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Copyright ©2015, 365Careers

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The author and publisher shall in no event be held liable for any loss or other damages. The advice and strategies
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This book contains material protected under International Copyright Laws. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this
material is prohibited.

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Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 5
What does the book cover? ...................................................................................................................... 5
The right way to read this book ................................................................................................................ 6
Choosing a career that will make you happy .............................................................................................. 8
The importance of experience .................................................................................................................. 8
Different types of Business & Finance careers ......................................................................................... 9
Keep in mind where you want to get ...................................................................................................... 12
Work on yourself..................................................................................................................................... 13
The right way to find job opportunities .................................................................................................... 15
Target 15 to 30 Companies – Here is why .............................................................................................. 15
The standard way of finding job opportunities – Online applications.................................................... 15
Enlarge the pool of job opportunities – Six extra strategies................................................................... 17
The right way to approach application deadlines ................................................................................... 19
Optimizing your LinkedIn profile ............................................................................................................... 21
This is how you can optimize your LinkedIn Profile for Job Hunting ...................................................... 21
Creating a LinkedIn URL that fits on a Resume ....................................................................................... 25
Online applications – It’s go time .............................................................................................................. 26
How to research a company before applying & interviewing ................................................................ 26
Job description: An applicant’s handbook .............................................................................................. 27
Effective time management is crucial for your success .......................................................................... 28
58% of candidates make this mistake & You will not be one of them ................................................... 29
The right way to approach aptitude tests ............................................................................................... 30
Writing the perfect Resume – A step-by-step guide ................................................................................. 32

Resume writing – Introduction ............................................................................................................... 32

First impressions are important – Formatting considerations ............................................................... 32
Resume Do’s: Proven techniques used by successful candidates .......................................................... 34
Resume Don’ts: Mistakes that you have to avoid .................................................................................. 36
Using professional resume writing services – important considerations ............................................... 39

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Successful Cover Letter writing.................................................................................................................. 40

Cover Letter writing – Introduction ............................................................................................................ 40

Cover Letter Do’s: Proven techniques used by successful candidates ....................................................... 40
Cover Letter Don’ts: Mistakes that you have to avoid ............................................................................... 43
Addressing your Cover Letter .................................................................................................................... 45
What if writing a Cover Letter was optional? ............................................................................................. 45
Ace your Phone Interviews ........................................................................................................................ 47

What to do on a Phone Interview? ............................................................................................................. 47

How to end your Phone Interview? ............................................................................................................ 48
On-site Interviews – Assessment Day preparation ................................................................................... 49

On-site Interviews - Introduction................................................................................................................ 49

Interview etiquette tips – Code of conduct for Interviews......................................................................... 49
The different types of Interviews................................................................................................................ 51
Answering Interview questions successfully .............................................................................................. 52
Case Studies ................................................................................................................................................ 56

Types of Case Interviews............................................................................................................................. 57

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Introduction

What does the book cover?

Hi, my name is Ned and I am going to be taking you through this book dedicated to job
hunting. I have been employed in Business and Finance for several years now, working
with some of the largest firms in the industry. I believe that the best way to learn how to
be successful at job hunting is to learn from the experience of someone who has walked
the same path.

So, let me walk you through the content of this book. First, we will start by describing
the various types of opportunities that you can pursue in Business and Finance. Then
we will focus on defining your goals and finding the right career path that suits your
personality. Our aim will be to construct a strategic plan (sort of a long-term vision) that
will ensure that you will reach your ultimate goal.

We will discuss how to perform industry research and how to find opportunities that
would have otherwise been missed without reading the book. We will set up your
LinkedIn profile in a way that will maximize future employment opportunities.
Afterwards, we will cover all parts of the selection process. I will show you how to
write a great CV and Cover Letter, and will provide you with actionable advice on what
you need to do in order to perform well at interviews. Each of these sections will
contain a number of examples.

Finally, there is a complete section dedicated to the most frequently asked questions
during interviews. You will learn what these questions are and how to answer them in
order to leave a positive impression and land your dream job.

As you can see, we have lots of work ahead of us. Dive straight in! And let’s begin this
journey together!

The right way to use the book

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This is probably the most important part of this book. Whether you will do as we say in
this lesson will determine whether or not you will be successful with the book. It is as
simple as that. It is crucial that you understand how important it is to use the book as I
suggest here.

It is really important…really, really important that you take notes while you read each
section. Please, write down every good piece of advice.

It is essential to read the full book. Don’t skip any parts of it. Don’t say “Oh I will do
this, I won’t do that”, because if you want to succeed, you’ve got to follow the advice
that I give you. Only by following each of the steps that are discussed, will you achieve
complete preparation that will ultimately result in you landing your dream job.

You will obtain the best results by using the course as something more than a one-time
learning opportunity. Yes, it is important to go through the entire book at least once
before you start applying for jobs. However, I would also encourage you to re-visit the
lessons during each of the steps of the recruiting processes that you will go through.
This will ensure that you are able to apply all good ideas that you see here.

So for example, let’s say that you read the whole book now, which will provide you
with all-around expertise of how to approach job hunting as well as the main principles
that you need to apply in order to be successful. Then a few months from now, when
you apply for a job that you really want… It would be great if you come back and read
again the relevant lessons that will provide you with specific and actionable tips and
ideas.

One or two weeks later, the company will probably call you for a phone interview…and
then again, you can open the section dedicated to phone interviews. This will allow you
to ace the phone interview too.

It is our goal to be your trusted companion throughout the whole process; from the
beginning, lasting until the moment when you land your dream job.

Therefore it is important that you please do the following:

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 Take notes
 Go through the entire book
 Come back when you need a particular section

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Choosing a career that will make you happy

The importance of experience

Relevant work experience in the early stages of your career is almost as valuable as
gold. Recruiters look for people who are able to fit in right away. This is the
environment out there. It doesn’t sound very rosy, but hey, it is what it is. The best we
can do is to understand it well, have a strategy in place and be ready to execute it.

There is a principle, which holds true in 90…maybe 95% of the cases. I believe that it is
very important to understand it and keep it in mind. You have to pay your dues in
order to get a given position - you need to be ready in terms of experience and skills.

Imagine the following career path:

You graduate University, then you can find your first Internship, then comes another
Internship, you go through a tough selection process and land a graduate position with
a great company. Sounds good, right?

Usually, you will need to take each single step along the way. There are no shortcuts. If
you are lucky, you can probably find a full-time position with a single internship, but
even that is a stretch. My message here is that you have to be prepared to look at the
bigger picture. Always think in terms of future prospects. Ask yourself whether a given
opportunity will get you where you want to be. Envision your development in 5-10
years from now and think of the skills that you want to gain. Then you will be ready to
go and find the job opportunities that will take you there.

The good news is that this book is the perfect tool that will take you where you want to
be. By carefully following all of the lessons, you will be able to:

 Enlarge the pool of opportunities ahead of you

 Target the right positions

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  Manage your time efficiently
 Improve your Cover Letter & CV
 Learn how to write winning applications
 Perform successfully at job interviews

Different types of Business & Finance careers

Selecting the right career path and making informed career decisions requires reliable
information about the opportunities that a particular occupation may provide.

Frequently, many people jump into a career

path that does not enable them to achieve
their professional goals. Fortunately, you are
not going to be one of these people. In this
lesson, we’ll provide you with a description
of some of the most popular career choices
among young Business and Finance graduates.
Moreover, we recommend you start talking to
some of your senior friends who already have a job. Try to understand whether
someone is heading in an interesting direction that you would like to pursue as well.
Preliminary research is critical. It is the first step that will lead you to a fulfilling career.

Business Careers

The term Business Careers is quite generic, but for the purposes of this course as
“Business careers” we will consider all “Business careers” except for Finance careers.

Late at night, Business and Management students often ask themselves existential
questions like “What kind of career can I have with a business degree?” Well, you can’t
do brain surgery, but there are a ton of other opportunities ahead of you. Since a
business degree provides you with skills that are valuable in various types of
workplaces, you have a number of options after graduation. Here are some of them.

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Business Development
Utilize your skills and experience to solve problems, develop and execute objectives.
You will have the ability to impact short and long-term goals through market analysis
and evaluation of commercial strategy. Typical activities will include:

 Resolving financial issues

 Deal structuring
 Research of Regulatory factors
 Conduct Business analysis in strategic issues
 Conduct competitive and industry analysis

General Management involves a great deal of problem solving. You will be involved
with the decision-making process on a daily basis. Good management is about
obtaining the best possible output for a given quantity of input. Typically, you will be
assigned with responsibilities in a particular area. For example:

 Supply chain Management

 Logistics Management
 Operations Management
 Project Management

Marketing
If you enjoy growing a brand, a product, or an idea, then a career in Marketing may be
the right choice for you. Here are a few of the most common marketing positions:

 Brand Manager – ensures consistent and optimal messaging, promotions, pricing and
advertising for a particular product
 Marketing Communications Manager – manages and oversees advertising and
promotional plans
 Digital Marketing Manager – optimizes internet and social media channels for
marketing purposes. Combines traditional marketing with cutting-edge virtual
marketing practices
 Project Marketing Manager – builds the vital bridge between engineers and the
business team in tech companies

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Finance Careers

The Finance industry is multifaceted, offering a variety of positions catering to a

number of different skills and interests. Financial services include multiple sub-
industries encompassing niche opportunities. The key to individual success is to
research, find and then secure the opportunity that best matches your skills and
interests.

