6 mistakes to avoid when looking for a job in finance

Forget to update your professional medias
Nowadays, social networks like LinkedIn are the easiest and most immediate way for recruiters to confirm your profile. If you are not updated, with your most recent skills and experiences, you could miss out on some opportunities.
Find the right job faster. Register with job vacancy sites such as Alerta Emprego or specialist recruitment companies in the financial sector such as Fed Finance. These job platforms have email alerts that make it much easier to access the most suitable offers for your profile.

How to avoid this mistake: Make sure that each platform you use or have used in the past is up to date with your present job situation. 

Send a resume which does not highlight the right skills/experiencesJob descriptions can differ from one company to another, so it is important to have a well-crafted resume. Do not send the same resume repeatedly, adapt it to the company and job offer you are applying for. Be aware that sending a resume that is not adapted to the job is a big failure. It reveals that the candidate has not understood what the employer is looking for.

How to avoid this mistake: Read carefully what the requirements are and the job description, the qualifications and skills required. Through your resume show the recruiter how you fit the job through your previous experiences, your skills and knowledge.
You should create several versions of your resume tailored to each job opening.
Learn 5 tips to build a good resume for jobs in finance.

Send a resume you haven't proofread first

Be aware that your resume is the first thing a recruiter will meet you when you apply for a job. By sending in a resume with errors, you substantially decrease your chances of moving on to a second stage of the recruitment process. Also check the numbers you put on your resume and the contact information you provided.

How to avoid this mistake: A good strategy is to ask someone to review your resume. Looking at your resume repeatedly, you may not spot any mistakes or typos. Never forget that the first impression is essential.

Forget to search the company you are applying for

With the easy access through the internet, you can find information in seconds. However, take some time to look up information about the company or at least the industry.
Interviewers do not like a candidate who is not knowledgeable about the company or the position they are applying for. It is valued to go beyond the description on the company's corporate website. In finance it is important to go beyond company descriptions, to know the current situation and analyses trends in the market and sector in general.

How to avoid this mistake: Do more in-depth research and you will stand out from other candidates. Specifically mention the aspects of the organization that you find attractive, such as the main responsibilities of the offer and the company's products or services. Check the company website, LinkedIn profiles, Twitter, Facebook, read reviews about the organization and look for recent news stories that mention the company you are applying for.

Not being descriptive enough
Recruiters spend a limited amount of time with your CV, so you need to provide them with concise but well-structured job descriptions and a summary that immediately grabs their attention. Less is more. Being concise on paper takes strategy, effort and time.
Don't just state the obvious, we can easily fall into the trap of clichés and pass off an image of little creativity or uninteresting. Provide numbers and quantify achievements, put impactful phrases, highlight language skills, specific software you use, level of Excel you have and Business Intelligence tools, for example.

How to avoid this mistake: Every word, number, line and achievement should be carefully considered. Don't put irrelevant hobbies or interests or too many soft skills. Instead of detailing outdated work experience (experienced more than 15 years ago), use that precious resume space to flesh out details of more recent work and experience.

Being too descriptive

If short, non-descriptive sentences are not efficient, very long and overly descriptive sentences are also not the best. Do not describe too much as it may reveal a lack of precision and may hide relevant information.

How to avoid this mistake: Avoid putting past experiences that no longer have relevance at the current moment. Do not put too detailed information at an academic level. Remove unnecessary personal information. Formatting is also important, keep the font and formatting clean and simple.

Now that you know where you can improve, fix your mistakes as soon as possible!

At Fed Finance, not only do we have job offers in the finance sector, but we can also help you through the entire recruitment process. For valuable advice from our experts, contact the Fed Finance team.