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Formatting Your Resume Like a Pro

Formatting Your Resume Like a Pro

May 01, 2024

Today, in 5 minutes or less:
👉️ Resume beauty is in the eye of the beholder (or AI)
👉️ The secret sauce of resumes
👉️ Content picks of the week
👉️ StepStone event lineup ⭐️ NEW EVENTS
👉️ Job opportunities you should care about

Playing the resume game

You’ve done everything right… you joined all the extracurriculars, kissed up to all the alumni, went to every office hour session, and even sacrificed going out on Thursday nights, but you still aren’t landing interviews. Odds are your resume is what’s holding you back.

There are two ways to get your resume in front of recruiters: 1) applying directly online or 2) emailing it directly to someone at the firm.

1) Applying directly online

When you apply online, your resume faces its first challenge: the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). This software acts like a gatekeeper, sorting and filtering all of the resumes before any person sees them. The ATS looks for specific keywords and criteria outlined in the job description.

How are companies using ATS?

Recruiters use the ATS to find resumes that match the job they're hiring for. For example, if they're looking for a sales & trading intern, they might search for resumes that mention both “financial analysis” and “market research.” So, even if you're a great fit for the job, if your resume doesn't align with what the ATS is looking for, it might not even get looked at by a recruiter.

The bottom line: understanding the job you are applying for and using the right words and skills can help your resume get past the ATS and into the hands of a recruiter.

2) What about emailing my resume directly?

Sending your resume to a connection or a current employee at a firm is a great way to get your foot in the door, but it comes with a catch. Even one spelling or formatting error could land your resume in the rejection pile.

Having reviewed hundreds of resumes as former investment bankers, our first task was always scanning formatting and spelling errors. In a way, junior professionals serve as the company’s human ATS system. A distracting font, misaligned bullets and inconsistent hyphens (yes, we do notice ‘-‘ vs ‘—‘) could mean the difference between getting the interview or not. You may be wondering why accidentally double-spacing a word on your resume is such a big deal.

❝

You only have one chance to make a great first impression

Extra credit if you caught the double space above

Let's face it, getting the small details right shows that you went the extra mile to ensure your resume was perfect before sending it to someone who's taking time out of their day to review it. The good news? Avoiding mistakes is entirely within your control, and you look really good if you get it right (p.s. stay tuned for our killer resume templates).

Lucky for you, we have years of experience reviewing and helping students craft standout resumes that sail through both ATS and the human eye test. We’ve seen the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. So, here’s your essential guide to standing out and building your resume like a pro.

Formatting rules of thumb:

Making sure your resume is error-free, visually appealing, and structured appropriately is an absolute must. Use a clean layout, consistent formatting, and bullet points for clarity. Avoid tiny margins and hard-to-read fonts.

Font: Garamond, Arial, Times New Roman, Helvetica
Font Size: 10-12
Margins: 0.5”-1” on each side
Alignment: Use the ruler tool to check that your bullets/headers/dates are aligned
Length: One page
Sections:
Header: Name, address, contact info
Education:
1. University, major(s), minor(s), GPA, extracurriculars & leadership positions, relevant classes, standardized test scores (optional), expected graduation date
2. High School, GPA, awards, extracurriculars & leadership positions, graduation date
Professional & Leadership Experience:
Qualifications & Interests:

Content

Tailored to the job: Customize your resume to the specific role you are applying for. Highlight skills and experiences that align with the job description to demonstrate your fit for the role. For example, if you are applying for jobs in investment banking, your experiences should speak to that.
💡 Pro tip: ask ChatGPT “What are the top 10 keywords in this job description and how often do they show up? *paste job description*” :
Quantify Achievements: Use concrete numbers to illustrate your accomplishments whenever possible. Quantitative evidence of your successes can greatly enhance your candidacy.
Showcase Technical and Soft Skills: Demonstrate a blend of hard, technical skills (e.g., financial modeling, Excel proficiency) and soft skills (e.g., teamwork, communication, public speaking) on your resume.
Utilize Action Verbs: Start each bullet point with unique dynamic action verbs to convey your active role in achieving results (e.g. spearheaded, managed, organized, led).
Include Vital Information: Don’t leave out crucial details like GPA, standardized test scores, or gaps in experience. Trust us. Reviewers will see it as a red flag.
💡 Pro tip: use the higher of your overall and major GPA
Be Interesting: Your interests are your chance to showcase a glimpse of your personality. Just like how on dating apps, boring prompts never lead to interesting conversations, you want the person reading your resume to be curious. The magic here is to include very specific and obscure interests that will prompt questions.

Like free ☕️? So do we. Refer 5 friends to the newsletter and we’ll send you a free $5 Starbucks giftcard.

What we’re reading

💊 Consulting giant McKinsey faces US criminal probe over opioids work

🎟️ TikTok gears up for legal fight in US to prevent ban

Bonus chart of the week 👇️

Data: Pew Research Center; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals

What we’re watching

⚡️Developing passion through talent

🤖 Mark Zuckerberg on taking risks

What we’re laughing at

Context: After Tesla reported earnings last week, the stock increased ~10% despite reporting a 9% drop in revenue (top line) and a 55% decrease in profit (bottom line)

StepStone event lineup

Introducing our event lineup. Check here for new and upcoming informational and networking events throughout the summer and school year. It’s the perfect opportunity to learn about different career paths and network with professionals.

📢 Intro to Sales & Trading (May 20th, RSVP 👉️ here)

📢 Intro to Management Consulting (June 3rd, RSVP 👉️ here)

📢 Intro to Private Equity (June 9th, RSVP 👉️ here)