Corporate Finance
Every business needs people who are able to manage its money. The larger the
business, the more specialized the people working for it. The two main functions of
Corporate Finance are Accounting and Finance. Accountants balance the books, track
costs and sales and prepare financial statements. Finance professionals analyze financial
performance, provide project cost calculations and assessment on capital investments
and deals. The two divisions are usually run by the same person – the company’s CFO.

Commercial Banking
Interesting opportunities for Finance graduates. Today’s commercial banks have
significantly overgrown the traditional “deposit-taking, credit-giving” model and have
a number of functions: retail banking (lending to private individuals), corporate
banking, risk management, structured finance, cash management, etc.

Investment Banking
IB firms deliver advisory services and help their clients when they need to raise debt or
equity capital. There are a number of service lines within investment banking; however,
these are the four core areas of activity of Investment Banks:

 Capital Markets: Work with clients in order to raise debt or equity capital. Tell the
company’s story to the market and find suitable investors
 Advisory: Merger & Acquisition advice for corporate clients. Advise them on deal
feasibility, structuring, financing, etc.
 Trading and Brokerage: Trade with financial securities at own account or on behalf of
clients
 Asset Management: Invest funds that are provided by investors in a professional way

Investment Banking is certainly one of the preferred career choices for graduates today.
The competition is high, but the rewards are significant.

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Private Equity
Firms raising money from investors (high net worth individuals and institutional
investors) and making active equity investments in private companies. They collect
money and buy companies, which are later sold. A very interesting profession indeed.
Usually, PE firms tend to hire only people with 2 or 3 years of experience, but there are
some exceptions as well. I’m including this career path simply because it is a very
popular destination among finance graduates.

Consulting
Consulting offers a number of opportunities for both Business and Finance students. As
a consultant, you will work for many clients and will assist them on a specific topic.

You can specialize in Management topics (reorganization, efficiency, strategy) or

Finance topics (auditing, corporate finance services, valuation and due diligence
services, etc.).

Consulting is a very challenging career path, but offers a steep learning curve. Being
able to work with multiple firms and having to respect tight deadlines will naturally
teach you a lot.

Now that you know more about various careers in Business and Finance, try to go
deeper and learn more about those two or three types of positions that you liked the
most. Do you have any friends who work in that particular industry and who would
provide genuine information? Why not ask some of your teachers about their opinion?
Perhaps they can put you in touch with someone. Another option is to check out
various reviews and opinions at websites like Glassdoor.com.

It is true; there is no chance of knowing whether you’ll like something before actually
doing it, but it is also true that a good amount of research improves your chances
significantly.

Keep in mind where you want to get

Never lose sight, never forget where you want to get. Someone once said “you’ve got to
be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there”.
And it’s totally true. The reason for that is that in order to succeed in job hunting, you
have to make a number of small steps. And you can’t choose the right steps if you don’t
know where you are going.

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Your elective courses and internships should be carefully chosen. They should be a
signal to your future employers that you have received relevant training. An internship
in banking or in corporate finance is a great first step towards other jobs in Commercial
or Investment Banking.

If you want to be part of the graduate program of a leading firm, you will need at least a
couple of previous work experiences.

The important thing is to know where you want to get and to take steps pointed in that
direction.

Let’s give a practical example… Think of the following situation - you want to work in
marketing and you have two internship offers. The first one is in the Finance
department of an established company. By taking it, you will improve your financial
planning skills and will gain credibility for being able to handle numbers.

The other opportunity will allow you to assist the product development team of a
startup firm. You will be responsible for collecting, analyzing and reporting feedback
from the firm’s first customers.

Which one of the two jobs should you choose?

Given that in the long-term you would like to pursue a career in marketing, you should
make a decision that corresponds to that goal. The second opportunity offers an
experience that has a lot to do with marketing - product development and customer
feedback, which are cornerstones for marketing practitioners.

The main message is the following: take steps that are consistent with your goals. There
is no reason to take steps in the wrong direction if you know where you want to get.

Work on yourself

There is no better investment than investing in yourself. Seriously, dedicate some time
in order to read. Read books, articles in magazines and pay special attention to the news
that comes from the industry in which you would like to be employed. You can win an
interviewer over by showing that you understand the industry trends and are fully
aware of the latest developments that help to shape the environment.

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Be ready with a couple of recent stories, as these are some of the favorite questions of
industry practitioners. For example, if you’re doing an interview with an investment
banker you may be asked: “Could you give me an example of a recent Tech deal?” or
“What do you make of Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp? Do you think they
overpaid?” He will immediately know whether you read the news or not.

Speaking about self-development, it will be great if you show proactivity by learning a

skill that is required for the given job, but you don’t possess. Let’s say that you want to
work in Investment Banking, but don’t know how to value a company. There are a
number of well written books and online courses that you can use. And then once you
do, make sure that you emphasize how you learned that skill. It is a great answer to the
question “Give me an example of a time when you went the extra mile”.

Firms love to hire people with potential, but they love even more people who are
willing to work hard in order to develop their potential.

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The right way to find job opportunities

Target 15 to 30 Companies – Here is why

Now that you have determined the career path that best suits you, it is time to go deep
and create a list of companies that you are interested in applying to. A number of
factors can shape your decision: prestige, location, future prospects, etc.

It is important that you create a list of at least 10, but much better 15 or 20 companies
that you are interested in. Of course, you can have favorites, but applying to only a few
companies comes with significant risks. It is much better to have multiple opportunities.

Let’s play the game of numbers for a second. If you complete 20 well-written
applications, as we’ll show you how to do in one of the next sections, you will probably
be invited to sit an online test for 18 of them. If you exercise hard enough with aptitude
tests, you’ll be able to get approximately 12 phone interviews. Let’s assume that you’ll
pass 8 of these phone interviews. You’ll then be invited for 8 assessment day interviews,
where statistically, the chances of being selected are 1 in 4 (if not worse in some
situations). This leaves you with 2 job or internship offers, and you should always put
yourself in a position to have at least 2 options to choose from.

Of course, success rates during each of the described steps may vary according to a
number of factors. But the principle holds true. At the end of the day it’s a numbers
game too.

In any industry, there are at least 20 companies that are worth your attention. Especially
in today’s globalized world.

A further benefit that comes along with multiple options is that you are less concerned
mentally. Knowing that you have other opportunities is great, as it allows you to
perform at your best, as if you have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.

The standard way of finding job opportunities – online applications

Nowadays, Internet has become the official channel for finding job opportunities.
Almost all companies publish their job openings on their webpage. This holds true
especially for junior positions.

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Usually, it is very simple to navigate within these sites and find the “career” section,
where the open positions would be posted.

I’ll provide you with an example. Let’s open P&G’s site. We can immediately see a
button that links to the Career section of the site.

Here you can find some very useful information about the company (its values, brands,
testimonials from P&G employees, etc.). We are interested in job postings, so I’ll click
on “Search & Apply for Jobs”.

This is the typical Job Posting Board that you’ll find in most companies’ websites. We
have to work with the filters in order to find the relevant opportunities. I can filter by
location, by job field and by job type. For example, I’ll look for a position in the U.S.,

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which is in the “Finance & Accounting” department of the firm. The type of position
that we’re looking for is an “internship”. The system will filter according to our criteria
and we’ll be shown all opportunities that match the search.

As you can see, we are provided with a very detailed job description and a list of
qualifications that we need to possess in order to be qualified for the position. These are
very important. We’ll look at them in detail later on in the course. By clicking on
“Apply Online”, we’ll be able to start the application process. This is how we find job
opportunities on companies’ websites.

Enlarge the pool of opportunities – 6 extra Strategies

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This is something that most job applicants don’t do. There are a number of ways to find
extra opportunities and quite often the process is much simpler than with online
applications, for which you need a full day of work in order to complete well. These
channels are extremely useful for people who are looking for an “off-cycle” internship
or even placement. Most online applications run during the period October – February.

And what if it’s April and you feel like finding a new opportunity? Sit back and relax
until October? Well, that’s an option; however, given that you are determined to
succeed, you can use the following channels in order to find your next opportunity.

Career events & Job fairs

The benefit of visiting these events is twofold: companies give really nice gadgets
(you’ll have a lifetime supply of pens) and you can give your CV to a number of human
resource professionals. Some of them might need to fill a position that was not planned
earlier. Opportunities like this are an often occurrence. Talk to them and try to make a
good impression. Explain how determined you are and how much you want to work
for their company. Try to approach at least 10 or 15 HR representatives. There is a good
chance that some of them will call you back for an interview.

University job board

Keep an eye on your university’s job board, especially if you are enrolled in a school
that is well connected with employers. Sometimes, firms announce certain job openings
exclusively through the university’s job board in order to nurture their relationship.
There are students who don’t pay attention to this source of opportunity, which
immediately improves your chances. Check for interesting offers on a regular basis.
This is probably the most time-efficient channel, as you’ll likely need to submit only a
CV and Cover Letter.

Career sites

Career sites such as efinancialcareers.com, monster.com, careerbuilder.com and

glassdoor.com are another potential opportunity to submit your CV to employers.
These sites tend to be less effective than the other channels that we will discuss, but
allow you to contact a large number of employers in a short amount of time.

