QuoteOriginally posted by: MaosikaHi, I'm trying to write my CV and I just graduate in Business Administration - Finance; but have no work experience, and so I don't have many practical skills. I did an intership in a bank and know many financial computer programs (R, Octave, and FXCM); that I learn on my free time. So I'm more academic/creative, but I know that won't be valued in the workplace, and might even be a turn off for more social jobs if you know what I mean. I want to just get a job, any job really for now related to finance. I am sort of struggling with my cv though. Started the thing months ago but been putting it off. I have no work experience so it is very bare. Not sure what I should do to compensate. I am also really struggling with the professional profile part. I have read a whole book on writing a CV and at the back is examples. I have copied a load of sentences that I could use in mine but don't really know how to fit them together or if I could honestly use them. I think the main thing for me is just getting the professional profile done and then I can apply for some jobs. I am a perfectionist which I think is the main reason I am struggling. What should I do? Can someone really help me.I assume you are targetting firms in Lebanon or are you wanting to go abroad?If by professional statement, you mean a paragraph of prose at the top of your CV.... I would not bother. It is likely to do more harm than good.- Write your CV on 1 page of A4, clearly list what you have done and the dates that you did it.- May sure that the presentaion, spelling and grammar is flawless. Format it so that it can be read easily. Dont make it fussy or flashy.- If you are sending/emailing it to people then write a good, but short cover letter. 1-2 paragraphs explaining why you are moving in this direction and why you believe you can be sucessful. Dont use canned things from books... just be genuine and tell your story. Again, ensure that this is flawless.- Just sending this thing off is unlikely to be enough. You need to try to get infront of people who work at the places you want to work or even just in the industry. Work any connections you have and any university networks to get to those people. Another strategy is that if you go to a conference of a seminar follow up. Go and introduce your self to the speaker. Get an email. Ask them to meet for a coffee. (But dont just hand them a CV... be social and indirect.)- Do things to differentiate yourself. Do your own project. Start an investment club. Do an internship (or simply offer to work for minimal compensation for a period at a firm/with a contact).Good luck!

QuoteOriginally posted by: MaosikaHi ppauper, yes I've a BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) in Banking and Finance. I didn't think people will know what my university is in this forum. And just to add to this off-topic subject that Lebanon are in the top 5 best education systems in Science and Math, and it the top 10 best education systems in the world. And that 44% of the Lebanese people go to university, so we have good school and university in Lebanon.But let keep this conversation about the first topic: Advices to have a good CV without any experiences. I was wondering, can I put the conferences I see in my CV ?All these league tables are bunkum. If you speak to people on the ground in the respective countries you hear a different story. Being good in maths only proves that you are good in maths.QuoteMaosikaAnd that 44% of the Lebanese people go to university, so we have good school and university in Lebanon.A percentage says nothing about quality. You can lower the standards so that 44% get through and stll keep the university grant. QuoteIMD notes that for most countries there is a strong correlation between the image rank and the competitiveness ranking but that <country> rates much higher on this criterion than its competitive position would suggest.

QuoteOriginally posted by: ppauperQuoteOriginally posted by: bearishHi Melissa,Assuming that your post is indicative of your CV/cover letter, I will go out on a limb and suggest that your problem may be bad spelling and grammar.dyslexiaunfortunately, that's going to discourage people from hiring you, and it's something you might want to keep quiet about (and wipe off the web)Dylexia is a gift Give you time to concentrate on stuff instead of engaging in stuffy grammar discussions. W.B. Yeats had dyxlexia. Wow.

QuoteOriginally posted by: CuchulainnQuoteOriginally posted by: ppauperQuoteOriginally posted by: bearishHi Melissa,Assuming that your post is indicative of your CV/cover letter, I will go out on a limb and suggest that your problem may be bad spelling and grammar.dyslexiaunfortunately, that's going to discourage people from hiring you, and it's something you might want to keep quiet about (and wipe off the web)Dylexia is a gift Give you time to concentrate on stuff instead of engaging in stuffy grammar discussions. W.B. Yeats had dyxlexia. Wow.you're preaching to the converted.Unfortunately, when an employer is faced with two otherwise identical candidates, one of whom has dyslexia, what do you think is going to happen ?

QuoteOriginally posted by: ppauperQuoteOriginally posted by: CuchulainnQuoteOriginally posted by: ppauperQuoteOriginally posted by: bearishHi Melissa,Assuming that your post is indicative of your CV/cover letter, I will go out on a limb and suggest that your problem may be bad spelling and grammar.dyslexiaunfortunately, that's going to discourage people from hiring you, and it's something you might want to keep quiet about (and wipe off the web)Dylexia is a gift Give you time to concentrate on stuff instead of engaging in stuffy grammar discussions. W.B. Yeats had dyxlexia. Wow.you're preaching to the converted.Unfortunately, when an employer is faced with two otherwise identical candidates, one of whom has dyslexia, what do you think is going to happen ?I see in my vicinity people with dyslexia tend to be doers and movers. I suppose is depends on the function.

