Hedge Fund Resume Rule: Dot Every "I"

When it comes to their attire, hedge fund professionals are able to be more a lot more casual than most Wall Streeters. Shirts and slacks are the norm; suits and ties are not required.

But dressing up your resume is another matter altogether. You want to include as much detail as possible and leave very little to the imagination.

"I'd say the resumes of eight out of 10 of our candidates need some work," advises Kyle J. Ramkissoon, principle and founding member of hedge fund recruiter IJC Partners in New York.

In particular, the recruiter says, job seekers tend to omit information that recruiters and hedge fund partners deem very important. So before you hit the "send" button on that missive with your resume attached, be sure and take a second or third look at all of the following:

Graduation dates and GPA: Don't be sloppy about listing when you graduated as well as where from, and be sure to include your college GPA.

Gaps in employment: Any gaps longer than three months can be explained right there on your resume. Rather than wait for an interview for a chance to explain why your dates of employment do not quite run back to back, you can mention any time off periods and put down something straightforward and simple such as "job hunting," "took time off to travel the world," or even "took time off to recharge."

Even though not every employer will demand you close all resume gaps before an interview, it can only aid your case for recruiters and hedge fund partners to have all the information they require right at their fingertips. Ramkissoon finds that about half of his hedge fund clients prefer to see these items on a resume.

Red flags: If you have been with a single employer five years without moving up in status at your organization, it's going to stick out like a sore thumb, so you'll need some well phrased bullet points demonstrating how your took on more and more responsibility, and/or aided the organization in a very significant way over that period of time.

Don't try to appeal to everyone. Make clear whether you are a modeler, a capital raiser, or what have you.

Demonstrate not only what you've achieved-but compared to whom. "For instance, too often resumes say: 'raised $12M in only 3 months,' when they could say, 'raised $12M in only 3 months, which was 2nd best out of 8 people.'"

The point here is to offer a bit of context, according to a a blog offered by website hedgefundscareer.com, which is sponsored by an online hedge fund professional designation program known as the CHP.

Marketing consultant and blogger Richard Wilson, author of several books on hedge funds including The Hedge Fund Book: A Training Manual For Capital Raising Executives, adds that while there is no perfect resume for every hedge fund executive, some of the factors below are what funds look for include:

- An Ivy league education

- Internship experience in portfolio management, trading, marketing, or risk management,/p>

- Masters degree level education in quant work, modeling, or finance

- A CFA, CHP, or CAIA designation

- Signs of loyalty through long-term engagements with past employers

Interestingly enough, Wilson suggests it is best for hedge fund pros to come off as humble as opposed to the other extreme. While meek and mild are traits deemed verboten for women trying to get ahead in their Wall Street careers, this expert suggests hedge fund professionals might be well advised to keep their Master of the Universe personas under wraps in their resumes and during interviews.

Alternatively, tone it down-just a little.