Sunday, January 27, 2008

Successful Young Female Investment Banker

Many believe that the world of investment banking is dominated by male. That could be true to some extent. I have previously introduced Anthony Clake who was elected Partner of Marshall Wace at the age of 25.

Today, I want to introduce a successful female investment banker, who at the age of 25, is elected for the second time as a Rising Star by FN in 2007. She is also one of the Rising Talents honoured by JPMorgan in October 2007.


Emilie Goodall - FN’s Rising Star 2007

Age: 25
Investment manager, Venturesome

A rising star last year, the Oxford graduate continues to make her mark at the point where the City meets the charitable world. Goodall joined Venturesome, a social investment fund that is part of the Charities Aid Foundation, from New Philathropy Capital. In her new role, she will focus on working with charities to help them access money, including advising on fundraising, resolving cashflow problems and assessing risk. Goodall will also be responsible for investing Venturesome’s own money.


Source: Financial News Rising Star 2007

Emilie Goodall – JPMorgan Rising Talent, October 2007

Nationality: British
Country of residence: England
Current position: Research Analyst
Current organisation: New Philanthropy Capital (NPC)

Emilie Goodall is a Research Analyst at the London-based charity New Philanthropy Capital (NPC). NPC provides independent research and tailored advice on the most effective and rewarding ways to support charities. Emilie recently finished a report which examines different strategies for tackling child abuse and has also authored two reports on school disaffection, truancy and exclusion. Before joining NPC, Emilie worked on education and health projects in India and Senegal.

Source:
JPMorgna’s Rising Talents, October 2007

JPMorgan Rising Talents 2007 – Full Report
It might take a minute to download the PDF report, please be patient.

I don’t mean sex discrimination, but young female readers must find this article interesting and encouraging.


Are you set for an investment banking interview?
Make sure to get ready your Secret Career Document in advance.

Investment Banking Career

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Resume Cover Letter Sample

I read numerous cover letters daily. Today, two of them draw my attention. One is 3,000 words long, the other is 100. Obviously the latter one is more compelling. Whether his resume is impressive or not, I am interested to read his resume immediately.

A resume cover letter is not an autobiography. There is absolutely no need to write 3,000 words. If you write skillfully, 100 words is good enough to win attention from the hiring manager or win you an interview.

Take a look at this sample letter, it consists of all the information that is needed on a cover letter.

Dear Anna,

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2008.

Please find attached my resume. I am ready to move, flexible on terms & location, and continue to be interested in new opportunities to further my career in a new setting within the Asia region.

I am also open to new fields that will utilise my sales, marketing, general management, brand & business building experience and will present new learnings and new challenges.

Kindly contact me at this address or at +61-12345678 if you have suitable projects.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Best wishes
Henry Headhunter


More tips from Jimmy Sweeney on writing Cover Letters

Resume Cover Letter

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Investment Banking Resume Critique

Here is my resume critique for the CEO resume that I posted yesterday.

Strength

Length – just right. This is a CEO level resume, two pages is well acceptable.
Layout – clean and tidy, a perfect look & feel. Author is clever enough as to bold only the years and locations. It is easy for readers to find out when he was doing what at where.
Content – focus on achievements and career progression.

Areas Needed Improvement

Contact info – author has yet to include his phone and email
Academic qualifications – though not completely necessary, it is always good to list the year of graduation as well as the location of the universities. (In this particular resume, author didn’t list the college locations, as he has assumed everyone knows where London, Stanford and Boston are).

Summary Assessment

As a CEO, author does not go into details of each of his previous positions. Instead he summaries all his major achievements in a very straightforward and no non-sense manner. The whole resume represents a CEO’s vision and the qualities of a person in a leadership role. Author does not need to tell that he has strategic thinking and good writing skills, the way he writes this resume speaks for himself.

Useful Phrases

I have cited a number of sample sentences that is always useful in any resume writing exercise. Analyze these sentence structures and try to write yours in a similar tone.

I became closely involved in building up the international network and spent a substantial amount of time in the foreign offices, a.o. in New York, setting up the office in Los Angeles in 1982.

Following my role as one of the key people in building BNP’s prime position in Latin America in the 1980s,……

From the beginning of 2000 till June 2002 I was the Global Head e-Business for BNPP’s directly reporting to the Executive Board and responsible for initiating and coordinating BNPP’s strategy on e-enabling integrated financial services on a worldwide basis…….

