
email@address.com.au
0400 000 000
99 Example Street, Example Town, Example City, 2000
PERSONAL STATEMENT
A seasoned financial analyst with an established
track record of consulting in
Public and private sector(s) with HR/ financial experience
Your Details
● I believe there’s a strong case to exclude the
address as:
○ Agencies already capture your
personal details through the
registration process
○ If you’re going direct, your email and
mobile phone will usually suffice in
most cases
● The only catch to this is that there are certain
jobs that do require the employee to be
mobile.
The Pitch
● Your elevator pitch which should be ideally
kept to one sentence. The message should
convey who you are (role, experience and
industry).from the template
my comments
4. CV Review: Key Skills
KEY SKILLS
Technical Skills
o Outlook
o Word
o Excel
o PowerPoint
o Access
Memberships
● Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
List it but add some context
● These skills would read better with a brief
description:
○ Excel - producing financial models and
forecasts etc.
● And the skills list does not need to be
application/tool specific e.g. Structuring
Capital through bonds, leveraged finance etc.
Memberships / Affiliations
● Must be industry specific (CFA, MBA etc.)
5. CV Review: Employment
EMPLOYMENT
Senior Financial Analyst
Monster PLC | Sydney
MM-YY > MM-YY
Achievements
● Joint Project Manager for bringing £3.5m property
estates portfolio back ‘in-house’, resulting in
uncovering £500k of gain, as well as achieving
greater operational/financial control
● Part of Bid Team for Greater Western and East Coast
Franchise propositions
● Analysis of revenue opportunities within the division
● Analysis of Route Profitability enabling greater
targeting of resources
Responsibilities and Achievements
● If you’re going for the ultra short CV then an
argument for excluding Activities is fine
● However if you are short on experience, then
a line or 2 of Responsibilities would help e.g.
Responsibilities
● Deal Negotiation
○ internal (pricing, trading, legal
etc.)
○ external (client-side, banks etc.)
Numbers matter
● Key here is to attempt to quantify everything.
● Qualitative aspects should also come into the
picture (after all the quantitative aspects have
been listed)
insert here
6. CV Review: Education
EDUCATION
o Example University
BA (HONS) Accounting & Finance with Taxation (2:1)
o Example College
HSC including Math’s (B), Business Studies (C),
English (B)
o Example School
SC including Math’s (A), Business Studies (A), ICT (A)
Education
● List education/academics here including
those that are current (ongoing)
● This might include self-studies (so long as it
is relevant)
● If you have been working in the industry for a
while, then you can possibly exclude High
School
7. CV Review: Personal Interests
PERSONAL INTERESTS
Shopping | Traveling | Reading | Golf | Table Tennis
REFERENCES
References are available on request.
Personal Interests and References
● Depending on years of experience, you might
want to exclude Interests as
○ Personal Interest are only a good
talking point for industry newbies (< 3
yrs)
○ Some roles call for collaboration
(Sales) and therefore team-based
sports/activities (e.g. Rugby Union)
would translate well
○ Others require more independent
thinking (Research). Activities like
Chess would go down well.
● I have not seen ‘References’ in a while i.e. no
one does it. These days people usually know
each other (e.g. LinkedIn) which is
particularly true seasoned pros (10 years +).
8. Is that the end?
There are super-interesting Infographic CVs out there these days BUT
presentation is another post/set-of-slides by itself.
til next
time!