Hi, I am a programmer with a good MS in Applied Mathematics. I work for a major financial company, trying to find a quantitative job internally. I really need your help in understanding how my resume is perceived by the person making a decision. What should I change/add/remove? Thank you very much for your help.---------------------------------------------------------------ObjectiveTo pursue an intellectually challenging position involving extensive use of financial mathematics.Areas of interest include:Stochastic differential equationsDerivative pricingFinancial modelsPersonal skill set:Fundamental mathematical education _•differential equations, probability theory, mathematical programming _•linear models, mathematical analysis of dynamic systems, control theory _•mathematical simulation, theoretical mechanics of controlled motion _•theory of complex variable functions, discrete analysis, calculation (numerical) methods _•game theory, spectral methods for synthesis of stabilizing controls _•mathematical statistics, regression analysis, equations of mathematical physicsComprehensive understanding of capital marketsStrong knowledge of accounting, corporate finance, financial instrumentsCreative approach to problem solvingStrong algorithmical thinking with an aptitude for deduction Team playerEducation51 credits toward an MBA. XXX University, NYC. Graduation: July 2006MS in Applied Mathematics. XXX State University, 2000. Russia. GPA 4.0; graduated with honours Work experienceMarch 2002 – present XYZ, NYC. Senior Developer. Responsible for designing architecture and implementing core back-end services for XYZ’s large-scale financial portal. Environment: Solaris, Oracle 9i, JavaMay 2001 – March 2002 XYZ2., Tech Lead. Responsible for leading a team of 4 developers working on an advanced B2B online system for data exchange between carriers and shippers.July 2000 - May 2001 XYZ3, NYC. Senior Java Developer. Leading developer of online auctioning system for shipping industry.July 1998 - June 2000 XYZ4, St.Petersburg office. Java developer of UML CASE tool. Financial Software: Matlab, Mathematica, SPlus Programming languages: Java, C++, UML, SQL, PL/SQL, HTML, JavaScript, XML, XSLT Operating systems: Win NT/2000, Solaris 7/8/9, LinuxApplication and Web servers: Weblogic 5.1/6.x/7/8.1, WebSphere, JBoss, IPlanet, Sun ONELibraries and technologies: J2EE (EJB, Servlets, JSP, JMS, JDBC), STLProgramming Software: JProbe Profiler, OptimizeIt, Rational Rose, TogetherJ, Oracle 9iTeam development tools: PVCS, Microsoft Visual Source Safe, SourceOffSite, CVSOO skills: Deep understanding of OOP. Fluent Design patterns. References available upon request.

I wouldn't list HTML, XML, XSLT in the list of computing skills, since to me they belong in the same class as MS Office skills. Quants don't need them anyway.

Thank you!Let me ask you this question: would you bother talking to me after seeing this resume? Why yes/no. If yes, what would you ask?

If I thought a live person would read it, I'd put the stuff that makes me unique at the top, not "differential equations" and "derivative pricing."

My biggest problem is that I do not have any recent serious experience with the mathematics at work (I make websites), so I can only point out directions where I would like to go. How can I present myself better?Thank you!

(Standard disclaimers apply. I've never been a manager at a bank, but I have had some hiring experience at a non-bank.)There is an old expression "show, don't tell" which is relevant for resumes.I'd phrase things less in terms of "I know this" than "I've done this which proves I know this." The main problem is that it's not clear from the resume, how you got experience in derivatives pricing, for exampleThe other thing pet peeve that I have is words that don't add anything to the resume. For example "team player" and "creative approach to problem solving." Suppose you didn't put down "team player." Ask yourself, if the hiring manager going to think to himself "oopps he didn't put down a team player must mean that he isn't one" or "he did put down team player, that must mean that he is one." It's better if you leave those out, and instead go into a bit more detail about work experience."References available upon request" is another phrase that usually is unnecessary in resumes. It's sort of assumed that anyone who interviews for anything can provide references if asked.Also be very, very careful about claiming "strong knowledge" of anything. Those terms are waving a red flag in front of interviewers. If you claim for example "strong knowledge of corporate finance" then you need to be prepared to talk with someone with 20 years of experience in corporate finance and demonostrate that you can hold your ground. If you can, great!!! "Working knowledge" is a less risky statement, or better yet rephrase work experience to make it obvious that you have this knowledge.

If you are talking future rather than past, it's better to put this into "objectives". i.e interested in work involving stochastic differential equations, and then go into a bit more detail about your education to make it clear that you have the mathematical ability to do SDE's. For example, what was your master's thesis on?

Yes, I was talking about the future. My master's thesis was actually on a CS topic about design patterns. I am reading a lot about SDE and derivates but I can not claim I have done any of them in the past. How can I correctly position myself and still get the interview?Thank you for your help!

Putting on my software developer hat on.One mistake I've seen in resumes is failure to quantify. For example, I wouldn't be that interested in "team player" since that is sort of a given. What I'd be interested in is the nature of the back-end services. How many lines of code? Transaction volume? What happens if the system fails? Is it new code or old code? What is the size of the company? Large or small? Number of users? Size of the database? Were you able to ship product? How much revenue did that product bring in? Size of the database? Real time or batch processing?

Undercut, check your private messages.

Undercut,it always makes sense to "cut" your cv to every type of job you're applying too.in this case I'd recommend to change your working experience from "have been a java developer" to show as much as possible all experience from your past, which could be relevant to position you're looking for. For instance, if you have implemented any numerical, optimization, math algorithms, etc. don't forget to mention it good luck with job transition!btw - did you finish SPbGU ?

unless you want to be quant developer, rather then quant analyst - then it probably makes sense to stress your algorithmical & OOP skills, rather then technical ones.you can browse a lot of job requirements at this forum,,,

Thank you all!