QuoteOriginally posted by: CuchulainnQuoteOriginally posted by: ppauperQuoteOriginally posted by: bearishHi Melissa,Assuming that your post is indicative of your CV/cover letter, I will go out on a limb and suggest that your problem may be bad spelling and grammar.dyslexiaunfortunately, that's going to discourage people from hiring you, and it's something you might want to keep quiet about (and wipe off the web)Dylexia is a gift Give you time to concentrate on stuff instead of engaging in stuffy grammar discussions. W.B. Yeats had dyxlexia. Wow.The nowadays definition of dyslexia is an inability to use a spellchecker :-)a

QuoteOriginally posted by: katastrofaQuoteOriginally posted by: CuchulainnQuoteOriginally posted by: ppauperQuoteOriginally posted by: bearishHi Melissa,Assuming that your post is indicative of your CV/cover letter, I will go out on a limb and suggest that your problem may be bad spelling and grammar.dyslexiaunfortunately, that's going to discourage people from hiring you, and it's something you might want to keep quiet about (and wipe off the web)Dylexia is a gift Give you time to concentrate on stuff instead of engaging in stuffy grammar discussions. W.B. Yeats had dyxlexia. Wow.The nowadays definition of dyslexia is an inability to use a spellchecker :-)aActually my blogs has no grammatical mistake in it, and everyday I received 100 messages and more than 1000 visitors. It's one of the most popular blogs in my country. But my problems is not my dyslexia seen I don't said it to employer the real problems is that when I go to interviews with my cv with no experiences, there is many others people much older and with more experiences that want the same job and with less salary. Because me I cannot afford getting a job that paid less than 900$ month, I need to paid back my university loans. And other people with ten or more years experiences go to the same interviews and ask for 500$ for the jobs. They have great CV and it's the same problem with all my friends that just graduated from university, we're all with no job. What the employer will do ? (PS: in my country this is a great job paid 900$, and the mim salary is 400$). Or I get this one some many times in job interviews, why your parents didn't buy you a car because I go in taxi or bus to the interview, and in my country it's seen normal that parents paid for their children everything. I have friend that do their MBA and never ever had a job. My parents cannot afford to paid me a cars just to get a job. Or sometime I go to interview, have more skills than the other person and because he know the boss didn't event have do an interview and get the job instead of me. I also get this other weirds questions : What is your political opinion in job interview, and if you have not the same political opinion that they have they don't call you back. My friends loses her job because of that.Anyways this is off-topic I just need advice to get a good, professional cv and cover letter.

QuoteOr sometime I go to interview, have more skills than the other person and because he know the boss didn't event have do an interview and get the job instead of me. I knowYou knowhe/she knowssee verb conjugationto 'know' A-Zsometime != sometimesevent != even'get' is present tense; you mean past tense.// Have you taken a course in Englsh from an institute? I think it is essential at this stage.

QuoteOriginally posted by: MaosikaAnyways this is off-topic I just need advice to get a good, professional cv and cover letter.it might be an idea for you to post a copy of both here:BUT:take your real name/address off and change the names of the schools etcjust so we can get an idea of what you have done alreadythere may be nothing wrong with it:you say you're getting interviews, and that's what a good CV does for youAnd as already been said, get an internship to get experience

Have several friends, brothers or sisters, help you with mock interviews. Cover the normal series of questions and then form a set of tougher questions - in your recent rounds of interviews, where have you frozen, gone on the defensive, or failed to build rapport with the interviewer?You have to learn how to demonstrate value to the firm and this goes beyond skills and aptitude. It's about fit as much as anything else and some people are naturally tuned to show the fit, while others most definitely are not. I have observed a few issues over a series of posts here and elsewhere that point to the potential problem, and it may not center on the lack of work experience.- Do not appear to be sensitive or high strung - this is work, not personal life, and very few managers want to deal with high-maintenance employees. Especially if they are very junior and do not bring a fancy rolodex with them.- Do not approach questions or problems posed in an interview in an argumentative way. There are certain types of stress interviews conducted for some roles in IBs to see how candidates handle pressure. Chances are you are not interviewing for those sorts of jobs, but you could still read up on the techniques and for your own purposes, develop some calm and articulate responses to typical interview questions.- Do not complain about past classes, life experiences, former professors, bosses, or colleagues. You do not have to be insanely positive about everything, but try to have a productive and mature outlook on work and life. - Learn how to handle difficult people gracefully (and consistently - there is no shortage of them!) If you are in finance, you will find plenty of challenging situations and the better you can handle those interactions, the easier it will be for you to move forward. If you are always going to be struggling massively with your work environment, given the types of personalities and motivations that you find there, you might consider another field. Finance has its rewards and there are some "dream teams" to be found, but there is a lot of drudgery, dysfunctionality, and unhappiness around the sector as well.Good luck. PS: On the car issue, if you are taking a taxi or a bus, be discrete about that - get dropped off a block away and don't mention the use of public transportation. Finance is an horrifically status-conscious business and if you are honest about the personal situation, some interviews may be over before they even begin. If you do land a good job, you should keep quiet about your private financial pressures. In general, the more privileged classes (the MBAs whose parents buy them cars) do not have sympathy. You will succeed by being very smart, hardworking, resilient, and learning how to manage relationships with the people around you. Ideally you will find someone who may also have worked their way up through these qualities themselves and may be able to mentor you a bit.

