Ever wondered how to make the most of your summer internship but don’t have the time to read book after book on the subject?  Well, I’m The Résumé Girl and I’ve read all the self-help career books so that you don’t have to and compiled an easy-to-use, at-a-glance “top ten list” to help you make the most of your summer internship.  So, here’s tips #1 - #5 and be sure to stay tuned until next week for tips #6 - #10:

Tip #1  Set personal goals before you startKnow what you want to get out of your internship by taking time before you start to clarify why you are doing the internship and articulate what you hope to get out of it.  Then, set personal goals for yourself by considering what ideas you would like to learn more about, skills you hope to build on, and people you would like to meet.

Tip #2  Bring legal documentation with you on your first dayYou’ll either need a passport or both your driver’s license and Social Security Card as proof of your eligibility to work in the United States.  If your getting paid for your internship, you’ll also need to be prepared to complete a federal W-2 form, so learn about what this document is beforehand and come prepared to complete it on the first day of your internship.

Tip #3  Take the initiative and meet regularly with your supervisorSome internships are more structured than others.  So, if your supervisor does not ask you to meet with him/her on a regular basis, take the initiative and ask them if you could do this.  In this meeting, take the time to ask your supervisor for both positive and negative feedback and also update him/her on the progress of your internship projects.

Tip #4  Maintain a great attitude and always be professionalApproach all tasks with enthusiasm and professionalism no matter how menial the task may be.  Remember that your internship is essentially an extended job interview and to always act professionally no matter how other interns or full-time employees might behave!

Tip #5  Keep track of your accomplishments, projects, and responsibilitiesBe sure to keep track of all of your summer accomplishments, projects, and responsibilities or hire The Résumé Girl to do this for you!  You’ll not only need a comprehensive list of your accomplishments, projects, and responsibilities to help you with your exit interview, but you’ll find that you’ll need to update your résumé at the end of your internship and having this list prepared will expedite the résumé writing process and reduce your stress significantly!

About The Résumé GirlLike my tips?  Want to learn more about how I can help you?  Visit my website www.TheResumeGirl.com to schedule your free initial consultation!

As we have discussed in previous blogs your reputation is extremely important in the close knit community of Private Equity and Hedge Funds.  But what if you are applying to a position and no one in the firm knows who you are? Then a properly worded and crafted resume becomes extremely important.

A well written and composed resume can be the difference between being asked in for an interview or having your resume put in the do not call pile.  The tough thing about creating your resume is there is no one perfect answer in regards to what a resume should look like. However certain styles seem to work better for particular industries and in some cases the preferred resume style may even vary by the roles within the industry.

The typical resume in the Private Equity and Hedge fund space consists of one page and is written in one continuous font and with very little formatting involved.  Your name and the name of you employers may be bold but otherwise there are very few changes.  The resume should also be written in bullet point format with each bullet point being a concise, action oriented comment about your position. 

Although I am not a resume expert, as an executive recruiter I have seen thousands of resumes during my career and I do have a key few points which I believe are very important:

• Concise bullet point descriptions, action oriented descriptions of your responsibilities
• No spelling or grammatical mistakes - mistakes express a non detail oriented person
• Ideally one page
• Make the resume easy to read, line up company and title as well as the date on opposite side of page
• If you are coming from an investment banking program, a deal sheet should accompany any resumes you send out
• If you have any discretionary Portfolio Management duties make sure to include your most recent returns numbers, I would also suggest you have another sheet with your performance number for at least the last 5 years including how they compare to your benchmark
• Make sure to include any awards you have received from either your employer or peers

Because a resume is such an essential component as one tries to advance their career, PrivateEquityJobs.com has decided to team up with an experienced and knowledgeable resume writer who has direct experience in the alternative investment field.

“TheResumeGirl” possesses hands on expertise in this field. She worked as an analyst for an investment banking analyst program as an analyst before joining a large Hedge Fund and has has written hundreds of financial resumes for professionals in the field. She therefore knows exactly what these firms look for in a resume, and is ready to help them find that in your resume. She will be a regular contributor to this blog and hopefully she will write some articles for our newsletter.   Her first blog, coming this Monday, we believe will be a tremendous help for those students interested in entering this field.