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LinkedIn

Many companies use LinkedIn in order to post a job today. Within the site, there is a
section called “Jobs you may be interested in”, showing these job ads. There are
relevant filtering options too. You’ll be required to apply on the company’s website for
some of the job postings; others will allow you to directly send your LinkedIn profile
and this is one of the reasons why it is important to keep a well written LinkedIn
profile. Almost all recruiters look at your LinkedIn page at some point. Check out our
lesson dedicated to LinkedIn in order to learn how to fully tweak and optimize your
profile in a way that it will maximize its impact on HR professionals.

The next two channels that we will talk about should be considered mainly by those of
you who don’t have any relevant experience. Often times, it is very difficult to source
your first experience, which would allow you to pursue bigger opportunities.
Proactivity is key in these situations. You should turn every stone and utilize your time
to the fullest rather than sit back and do nothing. So here are two very good alternatives
that would allow you to find your first relevant working experience:

Option 1 – Startup companies

Contact Startup companies – nowadays, startup companies are very trendy; an

experience with such a team would be great both for your personal development and
for your CV. Reach out to several startup projects and soon you’ll find yourself with an
offer to start. You’ll probably have a flexible role within the team, which means that if
you get the wording right, you’ll have an excellent story to tell during your future
interviews;

Option 2 – Cold Calling

Cold calling is usually done when you can’t find any other options. Even if a firm does
not list any vacancies, chances are that they can find something for you. They can use a
hand, especially if it’s free of charge or at the price of two sandwiches per day. Prepare
a well-written 100 word e-mail, attach your CV and send it off to 20-30 companies.
You’ll have even better chances of success if you accompany the e-mail with a call.
Focus on firms that don’t have a formal recruiting process – private equity funds,
boutique investment banks, small consulting firms, public entities, etc.

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Determination and pro-activity are integral when you want to find new opportunities.
Follow the advice from this lesson and you will have plenty of options to choose from.

The right way to approach application deadlines

Once you establish the companies that you would like to apply for, it is a great idea to
create a plan, even a timeline. Each company includes a deadline for its applications.
Consider the deadlines for all companies on your list and create a schedule.

Bear in mind that completing online applications is a time consuming process. You will
need 8 to 10 hours on average in order to write a good online application. You will
probably be busy with other things as well (lessons, exams, personal activities, etc.).
Therefore, it is important to plan well ahead and try to submit each application ahead of
its deadline. Very often, recruiters start filling the positions as soon as they find suitable
candidates. It is much better to be invited for an interview first when the number of
open positions is still high. Afterwards, even if you do perfectly well, you might be
rejected because fewer positions remain available.

So to sum up create a schedule and apply well ahead of deadlines. This is a secret that
would put you in front of many candidates.

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Optimizing your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn – The World’s largest Professional Network

Nowadays, everyone who will work with you and wants to learn more about you is
going to look you up on LinkedIn at some point. LinkedIn is the world’s largest
professional network and has more than 250 million members. It is a great resource for
job hunters, recruiters, employers and business owners.

Therefore, it is important to get your mindset correct about LinkedIn - a well-organized

and carefully written profile can open countless opportunities, not only locally, but
across the entire world. It is our goal in this lesson to learn how to create an effective
LinkedIn profile page and to point out some techniques that will allow you to stand out
and be distinguished among the plurality of profiles.

Let’s focus on some of the main aspects of your profile.

Photo

First off, it’s really important to choose a professional photo. No selfies allowed. This is
a social network and that is why it is important to show yourself to your contacts. Try to
select a colorful photo, in which you are smiling and wearing professional clothes.
Business casual attire would be fine.
Take a photograph of your head,
your face, but don’t choose a picture
of your whole body, as it makes
difficult to see your face and smile.
You want to be smiling in your
LinkedIn profile picture, as this
will allow you to relate to the visitors
of your profile. A smile shows that
you are a positive and pleasant
person; the type of colleague that everyone wants to work with.

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Headline

Your headline is important and here is why. One of the first things that someone who
comes across your profile will see is your headline. Make sure that it is professionally
written and that it tells people very quickly what is it that you do and maybe also what
it is that you would like to do in the future (this is something most college and
university graduates do). The use of keywords in your headline is highly recommended
as this would optimize your profile for “search”. Look at the top line of your LinkedIn
page as something that facilitates people who want to quickly learn more about you. It
should be a quick, concise statement of what you do. Something like a teaser that would
attract the reader’s interest and will hopefully stimulate him/her to go through your
entire profile.

Profile completeness

The profile completeness meter that you would see on the right side of your profile
page measures the degree of completeness of your profile. By following the steps that
are suggested on the top of the page, you can make sure that your profile is fully
complete. You will have to add
your education, work experience,
language skills, volunteer
experience, interests, certificates
and other types of relevant
information in order to complete
the profile. LinkedIn points out that
users with complete profiles are 40
times more likely to receive

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opportunities through LinkedIn. Not one, not two…but forty times! Therefore, it is
crucial to have a complete profile. Once you do, you will show up with a preferred
status in the LinkedIn search results section. This is very important because job
recruiters use LinkedIn as one of their main tools in order to find candidates. By
completing your profile, you will pop-up higher when they search for a profile that is
similar to yours.

Keywords

Let’s say that you want to find an opportunity in the field of Investment Banking.
Mergers and Acquisitions in particular. Perhaps you are open for opportunities at
boutique Investment Banks, Private Equity firms, Venture Capital firms and possibly
Internal M&A departments of large industrial companies. Many of these organizations
need a profile just like yours. What is the best way to ensure that your profile appears in
front of them when they click the “Search” button? Again, you need to optimize your
profile for LinkedIn search. It has to be keyword rich. Certain keywords are more likely
to draw the attention of recruiters, especially if they are relevant and contained in the
job description of the position that they need to fill. For the specific example that we
considered head hunters may be combining “M&A” with “Financial Modeling” or
“Financial Modeling and Valuation”, or may be “Multiples Valuation”. There are
countless variations of these keywords. Having a profile that is keyword rich means
including these keywords in your headline, summary, work experience, skills and
interest section. Keywords are the key to your LinkedIn success.

Recommendations

There is one great way to massively boost the credibility of your profile – and that is by
getting recommended. This is precisely the type of social proof that your profile’s
visitors are looking for. If one of your current or previous colleagues is ready to vouch
for you, this is excellent for your profile. In order to get recommendations on LinkedIn,
you need to ask for them. There is no other way around it. It is highly unlikely that
people will write recommendations on their own initiative. You have to be proactive
and ask nicely whether the person can write about 3 or 4 concise sentences that describe
your professional skills and attitude. Having several recommendations will make you
look like a premium person in your industry; someone who relates well with his
colleagues. This is something that job recruiters are always looking for.

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Convey your success not your responsibilities

Try to sound excited and proud when you write your LinkedIn resume. Excited about
what is ahead of you and proud about the accomplishments you achieved in the past.
Don’t talk about your duties and responsibilities in any past work experiences, but
instead “sell” what you did as accomplishments that you managed to achieve. Besides
everything else, your LinkedIn profile is a marketing brochure of yourself. A good
salesman will always focus on a product’s positives and will be excited when talking
about them.

Gain credit by association

LinkedIn offers you several ways to gain credit by association. Take advantage of that.
You can list your interests, join a particular group of interests and fill in information
about your volunteer experience. Look at these fields as a door of opportunity. Not only
will they complete your profile and improve its search ranking, but they might also
draw a reader’s attention. One out of four Hiring Managers said that they hired
somebody who had similar volunteer experience. Don’t be shy to list all of your
experiences, even if they did not include payment. The same goes with interests. If you
have similar interests with someone, it is much more likely that he will be interested in
learning more about you. Take full advantage of this feature, given that you will need
just 10 or 15 minutes in order to complete this information.

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Conclusion

LinkedIn is a great opportunity to showcase your professional qualities in front of

recruiters, colleagues, employers and friends. The advice provided in this lesson will
help you utilize it to the fullest. Make sure that you follow all of the recommended steps
and enjoy the rest of your networking experience!

Creating a LinkedIn URL that fits on a Resume

It is very important to create a custom URL for your LinkedIn profile.

If your Resume lands on the desk of an employer, they will look you up on LinkedIn. If
you don’t tell them where to find you, it might be difficult for them to do it and they are
not going to spend a lot of time trying to do that. They are going to look just at your
Resume.

Please include your LinkedIn profile in your Resume as it is an essential tool of your job
search marketing materials.

Bear in mind that before customizing it, the LinkedIn URL is a combination of some
random numbers and letters. Now, once we’ve changed it, we can insert our full name,
which makes the profile much easier to find and to include in a Resume.

25
Online applications – It’s go time

How to research a company before applying & interviewing

A fundamental mistake made by some job applicants is their lack of knowledge about
the company they are applying for. It definitely shows when a person who’s answering
questions has spent several hours in order to understand:

 The essence of the company’s business

 Its product portfolio
 Its competitors
 The latest developments in the industry where the company operates, etc.

Detailed research is important because:

It shows recruiters that you are motivated for the position and it means that you have a
good work ethic and are willing to make the extra effort.

The best way to conduct your research is to go through the company’s website where
you can learn about its products, mission, recent important events, etc. It is always
worth downloading the latest financial report from the “Investor Relations” section.
There you can read the management’s take on future developments in the company’s
business and get an idea about the numbers achieved by the firm.

Wikipedia is another great source where you can learn more about the history of the
company.

Nowadays, almost all companies publish a Corporate Social Responsibility Report.