More resume writing skills from Jimmy Sweeney


Resume writing skills

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Investment Banking Resume Sample - CEO Level

As promised, this is the one-page CEO investment banking resume. Please note all names are dummies. You can come back tomorrow and view my resume critique.

RESUME
HENRY HEADHUNTER

Academic qualifications
- London Economic School
- International Senior Management Program at Stanford University
- MBA, University of Boston (magna cum laude)

Present position at BNP
CEO of BNP Paribas which involves the management of the insurance and wealth management activities in Asia Pacific region, directly reporting to the Executive Board of BNP.

Summary previous positions at BNP
I started my career with BNP (in those days called Paribas) in 1974 in the risk management area, first at a local office and shortly thereafter at the foreign division of head office.

I became closely involved in building up the international network and spent a substantial amount of time in the foreign offices, a.o. in New York, setting up the office in Los Angeles in 1982.

From 1984 - 1990, I was appointed General Manager for Argentina, leading the country’s operations and helping to develop its leading position in Emerging Market Banking.

Following my role as one of the key people in building BNP’s prime position in Latin America in the 1980s, I repatriated to BNP’s head office in Paris to take up the position of General Manager BNP (and was subsequently appointed CEO in 1991), establishing BNP’s well known franchise in Emerging Market Banking.


Under my leadership, BNP received several awards including “Best Bank in Emerging Markets” and “Best Bank in Central & Eastern Europe”, in addition to a large number of country awards.

After the merger of and integration with Paribas in 1994, I became Member of the Executive Committee BNP Paribas (Corporate and Investment Banking in London/Paris) and in that capacity I acted as Global Head of BNP’s Network.

From the beginning of 2000 till June 2002 I was the Global Head e-Business for BNPP’s directly reporting to the Executive Board and responsible for initiating and coordinating BNPP’s strategy on e-enabling integrated financial services on a worldwide basis. BNPP Direct (today the world’s largest internet bank) represented one of BNPP’s key initiatives in this area.

From mid 2002, I became Managing Director for a group of countries in Asia/Pacific, while in beginning of 2003 I was appointed as CEO BNPP Asia/Pacific, based in Hong Kong.

Other Functions:
- Non-Executive Board Member of Korea Bank (Korea’s largest bank)
- Member of the International Advisory Council of the Farmer’s Bank, Beijing
- Member of the Global Advisory Council of University of Boston
- Various board seats for BNP related companies

Main achievements:
- Build the Emerging Market franchise for BNPP in the 80s and 90s
- Key person in the acquisition of the first privatized bank in Central Europe, Bank Sewaroski, Poland
- Key person in the acquisition of one the best bank privatized in China, Farmer’s. (recent IPO resulted ‘book profit’ of over EURO 2 bi; 12 x investment)

Recommended Career Tools
These career tools are seriously short-listed by Anna Maria D'Souza for those who serious want to start an investment banking career.

Amazing Cover Letters
Amazing Resume Creator
Secret Career Document

Resume Sample

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Investment Banking Resume – Long vs Short

Today I receive a resume of 9 pages. This reminds me of one question – is long resume better than short? In terms of investment banking resume, I always go for short.

Many people believe that resumes have to be as detailed as possible. Yes, it has to be detailed, but it does not need to be long. If you are writing to an investment bank, a one-page resume is perfect. Many people found it difficult to write everything on one page. Yes, it is difficult, but it is possible. If I tell you even a CEO with 33 years of experience can write a one-page resume, will you insist to write long?

I have asked one of my CEO candidates to put together his resume on one page, he made it one page and one paragraph. If a CEO resume can be short, why should a young banker’s resume be long? Frankly, bankers don’t want to, and don’t have time to go through a 9-page resume. If you want your resume to be read in details, please make it short.

Tomorrow, I’ll show you the one-page CEO resume and you can use it as a sample to craft your own investment banking resume.


Recommended Career Tools
These career tools are seriously short-listed by Anna Maria D'Souza for those who serious want to start an investment banking career.

Amazing Cover Letters
Amazing Resume Creator
Secret Career Document

Investment Banking Resume