PrivateEquityJobs.com looks forward to working with The Resume Girl in the future.

For candidates interested in making a career in the Private Equity space they must first understand the nature of the business so they can know not only who to apply to for  a position but more importantly how to properly position themselves with each firm.

Not all Private Equity firm are alike and it is these differences which intelligent and professional candidates need to identify to be successful in obtaining a role with a Private Equity firm.  Although this is a somewhat broad brush stroke the argument can easily be made that there are two main types of Private Equity funds: transactional and operational.

A transactional fund looks for deals where they can pay a below book value or the smallest premium possible for an entity and then resell the entity in a few months or perhaps a few years for larger premium.  The funds are looking for the entity that may be out of favor at the present time but within a couple of years they believe will be highly desired.  Also they look for an entity which they believe may be worth more money broken up into smaller pieces, rather then kept whole.

These firms are looking for people with strong investment banking experience accompanied with solid transactional experience.  They want financial modelers and individuals who can identify value within the different parts of the capital structure of an entity.  These transaction oriented firms typically hire from the major investment banks and in a down market such as the present one, they may hire senior investment bankers.  The firms typically also use a lot of leverage and are very dependent on a high pace transactional marketplace.

An operational fund looks for deals where they can acquire an entity which they feel is being mis-managed or run inefficiently by present management.  Or they may be looking for deals where a company is searching for additional capital or operational expertise to perhaps increase their product line or build a new factory to increase production.  These firms are looking for deals where the can add value to the firm and hopefully make the firm and hence their investment more valuable within the next 2-5 years.

Since this value is predominately achieved by streamlining operations and enabling the firms to run more effectively these Private Equity funds look for individuals who possess operational experience.  These funds recruit heavily out of the management consultant ranks and other operating companies. They value candidate with real life experience and in many cases either proven operators or individuals with a strong operational foundation and an MBA. Yes, these operationally oriented funds do recruit from the investment banks but for much fewer, typically lower positions and even these investment banking recruits typically have operational experience.  To be promoted within these Private Equity Funds operational experience is usually a must.

Since there are two types of funds it is very important for candidates to not only understand the value their experience offers the funds, but also which funds will properly value this experience due to their firms investment strategy.  Furthermore it is very important for candidates to know what type of work they enjoy performing. Obviously there are big differences between these two strategies and the professional career paths that are associated with these two types of firms.  The type of fund chosen will depend on the individual’s strengths, what is deemed important to them and what is desired in the future.

“I am just finishing my sophomore year and had not really given much thought yet to internships. What do you think is the best way to find an internship that would help me to find a job when I graduate?” Michael,  Comment to posting on 5/2/08

Next Monday Student Blog: What to get out of your internship?

I want to personally welcome everyone to PrivateEquityJobs.com’s new blog. Our hope with this blog is to provide another tool to help educate industry professionals and passionate students about the private equity and hedge fund industries. Furthermore we hope to provide qualified knowledge in regards to the career paths and potential employment opportunities within these specific investment funds and the alternative investment space as a whole.

My hope is that with the help of our community we can become an interactive center of knowledge focused on careers and potential careers within the alternative investment space. I have spent the last 10+ years of my professional life working as an Executive Recruiter and Consultant to Private Equity firm and Hedge Funds.

This area of investing changes quickly and the employment opportunities in the space change on a regular basis as well. To fully understand the changes in the employment landscape you must understand the bigger picture of the alternative investment space; I intend for this blog to provide the solid understanding of the industry that you will need to be successful.

As the blog grows you will see that we have invited guest bloggers to write about certain subjects and provide for us another perspective on issues. We will try to make this blog as interactive as possible and ask that individuals with questions address those questions through our comment section at the bottom of each blog. I will do my best to answer each question either in the comment section or sometimes as another blog entry.

Thank you for your interest in our blog and PrivateEquityJobs.com, I look forward to hearing from our readers and building a dialogue with the community.

Simms Browning Founder & CEO PrivateEquityJobs.com