Download it and take a look. It will contain information about the firm’s charity
campaigns, environmental relief efforts and ethical values. This is a great way to learn
more about the culture that you will be joining, and to impress recruiters by providing
specific examples of non-profit efforts on behalf of the company that impressed you.

Extensive company research is key when it comes to writing a good cover letter,
answering application questions, and most importantly interviewing for the company.
Be sure to take notes while researching the company. Given that there is a time gap
between different stages of the selection process, you’ll be able to use these notes and

26
save a lot of time later on in the selection process. This would also enable you to read
the takeaways multiple times.

Job Description: An applicant’s handbook

A big mistake that is made by many, many applicants is to neglect the job description.

A job description, or position description, is a written statement explaining why a job

exists, and what the necessary qualities and qualifications of successful candidates are.

This is a very useful piece of information for candidates. You are able to understand
what type of person the company is looking for. First of all, ask yourself whether the
role that is described suits your aspirations. If it does, think of examples that show you
are the right person. If the job description mentions that the company is looking for a
team player, think of good examples when you worked with a group of people. You
should be able to answer to questions like “Do you work well with other people?”,
“How do you relate with others?” and “Give me an example of a time when you
worked with a team.” And accordingly, if the company is looking for a detail-oriented
person, you should try to emphasize your attention to detail with a few good examples.

Try to address the most important points of the job description in your CV and cover
letter. Practical examples go a long way. Talk about your motivation and explain that
you are the right candidate because your profile corresponds to the one that they
described.

By carefully reading the job description, you’ll be able to go a step further and imagine
yourself doing the job that is described. This is very good for two reasons.

1) You can carefully consider whether the job is a good fit for your career plan. Is this
position going to take you to where you want to be? Is it challenging? Are you going
to learn and grow professionally?
2) Imagine your duties and think of some questions that you might have. Showing that
you picture yourself doing the job highlights your interest in the position. This is a
very positive signal for HRs.

I’ll tell you a secret, but please keep it between us. Many, many HRs prepare for an
interview by looking at the job description. The questions that they ask are perfectly

27
aligned with the profile that is described and aim to determine whether you fit that
profile. Now that you think about it, it sounds pretty logical, right?

Yet so many people forget this. The best thing that you can do is to look at the job
description and make a list of questions that you will probably be asked. Then you can
prepare answers that will show you in the right light. If, for example, the job description
indicates that the company is looking for a proactive person, you can think of stories
when you demonstrated initiative, like founding a group of interests at school, starting
a summer business, raising funds for charity….

The important thing is that you understand which qualities the interviewer is looking
for and that you have good examples in mind.

Effective Time Management

Being determined to apply to 15 or 20 companies means that you will spend a

significant amount of time filling online application forms in. Let’s break down the
structure of a common online application and try to assess how much time it requires.

 Registration – 5 minutes
 Personal Information section – about 10 minutes
 Education & job experience sections – 15 minutes (you can use your CV in order to
fill in your previous job experience)
 Answering application questions (700 words) – approximately 2 hours
 Preparing a company-specific CV – 1 hour
 Preparing a company-specific cover letter – 1 hour
 Online aptitude tests – approximately 2 hours
 Proofreading your answers – 1 hour

That’s approximately seven and a half hours. This is a whole day of work. Given that
you will likely have pressure to do other things while you are submitting applications
(school, social life, etc.), it is very important to manage the whole process very well.

Try to spend the same amount of time on each application. If it’s on your list, it deserves
your time. Why would you rush without making the necessary effort?

Spending too much time on a given application contains risks as well. You risk missing
some of the deadlines or submitting applications rather late. Eight to ten hours is the

28
optimal amount of time that would allow you to work carefully and remain efficient at
the same time.

Proofreading

In a fiercely competitive labor market, hiring managers don’t compromise on quality.

All it takes is one small mistake and a manager will reject an otherwise interesting
candidate. It seems rather obvious, but the most frequent mistakes are typos and
language inconsistency (especially for non-native speakers). People who work hard on
their resumes are vulnerable to these errors as they often result from last-minute
corrections.

Typos are deadly, because employers consider them as lack of detail-orientation, as if

you don’t care about the quality of your work.

How do you fix this mistake?

Proofreading helps a lot, especially if it’s done by someone else. You can have a friend
or a relative proofread your work. They will spot mistakes that you are not likely to see.

If you are not a native English speaker or you can’t find anyone to proofread your
work, you can do it online. It will cost as low as $5 for having someone who will go
through your resume. Fiverr.com for example will allow you to find a native speaker
who will proofread 1,000 words of your writing in 24 hours for $5. There are, of course,
more specialized sites where you’ll be guaranteed higher quality (multiple
professionals reading your documents, guarantees for quality, etc.), but you will need to
pay more.

For example, “Cambridge Proofreading” is another alternative. They charge $19 per
1,000 words and promise a 24-hour turnaround time.

My advice is to use professional proofreading services if you can afford it. I’ll say it
again, this is especially true for non-native English speakers. The return on investment
is significant.

Make sure that everything you submit is mistake free: CVs, cover letters, answers to
application questions, e-mails.

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This is one of the fastest ways to gain an advantage over other candidates. 50% of them
will make this mistake. You won’t.

I’d like to share with you another great routine that has worked really well for me in the
past. You can improve the quality of your writing significantly by… waiting for a day
and re-reading what you wrote. It makes sense to clear your head and come back after a
day. It’s really beneficial. You can simply edit the parts that sound strange.

The two main outtakes of this lesson are:

 Do everything you can in order to prevent typos;

 Wait for a day before submitting freshly-written text.

Aptitude tests

Aptitude tests are widely implemented by companies. Given the large number of
applications that they receive, top firms use aptitude tests as an initial screening
method. Candidates who fail to pass a certain threshold are not advanced to the next
stage of selection. So, I’m sure you understand how critical it is that you perform
sufficiently well in this part of the selection process.

The typical types of tests that employers will give you are Numerical Reasoning,
Logical Reasoning and less frequently Personality and Verbal tests.

The good news is that you can significantly improve your test scores by practicing hard.
People who have solved multiple aptitude tests of a given type improve their scoring
significantly. This occurs for a number of reasons:

 First of all, you become familiar with the format of questions;

 You are also able to improve your timing;
 Having solved a number of tests allows you to learn from past mistakes. Most tests
are very similar to each other and once you learn how to solve a given type of
question, you’ll be able to do that on a consistent basis.

Practicing is key for aptitude tests. There’s no easy way around it. But then again, why
not invest 20 hours of your time in training before you start sitting the actual online
tests? You’ll improve your test results by at least 20%.

30
Many companies will ask you to sit the aptitude tests again when you are invited into
their office for an interview. Try to refresh your skills by solving several tests before
“Interview Day”.

That is it for this lesson. Keep working hard and remember – victory is for the prepared.

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Writing the perfect Resume

Resume writing - Introduction

In this book we will treat resumes and CVs as the same thing – a summary of a person’s
academic and professional history.

The main function of a resume is to get you past the first screen and into an interview.
However, given that recruiters go through hundreds of resumes per day, this is not an
easy task after all.

As we already mentioned, a single typo or mistake is enough to ruin an otherwise

interesting application. In this section of the book we will cover some of the best
practices that you should implement in your resume. We’ll also describe some of the
mistakes that are commonly made by many candidates.

Putting together a successful resume is easy, but only once you know how to do it. It’s
about taking all your skills and experience and showing that they are relevant for the
job you are applying for.

After this section, you’ll be able to create a resume that stimulates the recruiter’s
attention and gives them every reason to call you for an interview.

First impressions are important – Formatting considerations

It is rather difficult to choose the format of your resume.

Some candidates use standard one page templates,
which are well organized and structured. The slight
setback is that 90% of people use these templates.
This does not mean that they are not good, but it
raises the question whether submitting a resume that
is like everybody else’s makes you standout.

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There is another option too - using a resume that
contains more formatting and goes slightly beyond
Microsoft Word’s basic capabilities. The template
that you see on the right has been created in Microsoft
PowerPoint.

Here is the dilemma.

Which one of them should you use? They both look
professional and well organized. The difference is that
the first one contains few formatting elements, while
the second one is a bit more appealing to the eye and makes an immediate impression.
Let’s consider some of the factors that will shape your decision:
First of all it is, important to consider the type of job that you are applying for: certain
positions are associated with more creativity than others (for example Marketing
professionals are expected to show creativity, while Accountants are not).

Another factor is the way you submit your application: Most recruiters are not used to
receiving resumes in PowerPoint. That is why you need to convert it to PDF, which can
be a bit problematic. If you submit your application online, then it is very likely that it
will be screened by an Applicant Tracking System. Research shows that 95% of
companies use an ATS and it’s vital to have a resume that is easily readable by such
system. This is not the case with either PDF or PowerPoint files.

The type of resume template that you will use is up to your own discretion. If you want
to be a little bit more aggressive, you can use the PowerPoint template.

I highly recommend you to use a standard Word template for all of your online
applications that are submitted at the company’s website, because there is a good
chance that a PowerPoint or a PDF file would not be read properly by the Applicant
Tracking System.

For the situations when you submit your Resume in person or via e-mail, it is up to
your own discretion to choose, but I personally prefer to use something very similar to
the PowerPoint template that we see here, as it makes a stronger impression.

