What, exactly, is wrong with my CV (8)?

9 July 2009

4 minute read

I am a third year Mathematics Ph.D. student and am currently writing up my thesis. I want to get my CV scrutinized because I want to build a career in the financial industry. I know it's not brilliant timing, but the financial crisis has actually awakened my interest in finance and the more I read and learn about it the more I want to get into it. To be exact I would like to get into private equity. I've already made it into the final round for one of the few graduate programmes in PE but was not taken due to lack of financial experience compared with other candidates. I also know that I will need to sharpen my profile next to my Ph.D. I am working on getting the IMC and the CIMA (Certificate in Business Accounting) qualifications by October/November. I am currently aiming for positions on entry level in PE or consulting which possible exposure to PE companies. I would like to get some feedback on my CV and suggestions for improvement or tips on how to get into the industry. Opinions on the personal summary would be highly appreciated.

Personal Summary

Highly ambitious, resilient and independent Ph.D. student in Mathematics combining excellent communication and people skills with high numerical literacy, practical and lateral approach to developing solutions, business acumen and an eye for long term strategies. The objective is a challenging and rewarding position in operations at a private equity firm or a division dealing with private equity operations.

Employment

Industry sponsored Ph.D. Mathematics, a metropolitan University, UK

10/2007 - TODAY

* Tailoring complex mathematical and statistical models to aide and improve oil and gas exploration

* Identification of processes used with the goal to standardise them using statistical tools and optimized work flows to save time/costs and improve accuracy and quality

* Organizing, preparing and teaching of tutorials as well as lab classes (10 - 40 students)

Intern / Consultant, Big 4 consulting firm, UK

07/2006 - 09/2006

*Performed scoping tool development for SAP process documentation and reorganisation to realise long term cost savings in future implementations

*Support to the project manager (sales presentations, reports and target performance comparisons)

*Design and conduct of a survey to elicit expert knowledge for the scoping tool

Part-time Developer, German technology firm

06/2004 - 06/2006

*Development of Java applications for Lotus Notes and administration of the complete IT.

Part-time IT administrator, German corporate

01/2001 - 06/2004

*Leading the planning and migration from Windows to Linux to cut costs and increase security.

Education

Industry sponsored Ph.D. Mathematics, a metropolitan university, UK

10/2007 - TODAY

Focus: Non-linear statistical methods for data visualisation (i.e. GMM, GTM and GP- LVM) and dimension reduction in the presence of uncertainty and applied to geochemical data.

Research: Treatment of missing data and integration of prior knowledge about the covariance structure into the model using EM, Variational Bayes and MCMC algorithms.

Thesis: Data Exploration of Sparse Geochemical Data Sets with Missing Values

M.Sc. Statistical Pattern Analysis, a metropolitan university. UK

10/2006 - 09/2007

Transformation: Change of M.Sc. project into applied Ph.D. and award of EPSRC Case stipend

B.Sc. Computational Life Science (2:1)

German University

10/2003 - 09/2006

Focus: Applied Mathematics and Informatics

Specialisation: Machine Learning, Statistics, Artificial Intelligence

Bachelor thesis: On the stability of classification based on uptake pictures of the olfactory bulb in rodents

Grade for thesis: "Very Good"

Languages & Skills

* German: Native

* English: Fluent

* Spanish: Intermediate

* French: Basic

Computer Skills (basic)

* VBA, SQL, R (Language), XML, MS Visio, Perl, HTML, CSS

Computer Skills (advanced)

* MS Excel, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Access, Java, C++, Lotus Script, Linux (Debian, Suse, RedHat), Windows (2000,XP, Vista), Windows Server (2000, 2003)

Computer Skills (expert)

* Matlab, Lotus Notes

If you want your CV reviewed on eFinancialCareers, please email it to our editors at editor@efinancialcareers.com.

AUTHORAnonymous

Insider Comment

jo
john
17 October 2009
you wrote to much at the beginning mate. No paragraphs.
Reply
As
Ashkar
24 September 2009
I dont know if anyone has already suggested this but you should also look at commodity structuring positions. Your PhD may give you an advantage. One advice, please dont call it Math Phd, when its more of statistics... thats the only negative thing I can say about the CV!!!
If you really want to go into PE, your Phd is not going to give you an advantage (it might be a disadvantage). Best to focus on extra curricular activities more.
Reply
Ri
Rich
17 July 2009
@OP, it is quite common in PB that people with a similar educational background like yours get quite straight after their Phd into a FM role - if this would be of interest to you, then have a go.
@ Joanna - lol!
'Headhunter', oh dear...
Reply
Jo
Joanna
16 July 2009
Very best of luck - I am sure you will do very well!
Reply
Um
Umbralupus
16 July 2009
Joanna, thanks for the insight. I appreciate your view and working in the academic realm believe me I agree that taking on Ph.Ds is a risk factor for various reasons if one has a constrained role which calls especially for non academic skills.
In addition to reading some opinions here I had some very interesting exchanges last week/this week with some head hunters and entrepreneurs.
Rather than working to overcome a lot of prejudices against my degree/CV I think the energy will be better spend in some entrepreneurial projects. Either they will get me going on my own or give me the necessary experience to get my foot in the door for VC and Growth Equity.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. It helped me to sort out some of the thoughts which were going through my head for some time.
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