Resume & Pitch
With an award winning career as a lender in a division of a major bank, Gail faced the sudden and unsuspected elimination of her job when her employer merged with another company. Despite her previous success in both sales and lending, she longed to return to law, where she started her career some 15 years prior.
As a single mother raising twins, she wanted to move from Chicago to Atlanta to be closer to her parents. Her job search focused on finding an in-house legal position that would leverage her municipal lending skills while allowing time for her family. Read more...
Gail identified the job of her dreams and submitted her resume online. After being swiftly rejected, she turned to Get What You Set for a fail-proof strategy to accelerate her job search. Armed with a new GWYS resume and pitch that illuminated her professional value, she re-applied for the position.
Gail soon found herself up against four other candidates with Ivy League law school degrees and experience with some of the largest law firms and banks in the industry. Her prospects were seemingly nil. Using Get What You Set's resources and strategies, however, Gail got the job by positioning herself as an experienced relationship manager who can deliver the outcomes that the company was seeking.
Municipal lending attorney with broad background working for financial institutions with an emphasis in public finance, healthcare finance and commercial lending, corporate and partnership law, collections and bankruptcy. Experienced in documenting, structuring and negotiating tax-exempt and taxable municipal lease purchase agreements, qualified 501(c)(3) bonds for hospitals, industrial development bonds (IDBs), and commercial loan and lease structures. Knowledgeable in applicable legal, tax and accounting issues for public and healthcare transactions.
Get This: Okay, and then what? Gail's summary is underwhelming and reads like a generic job description. Most municipal leasing attorneys deal with the disciplines she states, so what's new that actually sets her apart from her peers? Hiring managers want to know how you execute your job functions to solve problems and capitalize on opportunities. Thus, Gail should have articulated how she performed these functions in a way that enriched her employer by delivering profit, delighting customers, etc.
Also, the last sentence is a waste of space because Gail couldn't possibly do the job in the first place without this knowledge base. More compelling, however, is her unique ability to apply this knowledge in the corporate eco-system to give her employers a marketable edge.
After - Getting It!
Seeking an in-house Legal Counsel role in a top-tier municipal finance company to leverage an award winning 20-year career as an attorney and lender executing nearly $1 billion in transactions.
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Gail's Resume: Most Recent Job - Not Getting It!
XYZ Financial* 1990-2006
Vice President and Manager, Public Finance Group, Chicago, IL
Responsibilities and duties:
- Directed origination efforts nationally in the Public Finance industry, specifically working with governmental entities, hospitals, institutions of higher education, other not-for-profit organizations, federal agencies, private corporations and portfolio acquisitions.
- Developed and supported manufacturers/distributor/VAR programs, implemented new public sector products, client support and development, oversight of credit and documentation processes, management of $300 million portfolio, syndications, and educational support.
- Responsibilities included direct originations and product management supporting marketing staff of 80 sales officers producing an annual volume of approximately $200 million per year of public sector and healthcare transactions.
- Assisted in facilitating the flow of transactions, including, pricing, transaction structuring, proposal development, credit underwriting, documentation, funding, and portfolio management.
XYZ Financial 1990-2006
Vice President and Manager, Public Finance Group, Chicago, IL
XYZ is a boutique municipal finance company recognized as one of the top 5 leaders in its sector. Served as a Commercial Loan Officer assigned to support government entities, hospitals, institutions of higher education, other not-for-profit organizations, federal agencies, private corporations and portfolio acquisitions. Key accomplishments:
- Transacted $1 billion of new originations over the past 15 years and exceeded sales quotas for 52 of 60 quarters. Went from Rookie of the Year to being awarded the Chairman's Prize for Outstanding Performance for the past 5 years.
- Outperformed the competition by developing new financial products that addressed a changing marketplace. This enabled the company to increase margins by 150-200 basis points (over a plan of 50) and thereby net $80 million in incremental and unexpected revenue over the past 5 years.
- Built an extensive rolodex of key sector leaders by cultivating positive working relationships and consistently delivering valued solutions.
- Leveraged 5 years as outside legal counsel and formal credit training to provide clients with a more balanced and realistic perspective of the products, while mitigating the risks to the company.
GET THIS: Since Gail's objective was to transition from sales back to law, she used Get What You Set strategies to ensure that her bullets reflected how she leveraged her legal, transactional and relationship management expertise to make bottom line contributions.
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