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Resume Do’s: Prove techniques used by successful candidates

There is little room for innovation when you prepare your resume. Recruiters are used
to seeing more or less the same structure and expect you to adhere to that. In this
lesson, we’ll go through some of the best practices that will help you create a great
resume.

The number one rule is: “Keep it concise”. You don’t want to irritate the person who
will read your resume before he’s actually read a single word. In most cases, junior
candidates are expected to submit a single page resume. Remember that point very
well. Some recruiters would go as far as to only read 1 page resumes. Write clear
sentences that express the point and one page should be enough to fit your relevant
achievements, if you have less than 5 years of work experience.

It is important to keep your resume updated. Imagine the following situation: you’re at
an interview, telling that you enjoy participating in your university’s investment club.
The interviewer looks at your resume (as usually happens) and points out that this is
not written in your resume. Then you would have to explain that you joined the club a
few months ago and hence the resume does not contain such recent information. What
do you think the recruiter would think? Yes, he’ll probably wonder why you did not
submit an updated resume. Was it because of lack of interest in the position? Or
because you are not a detail-oriented person? In both cases, that’s not a very good
impression to portray. Keep your resume updated in order to avoid a similar situation.

We already talked about the importance of job descriptions. Well, this is your first
chance to stand out from the crowd. Make an impression by following this unique plan
of action:

 Read the job description well and create a list of key words that describe the perfect
candidate.
 Adapt your resume accordingly; you should customize your resume for each
company that you are applying to.
 Optimize your resume for SEO purposes. Yeah, that’s right. Many recruiters filter
resumes by keywords. Make sure that your resume contains keywords that are part
of the job description.

34
Generic resumes that you send to all companies aren’t a good idea. You can attract
attention much more easily if your resume is tailored according to the position that you
are applying for. This would give you the possibility of emphasizing one or two strong
selling points that are specifically valid for the job that you are applying for. For
example, let’s say that you are applying for a job with a company that is known for its
team oriented culture. You can include several specific examples that show you worked
with groups of people and you value teamwork. Your generic resume does not contain
this information. Are you going to attract attention if you insert it? Yes. The best thing
that you can do is to adjust your resume for every position you are applying to; it may
take longer, but each application will be much more personalized.

A very efficient way of standing out and making an impression is to quantify your
achievements. Provide proof to the readers of your resume that you achieved
something important. It will make a positive impression. Everyone likes concrete facts.
Start with an active verb, measure what you accomplished, provide a baseline for your
comparison and specify what you did to achieve your goal. Consider the following two
descriptions:

“Graduated from the London School of Economics with excellent grades”

“Graduated from the London School of Economics with an excellent degree, in the top
10% of a class of 120; accomplished through performance in Financial Math, Corporate
Finance, Accounting and other subjects.” The second one is better, right? Specifying that
you were in the top 10% makes the statement more powerful. Adding “120” anticipates
the reviewer’s question whether 10% is significant or not. Explaining that you excelled
in certain subjects emphasizes your strengths. So keep that in mind and try to think
how you can quantify your achievements. You can always use the following formula:

 Achievement +
 Numerical Measurement of the achievement +
 Efforts in order to accomplish the achievement

The “Interests” section of a resume is more important than most people think. In the
first place it tells a lot about your personality. Are your interests passive or active?
“Watching movies, going outside with friends, playing video games” against “traveling
to new places, participating in chess tournaments, and co-founder of my college’s
Investments club.” The second set of interests sounds better, right? It involves group

35
activities, shows leadership and intellectual qualities and gives a more favorable hint
about the person’s personality. It is not as generic as the first one. Everybody likes to
watch movies and play video games. Try to think of something that separates you from
the crowd. If you played any sports, I highly recommend you to add that to your
interests. People who were trained in a given sport tend to be outgoing and disciplined.
Moreover, it is very likely that some of your interviewers played that sport as well, and
this automatically creates a connection. People tend to like other people who are similar
to them. The truth is that top executives don’t just want someone who’s qualified for the
job; they also want someone who will be interesting to spend time around with. The
“Interests” section is a great opportunity to find a common topic.

Some employers ask for references. They want to learn first-hand how you performed
and what the impression is that you made at one of your previous jobs. Ideally, you
managed to relate to a high-ranking person and that person is ready to vouch for you.
Anyone with the word “manager” in his job title will do the trick. One thing that you
should always, always do is to talk with the person before listing them as a contact of
reference. You don’t want them to be surprised by the call from your interviewers. It
can give a bad impression. Usually, most people write something like “References
Available upon Request” at the end of their resume. That should work pretty good for
you, as there is no need to list your references if the person who’s reading the resume
does not need to contact them.

Make sure that you keep in mind these guidelines when you prepare your resumes. All
of the recommendations are valid, specific and easy to implement. You will be head and
shoulders above average candidates.

Resume Don’ts: Mistakes that you have to avoid

Sending a resume in which you’ve indicated your e-mail address as

“threaldeal@gmail.com”, or “hotchocolate90@yahoo.com”, is probably one of the worst
ways to present yourself to a professional organization that you want to work for.
However, this is quite obvious, right? Let’s take a look at some of the other things that
you shouldn’t do when you write a resume.

Some recruiters will look at your resume for just six second. They have to process
hundreds of resumes and that is why they have to make a quick decision. They’ll test
whether your resume meets their initial criteria:

36
 Good formatting
 Easy to read
 Not too much information

Given that you are applying for a job in Business or Finance, your focus should be on
having a clean and well-organized resume format. Use a professional font that
recruiters are used to seeing (Arial, Cambria, Calibri, etc.). The font size that you use
should be at least 10.Don’t submit a document that is difficult to read. Try to avoid
complex structures, but instead organize the text in a clear way, using appropriate
headings. Bullet points go a long way with most people, as they allow them to easily
comprehend each point that is being made.

A common mistake that many people make is to write too much. Don’t do that. Leave
enough empty space. Try to be concise and to the point. There is no need to write for
the sake of submitting a full page. Every point that you make should be relevant and
should demonstrate your qualifications for the job. Keep it simple and relevant.

Another deal-breaker for some HRs can be missing information. Leaving off your home
address for example can raise some questions. Many employers prefer to hire people
who already live in the city or country where the job is located (especially if work
permits are involved). Missing information about the beginning or ending of college
education is another type of “omission” error that you should be careful of avoiding. It
immediately sends a signal that you probably studied for longer than expected. So in
general, you should always include relevant contact, work eligibility, education and
work experience information. Otherwise, you risk being judged unfavorably.

A person should never lie in his or her resume. There are so many reasons for that. If
you are honest, you’ll be OK with any type of questions that you’ll be asked. If instead
there is something that is not correct in a resume, that person will be worried all the
time whether he or she will be asked about it. It’s not worth it. And even if he/she
passes selection, he or she will be exposed to the risk of being fired throughout his
whole career at the firm. Everyone gets fired for lies in their resumes (ask former Yahoo
CEO Scott Thompson, for example).

Typos are probably in the top 3 deal-breaking mistakes that you can make. A
careerbuilder.com survey carried out in 2013 revealed that 58% of resumes have typos.
Can you imagine that? 58%! You can better more than half of the people who are

37
applying by submitting a typo-free resume. Read your resume carefully and have
someone else read it for you. You need to be certain that it is ready to be sent.

Your resume is a very short document. Make sure that you don’t use the same
expressions multiple times. It shows a limited vocabulary and a lack of attention to
detail. If you struggle to find good expressions, why don’t you go through some
LinkedIn profiles and see how other professionals organized their wording in order to
describe similar experiences? LinkedIn is an excellent reference point for comparing
your resume language with that of other candidates.

Research shows that recruiters respond more favorably to resumes that are
accomplishment-driven rather than duty-driven. Expressions like “duties”,
“responsibilities”, “responsible for” are typical for job descriptions. Use your resume as
a selling point – talk about accomplishments, achievements, a proven track record, etc.
Substitute the “duties” list with facts about how you managed to:

 Make money
 Save money
 Learn
 Save time
 Make work easier
 Solve a problem
 Build relationships
 Attract customers

Confidentiality is a sensitive matter that you should be careful about, especially if you
have previous work experience. If you worked for an investment bank or a consulting
firm, which has a strict confidentiality policy that client names should not be shared,
don’t give any information about your clients’ identity. Any hints like addresses,
rankings, or popularity are not recommended as well. Employers can judge you
negatively if you do, and will never hire such candidates unless they want their own
secrets to be revealed to their competitors.

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Using professional resume writing services – important considerations

You should know that there is an alternative way that you can choose, when you have
to write your resume. In fact, some people with less experience prefer to adopt this
approach.

You can always hire a professional firm online that will write your resume. Fees may
vary from $50$ to $250, depending on the type and the quality of service that you need.
You’ll have to submit the relevant information about yourself and the firm will deliver a
resume. You should carry out detailed research on the internet, as you have to pick the
right firm that can provide a quality service.

Here are the Pros of using professional services:

 The format of your resume is going to be professional.

 You don’t have to worry too much about typos and proofreading (if the firm is a
good one).
 The people who wrote your resume know how to structure the information they
receive.

But there are some downsides as well:

 You and only you can tell the best story about you.
 You’ll be reluctant to modify the resume for different job applications, but you
need to do that.
 At the end of the day, resume writing can be a rather expensive service.

Once I received a resume, for which I paid 50 pounds. It had a good format, but was too
cluttered and full of information. I had 0% success with it. So even when you pay for
resume writing services, you risk ending up with a bad product.

