During his freshman year, Matson Anderson visited Robinson’s Career Advancement Center (CAC) for a resume review. The content got totally gutted.
“The only thing that didn’t change was my name,” he said.
Because of that makeover, Anderson’s resume stood out to employers when he began vying for jobs. He started as a financial services representative at E*TRADE in November, a month before finishing his B.B.A. in computer information systems. He earned a B.B.A. in finance last summer.
“My resume had featured service industry jobs that weren’t pertinent to the positions I was applying for,” he said. “The best advice I got was to highlight my education, like practical classes and projects I completed.”
For example, Anderson participated in Panthers Accelerated Career Experience (PACE), a course that operates less like a sit-down lecture and more like a corporate consulting project. Alongside a team of five peers, Anderson collaborated with senior-level staff from the Southeast Regional Cooperative (SERC), a nonprofit supporting Feeding America food banks in seven Southeastern states, to address product logistics issues. The network of food banks had been storing produce incorrectly, causing inventory to prematurely spoil. Anderson’s group wrote a training guide to ensure participating food banks’ procurement and storage practices maximize produce shelf life. The team also made cost reduction recommendations, such as stashing produce in mesh bags instead of cardboard boxes.
“PACE helped me learn how to conduct myself professionally,” Anderson said. “Working in a group can be difficult because you have to coordinate with other people’s schedules, and everyone doesn’t think the same way. Sometimes you butt heads with people, but it turns out they’re actually right and you’re wrong.”
On his resume, Anderson also drew attention to a Portfolio Management Practicum class. As part of a major project, Anderson and a group of classmates were presented with a mock scenario to construct and manage a security portfolio. Given three bonds with different interest rates, the students calculated the convexity (the relationship of bond prices to changes in interest rates) and duration of each bond.
The CAC’s involvement in Anderson’s career preparation didn’t stop at a resume overhaul. He not only met an E*TRADE recruiter at a CAC career fair but also heavily prepared for the interview with La’Kesha Hughes, associate director of undergraduate career advancement. Many job candidates think they should prepare and memorize responses to a litany of possible questions. But overpreparation can make interviewees sound robotic and canned. Hughes convinced Anderson to approach the interview like a natural conversation.
“I told a story about myself,” Anderson said. “Even if the questions veered away from my personal story, I had a foundation to come back to and freely talk about.”
Anderson’s new employer is sponsoring his FINRA Series 7 - General Securities Representative and NASAA Series 63 - Uniform Securities State Law exams. Until Anderson obtains his licenses, he’ll help clients with trades.
“I’ll eventually move into a better role anywhere within the firm,” he said. “It will be based on where I’m needed and the skills I showcase this year.”