QuoteOriginally posted by: MaosikaHi ppauper, yes I've a BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) in Banking and Finance. I didn't think people will know what my university is in this forum. And just to add to this off-topic subject that Lebanon are in the top 5 best education systems in Science and Math, and it the top 10 best education systems in the world. And that 44% of the Lebanese people go to university, so we have good school and university in Lebanon.But let keep this conversation about the first topic: Advices to have a good CV without any experiences. I was wondering, can I put the conferences I see in my CV ?My first thought was that I met people from the listed countries in my professional life and I haven't seen much confirmation of the above results, but it would be a real shame for a statistician to say such things aloud. Then I checked what is the Executive Opinion Survey and I thought that every decent statistician would have a good laugh at it.Have you thought about foreign scholarships? You're a girl and from the third world. I've seen really dumb women who went far on them - I'm not saying you're dumb, but this option could be easier for you and would definitely give you good career prospects. Work on your English (trust me, you haven't seen a bigger dyslexic than I).a

QuoteOriginally posted by: trackstarHave several friends, brothers or sisters, help you with mock interviews. Cover the normal series of questions and then form a set of tougher questions - in your recent rounds of interviews, where have you frozen, gone on the defensive, or failed to build rapport with the interviewer?You have to learn how to demonstrate value to the firm and this goes beyond skills and aptitude. It's about fit as much as anything else and some people are naturally tuned to show the fit, while others most definitely are not. I have observed a few issues over a series of posts here and elsewhere that point to the potential problem, and it may not center on the lack of work experience.- Do not appear to be sensitive or high strung - this is work, not personal life, and very few managers want to deal with high-maintenance employees. Especially if they are very junior and do not bring a fancy rolodex with them.- Do not approach questions or problems posed in an interview in an argumentative way. There are certain types of stress interviews conducted for some roles in IBs to see how candidates handle pressure. Chances are you are not interviewing for those sorts of jobs, but you could still read up on the techniques and for your own purposes, develop some calm and articulate responses to typical interview questions.- Do not complain about past classes, life experiences, former professors, bosses, or colleagues. You do not have to be insanely positive about everything, but try to have a productive and mature outlook on work and life. - Learn how to handle difficult people gracefully (and consistently - there is no shortage of them!) If you are in finance, you will find plenty of challenging situations and the better you can handle those interactions, the easier it will be for you to move forward. If you are always going to be struggling massively with your work environment, given the types of personalities and motivations that you find there, you might consider another field. Finance has its rewards and there are some "dream teams" to be found, but there is a lot of drudgery, dysfunctionality, and unhappiness around the sector as well.Good luck. PS: On the car issue, if you are taking a taxi or a bus, be discrete about that - get dropped off a block away and don't mention the use of public transportation. Finance is an horrifically status-conscious business and if you are honest about the personal situation, some interviews may be over before they even begin. If you do land a good job, you should keep quiet about your private financial pressures. In general, the more privileged classes (the MBAs whose parents buy them cars) do not have sympathy. You will succeed by being very smart, hardworking, resilient, and learning how to manage relationships with the people around you. Ideally you will find someone who may also have worked their way up through these qualities themselves and may be able to mentor you a bit.Thank You very much for your advices, and also your advice about the car issue is great.

QuoteOriginally posted by: katastrofaWork on your English (trust me, you haven't seen a bigger dyslexic than I).aEnglish isn't my first language, my first language is French, after Arabic, Spanish, and English. So yes I think it's can be good for me to work more on my English thank for your advice.

QuoteYou will succeed by being very smart, hardworking, resilient, and learning how to manage relationships with the people around youOne also needs luck. BTW, I also tend to think that working hard is required, while some people rather talk of "working smart". Relation skills are crucial, too.

so a new grad from lebanon, looking to get into investment banking.....