Resume writing companies offer an additional service, which can be a way in between
writing your resume alone and hiring a professional to do it for you. You can still write
your own resume, applying the principles that we learned here, and then once you are
ready, you can submit it for “review” to a professional firm. It is much cheaper, and you
will receive notes with areas that they think you should improve. You will be the one
deciding whether or not to go through with the suggested corrections.

39
Successful Cover Letter writing

Cover Letter writing - Introduction

Cover Letters go hand-in-hand with your resume. Consider them as an extra chance to
explain to your future employers that you are the right candidate that they are looking
for, that you want to work for their company and that there are specific ways in which
the firm will benefit by having you on board. Writing a solid Cover Letter is a time-
consuming task. You should be well aware of that fact. You should also be aware that
many people commit serious mistakes when writing their Cover Letters. And this is an
opportunity to beat the competition.

Here we will go through some proven techniques that will enhance the quality of your
Cover Letter. We’ll discuss a number of mistakes that you should avoid. The content of
this section will help you make another decisive step towards the ultimate goal -
landing your dream job.

Cover Letter Do’s: Proven techniques used by successful candidates

Many online articles give good ideas on how to write a quality Cover Letter. Very few,
if any, provide you with actionable advice and guide you through the entire structure of
your Cover Letter. We’ll try to do exactly that here. This extract will teach you how to
create a great Cover Letter that will reinforce the strong impact of your CV.

The first point that needs to be made when we talk about a high-quality Cover Letter is
that you need to write a separate letter for each company that you apply to. You can
start by using a general structure, but it needs to be reshaped significantly. Remember,
human resource departments read hundreds of Cover Letters and are able to spot a
generic one instantly. In most cases, a generic Cover Letter will be judged as a lack of
interest and unwillingness to go the extra mile, and hence, it will be seen as a deal
breaker. This is very important. Make the necessary effort that will show to recruiters
that you are really interested in the given opportunity.

When you want to make a strong selling point and demonstrate that you are interested
in a given opportunity, you need to show that you performed some research before
sending your CV and Cover Letter. Making a reference to a company’s recent
acquisition, product portfolio expansion or industry dynamics will impress the readers

40
of your Cover Letter. Consider the following statement: “A report claims Wells Fargo
has at least 700 employees who are involved with innovation. As a result of this, the
bank is ready to offer its customers cutting edge financial products. I will be a perfect fit
for Well Fargo’s strong innovation culture. I embrace change and new challenges and
would like to be part of Wells Fargo’s dynamic and stimulating environment.” It makes
a strong point, right? By performing research, you will be able to specifically point out
why you will be a great fit for the company’s business and culture.

Now, let’s talk about the structure of the document. Whatever you do, make sure that
it’s not longer than a single page. The truth is that recruiters don’t have time to read
longer content. Keep it concise and relevant. The complete Cover Letter should include
4 or 5 paragraphs at most – an opening statement, 2 examples, which show that you are
right for the job and a closing statement.

Don’t wait for the second part of the Cover Letter in order to use your power statements
– start from the beginning. You want to grab the reader’s attention right away. Generic
and protocol statements like “I am writing to you regarding the position of Business
Analyst” won’t do the job. Instead, try to include an active statement that gives a valid
reason as to why you are the candidate they are looking for: “An excellent academic
track record and genuine interest for marketing make me the perfect candidate for this
position”. The opening statement can attract the reader’s attention by:

 Indicating why you want to work for that specific company

 What makes you suitable for the advertised job
 How you are going to meet the company’s needs

Choose the option that would allow you to make the most powerful statement and then
address the two topics immediately after.

This should be sufficient for the first paragraph of your Cover Letter. The second and
third paragraphs will be the body of the letter. You should use them in order to explain
your qualifications and prove that your skills complement exactly what the employer is
looking for, providing specific examples for that.

Use the job description as your main guideline. Similarly to what we saw for CVs,
although here you will have the chance of providing information and stating how your

41
experience makes you suitable for the given position. A very good method that you can
apply is the following:

 Read the job description

 In one column, write the qualifications and personal traits that are described
 In a second column, write (right next to the first one) proof that you are the right
person for the job

For example:

Job description requests for a “Bachelor’s degree in Business”, and you can state
“Excellent academic track record – graduated in the top 10% of Brandies Business
School (in a class of 60)”.

Here is another example. The company needs a proactive person. You can prove that
you are right for the job with the following statement “Co-founded a charity club with
34 members that has generated over $35,000 in 2 years”.

By carefully addressing key points of the job description, you’ll attract the human
resource department’s attention, because … after all, this is precisely what they are
looking for. A generic Cover Letter would never include these details; make sure that
you use this as your advantage.

Numerical examples are simply great. They are interesting, eye catching and to the
point. You’ll grab your reviewer’s attention by providing numerical proof of the
accomplishments that you listed. Try to do that whenever possible as it will greatly
enhance your chances of being noticed.

Your closing statement (4th or 5th paragraph) should be a powerful one. Try to use a
phrase that sounds positive and reaffirms that you are suitable for the job. For example,
if you are applying for an internship and you have no previous experience you can say
the following: “Having in mind the competences required for the summer internship
position offered by Barclays, I am a suitable candidate. My excellent academic record
demonstrates my commitment and dedication. I am ready to build the bridge between
theoretical knowledge and practical application and am eager to deliver an excellent
performance during my summer internship with Barclays”. A few important points
about this statement:

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 Keeps attention away from the lack of work experience
 Focuses on academic background
 States that he is eager to deliver a strong performance for the company
 Cites commitment and dedication (two of the most important drivers for successful
performance)

Try to be proactive at the end of your Cover Letter. If you have the telephone number or
e-mail of the Hiring Manager, write that you will follow-up in a few days and then
don’t forget to do precisely that. This will improve your chances for two reasons.

1) You will demonstrate that you are a proactive person

2) You will show sincere interest in the job opportunity

Cover Letter Don’ts: Mistakes that you have to avoid

There are many things that can go wrong when you write a Cover Letter. Some of them
are more subtle than others, but that does not mean they can’t ruin your application. In
this lesson, we will discuss these practices, and we’ll make sure that you avoid them in
all Cover Letters that you write in the future.

It’s very similar to what we said for CVs. You should never use a single Cover Letter
that you send to all companies. That’s not the way to go, especially not if you want to
demonstrate interest, dedication, motivation and willingness to go the extra mile.
Instead, you can start from a well written template for a similar job, but then you
should customize it significantly for each application. It should mirror the job
description and contain company-specific observations.

Cover Letters that are longer than a page don’t make a good impression. There is no
need to write more. You should just focus on explaining why you are the perfect
candidate for the job in 4 or 5 short paragraphs.

The first few sentences are extremely important, because they will either win or lose the
reader’s attention. Don’t postpone an explanation why you’re the perfect candidate for
the job. Start with a punch line: “A six month internship in M&A and an excellent
academic track record make me the perfect candidate for Morgan Stanley’s Investment
Banking Division”. Many people instead start with “I am writing regarding the open
position in your Investment Banking Division”. Don’t do that. It will mean nothing for
the reviewer.

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Don’t repeat your resume in your Cover Letter. Use your Cover Letter to describe
additional details that you weren’t able to squeeze out onto the single page of your
resume. By using full sentences instead of bullet points, you can expand your resume
points and explain clearly why you are the perfect fit for the company. If your Cover
Letter is a mere copy of the resume, why even bother submitting two documents in the
first place?

A frequent mistake, and yet not even recognized as a mistake, is focusing on what the
company will do for you – “I am excited about the possibility to work for your
company as it would allow me to grow and learn from the best professionals in the
industry”.

However, the thing is that recruiters want to learn how you will be useful to the
company; what skills separate you from the rest of the candidates. “I am curious in
nature and eager to learn and work on myself. This makes me a great fit for your firm,
as it is known for its culture of innovation”. Sounds better, right?

Another thing that you should be careful about when writing your Cover Letter is
overusing the word “I”. There are a couple of reasons for that:

 You may come across as arrogant or self-centered

 Recruiters won’t see you as the perfect team player

The fix? Try to use “I” once per paragraph and highlight that you are a team player-
you can do your part and enjoy cooperating with others.

Don’t use clichés. Your Cover Letter will sound exactly like everybody else’s and you
will miss an opportunity to shine. You can do better than writing “I would like to apply
for a job at…”, “I think I am the perfect candidate for this position”, “I am a detail-
oriented team player”. All of these statements are written in thousands of Cover Letters.
Make sure yours is different. Talk with your own words. Be concrete and use examples.
This will make the difference.

Thanking the person who reads your Cover Letter for his/her time and consideration is
not a waste of blank space. On the contrary, don’t forget to do that. Given that the
hiring manager probably received hundreds of Cover Letters, it is always good to
appreciate his/her efforts. The same way as he/she appreciates the fact that you spent
several hours writing a Cover Letter and a CV.

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As we already mentioned, you need to be sure that the spelling and grammar of your
letter are impeccable. Don’t take the chance of submitting a Cover Letter that is not
proofread. After you finish, read your work carefully and concentrate on finding typos
and grammar mistakes. The best thing you can do afterwards is to ask a third person to
go through your letter as well. Proofreading pays off as 58% of CVs and Cover Letters
contain typos. If you manage to overcome that, you will be among the 42% who have a
significantly better chance of consequently being selected.

Addressing your Cover Letter

Addressing the Cover Letter can be a difficult task. Nobody likes to write “Dear Sir or
Madam”, but there are many situations when it seems that you don’t have a choice. For
example, you can be filling an online application for a huge company that has hundreds
of human resource staff. In that case you can type “Dear Hiring Manager” or “Dear
Sir/Madam”, as there is no way of possibly knowing who will read your Cover Letter.

In other situations, it is possible to find out who will be reading your letter. If you are
applying at a smaller firm or have a contact of reference, you should make an effort in
order to find out the name of the person who will read your Cover Letter and address it
to them. A simple phone call at the firm’s reception can provide you with the necessary
information. This will really make you stand out, as other candidates will almost never
do this.

What if the Cover Letter was optional?

Some job ads or hiring managers will test you and will tell you that a Cover Letter is not
compulsory. They want to see whether you are ready to pay your dues and how
motivated you are for the job when put under consideration. By sending a Cover Letter,
you will make a clear statement – “I care for this job and this is why I spent 3 extra
hours writing a quality Cover Letter, even though it was not necessary. This shows how
much I want this position.”

So my advice is to include a Cover Letter even when it is optional. Your CV and Cover
Letter go hand-in-hand. If one leaves home, the other one follows. Remember, these
extra efforts are what ultimately make the difference between being successful and
failing to get that dream job that you always wanted.

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Ace your Phone Interviews

What to do on a phone Interview

The step that separates you from walking into the company’s offices wearing a sharp
suit is the phone interview. You have to make a good enough impression so that the
company would like to see you in person.

Phone interviews allow employers to screen potential employees without committing

valuable resources in order to organize an on-site interview.

It takes a few weeks before you receive a response for one of the applications that you
submitted. Now that you have gone through this course, you will probably be
advanced to the next stage of selection; phone interviews.

It is very important to fully read the e-mail that you receive. It contains valuable
information that can give you great insight regarding the future interview. Sometimes
you will receive a phone call that will schedule the interview. If that happens, make
sure that you ask what the interview is going to be about - whether you have to prepare
for any technical questions, etc.

And make no mistake about it; a phone interview is an interview. You need to prepare
for it. It’s important to spend enough time researching the company and the position
you are applying for. However, before we get on to that, I would like to advise you on a
few important matters concerning your phone interview:

 Use a good phone - It is very important to fully understand the other person and that
he/she can hear you as well. Make sure that this is the case with the phone you use; if
you have any doubts about it, ask a friend for his phone or take the call from your
domestic phone
 Make sure that you have battery – Once I interviewed with a very important
Investment Bank and my battery fell and although we continued the conversation 15
minutes later, you can imagine the kind of impression that this whole scene
produced
 Control your environment – It is absolutely critical that you receive the call in a silent
room that allows you to concentrate on the interview; otherwise, you risk being
distracted and losing your focus

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 Stay calm – this is the tough part, especially when you want the job you are
interviewing for. Preparation and practice are the best cure. Write-down several
questions that you are likely to come across during the interview and practice
providing the answers to these questions. Answering familiar questions will be less
stressful. Another thing that has worked really well for me is taking a few very deep
breaths before answering and trying to smile during the interview. There are two
reasons for that: first, the phone interview is an experience and I want to enjoy it
(regardless of the fact that it’s stressful) and second, I believe that a smiling person
sounds better on the other end of the phone, which has a great impact on the overall
impression that the interviewer will have.

How to end your Phone Interview

Once you have answered the interviewer’s questions, he will ask you whether you have
any questions that you would like to ask. You should be prepared for this. In fact, you
can include a fourth topic in your cheat sheets – “my questions”. You will make a great
impression if you manage to show interest in the job by asking thoughtful questions.
For example, you may ask “Can you please describe to me the team I will be working
with?” or “What makes for a great employee at the position under consideration?”
These questions will do the trick. They show you are highly interested in the job. The
fact that you ask about the team shows that you are not self-centered and imagine
yourself working within a team, which is very good. Asking what makes for a great
employee means you are interested in becoming one and by coincidence or not, this is
precisely what the interviewer is looking for.

In case you have the e-mail of the person who interviewed you, it is highly
recommended that you write a short thank you note after the interview.

Basically, you should thank the interviewer for his/her time and express interest in the
position that you discussed. You should know that you won’t necessarily get an e-mail
reply. Be patient and wait for the results from your interview to come in. A follow-up e-
mail is a good way to make an impression, given that many candidates don’t send one.

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On-site Interviews: Assessment Day preparation

Introduction

You have done great so far. You passed successfully several screening rounds: an online
application, Resume and Cover Letter screening, aptitude tests and a phone interview.
So far so good. You landed the interview. Does that mean you will be hired? No. But
your chances are pretty good at this point.

In this section, we will discuss live interviews and will try to shape a strategy that will
allow you to make a great impression and land an offer. Sounds exciting, right?
Interviewing well is a skill that you can learn. It’s a combination of know-how and
intricate preparation.

First, we will start by discussing “etiquette” - nothing too fancy, just some basic
concepts that are pretty straightforward. Then we will go through the various forms a
live interview can have:

 1:1 interview
 Panel interview
 Group interview
 Case Interview

Once we know what to expect during these types of interviews, we will learn how to
cope with them successfully.

Interview etiquette tips – Code of conduct for Interviews

There are several things that fall into this category. Basically, you want to make sure
that all external signs about your usual behavior speak in your favor.

Be on time

Make no mistake about it. Being late for a job interview blows any chance of getting the
job. Punctuality is a great virtue in the working world. So, when Interview Day
approaches, you need to make sure of two things:

 Knowing where the company’s office is located

 Leaving plenty of time to get there

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Dress sharp

Hawaii shirts and short trousers are cool…when you are at the seaside. Everybody
would expect you to wear professional clothes. A suit with a white or a light blue shirt
plus a tie for men and a suit or a professional dress for women. The thing is that
Business and Finance professionals are often judged based on how they look. Clothing
has an effect on both the wearer and the observer. Studies show that people are more
likely to give money or information to someone if that person is well dressed. So yes,
dressing as a Finance professional is important, especially if you want to become one.

Turn off your cell phone

It goes without saying that you should turn off your phone during the interview.
Imagine how awkward it would be if the annoying “Facebook message” sound
continually interrupted one of your answers during the interview.

Body language

An important part of the overall impression that you will make during the interview.
Once the interviewer greets you, it is game time. Offer a palm-to-palm handshake that
is not too strong and not too relaxed. A bad handshake leaves an impression. If you are
uncertain about yours, ask some of your friends for an extra opinion. Then once you are
offered a seat, find an appropriate place to set down your belongings. Do not put your
bag, briefcase or anything on the table, except for a pen and a notebook maybe. Try to
sit up straight, avoid touching your face and crossing your arms. Body language gives a
hint of your personality: how energetic you are, how you respond to stress, etc. The best
way to avoid body language mistakes is by being prepared. Preparation builds
confidence, which transmits into a better performance.

The hiring manager aims to separate good from bad candidates. Valid interview
etiquette is not what will win the job for you, but can certainly be the negative
differentiator that costs the job for you. But don’t worry! Follow the interview etiquette
rules that we mentioned here and you will be fine.

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The different types of Interviews

There are many types of interviews and you should be familiar with them before putting
yourself out there. The next time when you schedule an interview, try to ask what type of
interview it is going to be, so that you can fully prepare for it.

The company may focus on one of the following styles or use a combination of them. The best
you can do is mentally prepare and understand what qualities and skills you need to
demonstrate during the interview.

One-on-one Interview:

These can be with a future colleague or a HR professional. It really depends on who you are
meeting with. A HR professional would try to assess your motivation and personality – ask you
questions in order to understand whether you will fit within the organization. Someone that
you will work with will try to imagine whether you will be a good colleague, whether you are
sufficiently independent and is he/she going to be able to count on you. If you are interviewing
with your future boss, he/she will be eager to hear about the skills that you are bringing to the
table and how these skills will enrich the team. He/she will also want to measure your growth
potential. That is why it is important to explicitly explain that you are excited to learn and grow
with the firm.

Panel Interview:

It is difficult enough to interview with one person, but when you do a panel interview, you
have to deal with two, three or more people. The idea is that multiple opinions will help assess
your skills better.

A common mistake during a panel interview is to make eye-contact with just one of the
interviewers (usually the one who looks friendly). Don’t do that. Engage each member of the
panel when answering a question. First, look at the person who asked you the question and
then the other members of the panel.

Case Interviews

Case interviews are becoming increasingly popular. A case interview is the analysis of a
business question or resolving a logical riddle. A technique that is pretty different than most
other interview questions. You are presented with a given situation or a task, for which you
should express an opinion. The majority of case interviews do not have a specific answer. It is
the thought process behind your solution that the interviewer is interested in.

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In the next section of the course, we will focus on different types of case studies and we will
learn how to cope with them efficiently.

Group Interviews

In a Group Interview, you will be put in a room with other candidates who applied for the same
position. The aim of the exercise is to measure your social skills and how you fit in with a group
of people.

The main challenge in this exercise is finding the right balance between being passive and being
too aggressive. Have your own opinion heard and ask for the opinion of some of your fellow
interviewees who are more passive. That’s the way to go.

These are the main interview types that you will come across during Selection Day. Now that
you know what to expect, you can try to get some additional practice. Very often, college career
centers organize mock interviews. That will be the perfect situation in which you can gain
valuable experience and honest feedback about your performance.

Types of Interview questions

In any face-to-face job interview, you might encounter several different types of
questions:

 Qualification
 Behavioral
 Situational
 Brainteasers
 Technical
 Difficult questions

In this lesson, I will describe each type of question and will provide you with tips on
how to approach these questions.

Qualification questions

Usually, a Hiring Manager will start an interview by presenting the job under
consideration and then will turn to you and ask one of the following questions:

 Tell me about yourself

 What makes you right for this job?
 Tell me how your past experiences prepared you for this job
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Here is our suggestion: Try to draw parallels to the work that needs to be done and
what you have done in the past. Look for a way that would allow you to demonstrate
how you are fit for the job under consideration.

Behavioral questions

Based on the credo that the past is a good predictor of the future. These questions ask
you to reach back into your own history and provide an example of how you
confronted a particular situation.

While you are being asked of an example of how you dealt with a particular situation,
your interviewer is interested in assessing your personality, how you think and what is
your ability to cope with difficult situations. The hiring manager will also be interested
in seeing whether you are comfortable in answering this question.

A typical example of a behavioral question is “Tell me about a time when you were part
of a team and you helped your team achieve its goal.”

Here is our suggestion: Behavioral questions can touch a number of topics, but you
should be prepared with examples of how you managed situations in which you had to
overcome a difficult challenge, demonstrated leadership, were able to put your team’s
needs first, a situation where you went the extra mile, etc. Preparation would allow you
to give a thoughtful answer. It can be quite difficult to think of good examples during
the interview. Make sure that you spend some time addressing this topic before facing
your interviewer.

Situational questions

Situational questions resemble behavioral questions, but the main difference is that you
are not asked to provide an example from the past. The interviewer would like to learn
how you think. For example, he/she can ask you “Imagine that one of your colleagues is
not able to finish his work on time and because of that, your work will be delayed as
well and you risk submitting the project after the specified deadline. Would you talk to
your manager?”

Here is our suggestion: You are not supposed to have a ready answer. Don’t act like
you do. Instead, you can lay out your reasoning in front of the interviewer and show
him that you are able to construct a valid line of reasoning. You can even try to involve

52
him by asking additional questions. You are not supposed to be able to resolve a
complex situation by simply knowing a few facts.

Technical questions

These questions assess the depth and breadth of your knowledge, skills and abilities in
a particular area. You are most likely to receive these types of questions from your
future colleagues, who will be eager to measure the contribution that you will be able to
make to the team.

Here is our suggestion: Read the job description very carefully. Think of the theoretical
background needed by someone who is suitable for the job and freshen your
knowledge before the interview. A very good way to step ahead of others is to find a
contact who was interviewed with the same firm in the past. It can be a friend, a friend
of a friend or a friend of a friend of a friend. The important thing is that you will gain
valuable insight on the type of questions that you will need to answer.

Brain teasers

Some companies like to tease their candidates’ mental strength with sophisticated math
or logical reasoning questions. You may be asked how many times 1000 divides into 77
or what is the product of 121 and 53. Or maybe you’ll be given the following riddle:
“What is the probability that two dogs have the same amount of hair.”

Here is our suggestion: Check out examples of brain teasers and try to understand the
logic behind the different types of brain teaser questions. In some cases, you are not
expected to provide an exact answer, but rather construct a creative solution.

Difficult questions

Difficult questions are those questions whose answer seems conflicting with your goal
of receiving a job offer.

“What is your biggest weakness?”

“Tell me about a time when you failed to accomplish your goal.”

These are two examples of difficult questions that you can be asked during an
interview.

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Here is our suggestion: Try to spin the question in a way that would allow you to
present yourself in a positive light: “I failed, but I learned”, “I am not good at, but I am
working on it”.

The best way to prepare for each of these question categories is to practice. The
materials available at the end of the course allow you to do precisely that. They contain
the most frequently asked questions of each type and provide you with examples of
possible answers.

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Case Studies

Investment banks and Consulting firms rely heavily on Case Interviews to screen
candidates. This type of interview is particularly relevant for these firms because the
nature of their business requires them to interact with their clients on a frequent basis.
The company you are applying for would like to assess your ability to work as part of a
team, as well as how you react to pressure and basically what you are made of.

There are three types of Case Interviews:

 Analysis of a Business Case/Problem

 Guesstimate – an estimate that the candidate has to make, which is based on a
mixture of guesswork and calculation
 Brainteasers – logic puzzles and riddles

During the Case Interview, you will be expected to demonstrate some of the following
qualities: leadership skills, analytical, presentation, quantitative and energy skills. More
or less, each aspect of your performance will be evaluated on a specially designed
scorecard. This is exactly why you should step in with a plan of action.

Here’s a good way to approach the Case Interview:

 Take notes – listen carefully and write down important facts when you are presented
with the case. Use your notes in order to brainstorm and establish a valid line of
reasoning.
 Ask questions – it is natural to ask questions during a Case Interview. Formulate
your questions very well, as you may have the right to a limited number of questions.
 Don’t make generalizations and assumptions – imagine how a client of the firm
would react if he was presented with conclusions based on generalizations and
assumptions; if there is something unclear that impedes you from solving the
exercise, you can ask your interviewer for clarification.
 Don’t be afraid to pause – Pausing for 30 seconds or one minute in order to think
about the answer that you will give is something completely normal; this can even be
judged favorably, because it means that you think before replying and that you don’t
want to fake knowing everything.

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 Try to apply a structured approach to the problem; assess the situation and develop a
cohesive understanding of the problem at hand; you should understand what the
problem is and what the desired final outcome is.
 Don’t think of group exercises as 0-sum game; the firm will hire more than 1
candidate during the Assessment Day. When you approach a group exercise, try to
think of the people that will be in your team as your future colleagues. Your work
and reasoning should contribute to the successful performance of the team. Don’t
bully other candidates, but instead try to be proactive and divide the analysis
according to each candidate’s area of expertise.
 Discuss your solution with an open mind: You should be well aware that the
interviewer will question your findings and will try to challenge them. Listen
carefully to what he has to say for two reasons:
o First, if he is wrong, you will have to convince him he is wrong and “sell” your
solution.
o Second, if you made an obvious mistake in the solution (let’s say that you valued a
company three times its current market cap), then try to reason with the
interviewer, point out the mistake, which took you to the wrong conclusion and
figure out a new solution. Don’t worry too much, everybody makes mistakes.
Especially under pressure.

Types of Case Interviews

We already mentioned the three main types of case interviews: Business Cases,
Guesstimates and Brain Teasers. Most of the time, you will solve these exercises in oral
form, but it is also possible to receive them as a written task as well. Another unknown
is whether you will have to solve the exercise alone or as part of a team composed of
other candidates. Nonetheless, you will do well if you spend several hours familiarizing
yourself with the structure of various Case Interviews and with topics that are
frequently asked.

Having said that, let’s start with the first type of Case Interviews – Business Cases.

You are introduced to a business problem and asked to provide a possible solution,
which is based on concrete analysis. Remember, the solution should be both actionable
and sharp. There should be specific reasoning behind your solution.

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Refreshing frameworks like Porter’s Five Forces, SWOT analysis, Product Life Cycle,
The Four Ps, and Value Chain Analysis can be a great help for your Business Case
Interview.

Very frequently, Business Cases involve one of the following scenarios:

 Decreasing profits – investigate why a company’s financial performance deteriorated

 Launching of a new product – determine the best strategy that would allow a firm to
introduce a new product
 Entering a new market – assess whether a firm should enter a new market or not
 Make or Buy decision – provide advice as to whether a firm should produce
internally or outsource to external suppliers
 Choose whether to enter a geographic region; very similar to the “entering new
market question”, knowing region dynamics can be very helpful
 Pondering external growth – acquire another firm or grow organically
 Handling competition – one of the firm’s competitors is making strategic choices and
the firm needs to decide whether and how to respond to the actions of its competitor

Guesstimate questions are a mixture of guesswork and calculations. You are supposed
to build your calculation by making reasonable hypothesis and thus arrive to a rough
but more or less precise estimate of the actual value. The interviewer is interested in the
thought process behind your calculations, along with the calculations themselves
(especially if you are testing for a Finance related job). Here are two examples of
guesstimate questions:

 “What is the market value of company X (it can be both a public and a private
company)?”
 “Calculate the number of pens produced in China this year.”

The best way to address guesstimate questions is to use the bottom-up approach.
Bottom up evaluation starts from the single unit and through a number of steps arrives
to the final value that needs to be calculated. Here is an example. If we have to value a
company that sells appliances, we can start by the number of people who live in the
geographic area where the company operates. Then we will hypothesize the market
share that the company has, and the average amount of revenue per customer that the
company is able to achieve. This gives us the top line figure – revenues. Then we can
make additional hypothesis about the company’s margins, leverage and valuation

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multiple and hence obtain the market value of the company. The materials that we have
provided later in the course allow you to read about other popular guesstimate
questions and see how they can be solved in practice.

Brain teasers are logic puzzles or riddles that aim to test a candidate’s creativity and
ability to handle pressure. The best thing that you can do before the interview is read
some examples of brain teaser questions in order to familiarize yourself with the logic
that is used in solving them. You will find out that many of these riddles use common
patterns.

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