Sep 7, 2009

Post #3: Job Application Letter

Company's Name: Credit Suisse

Position: APAC Summer Analyst – Investment Banking Department with Credit Suisse, in Singapore

Job Description:
Our ten-week Summer Analyst Program for penultimate year students gives you outstanding exposure to business and the financial services industry.

Whether you’re working alongside a Full-Time Analyst or staffed as the only Analyst on a deal team, our summer program gives you the tools you’ll need to jump start your career in finance and investment banking.

As a summer program participant, you will have the opportunity to work on deals in your group, gaining hands-on experience and working on all aspects of advising and transacting business for our clients. Our smaller class size allows for broader responsibilities hence giving Summer Analysts wider exposure. Summer Analysts are formally reviewed at the mid and end points of the summer, and offers are made on the last day of the program, enabling you to return to school with a full-time position secured.

Responsibilities:
Responsibilities may include analyzing companies using financial modeling and valuation techniques, examining the impact of a transaction on a client’s capital structure and analyzing the consequences of a merger or acquisition.

Requirements:
Interested candidates must be a penultimate year student from a Bachelor or Master’s degree program and have a strong interest in building a career in Asia. Credit Suisse is noted for the diversity of its employees but seeks candidates with a common set of abilities – highly motivated, creative individuals who have demonstrated academic achievement and have the ability to work independently while still operating as a member of a team. Strength in verbal and written communication as well as computer literacy is essential. In addition, we look for intelligent, driven and hardworking candidates with consistent leadership skills shown through involvement in school activities. Business mandarin skills are essential for all HK IBD positions.









#4A - 401, KUOK FOUNDATION HOUSE,
21 Kent Ridge Crescent,
Singapore 119280
Ph: +65-90923924
E-mail: u0602666@nus.edu.sg

September 5, 2009

Human Resources Manager, Credit Suisse,
1 Raffles Link, #03-01 South Lobby,
Singapore 039393

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to introduce myself and express my keen interest in doing Internship at Credit Suisse as an APAC Summer Analyst. I came to know about the position through the NUS Career Center website and the job description attracted me immensely. In addition, I strongly believe that I am a good match for this job, and here are the reasons.

I am an honors year student at the National University of Singapore. Being a full scholarship holder from China, I am able to adapt to a new environment very quickly and strive under pressure. Furthermore, I went to the University of British Columbia, Canada last semester under the student exchange program with another scholarship. The experience of studying abroad makes me become a fast learner and forges me to be a highly self-motivated person.

Majoring in Quantitative Finance, I have learnt quite a number of modules which are relevant to the position I am applying for. For example, I learnt Corporate Finance which included a real case study on analyzing Californian Plat Protection’s acquisition of Pinkerton’s. Our project turned out to be very successful, and I had done the major part of the acquisition valuation. Moreover, financial modeling is an essential component of my course curriculum, and the topic of my Honors Project is Pricing Mortgage-backed Securities, though it is not directly do valuations on companies, the basic valuation techniques are similar. Hence, I believe that I have the abilities to meet the job responsibilities. At the same time, being an earnest learner, I am willing to pick up any additional skills during the job.

Moreover, I am a person that can work independently while still operating as a member of a team. My experience in NUS Chinese Debate Team let me have a full understanding of the importance of both the individual’s effort and teamwork. Only adequate self-preparation plus the great efforts and good communications of the whole team can lead us to the success of a debate match. In addition, I have done a lot of group projects in various modules so far, and I can always finish my parts with high quality, and cooperate with the team mates efficiently to achieve good results for the projects.

Last but not least, as mentioned in the resume, I got leadership training as a volunteer in the QQS2007. Also, being an assistant of the vice president in the debate team, I also got the chance to improve my leadership skills in practice.

In conclusion, my skills and qualifications are exactly what are required for this job. The opportunity to be a member of this Summer Analyst Program will be a fulfilling experience and great treasure for me. I would greatly appreciate having the chance to further discuss my skills and qualifications with you and how I could be of service to the company. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.


Yours sincerely,


____________
Zheng, Rui

Enclosure: Resume

3 comments:

  1. I think this job application letter is good and I would give you an interview.

    However, I think you could improve in several aspects:

    “In addition, I have done a lot of group projects in various modules so far, and I can always finish my parts with high quality, and cooperate with the team mates efficiently to achieve good results for the projects.”

    This sentence should be divided into two.
    It could be clearer if you can mention your ability to work as an independent individually and your ability to cooperate as a group member in different sentences. For group projects, you should emphasize more on your ability to work with others to produce high-quality work. In addition, you could mention your individual projects/assignments to show your personal achievements.

    Moreover, in my opinion, “can” implies your ability to perform the work, not what you did, so I think past tense would be a better choice (finished and cooperated).From your past experience, you could claim that you will be able to work well in team.

    I think leadership skills are important requirements for this job. Hence, it would be better if you can elaborate more in the “leadership skills” paragraph. You could list your responsibilities and duties as a leader. Your leadership philosophy could be mentioned as well.

    Van

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  2. First, some minor things:
    Second paragraph, I think "strive under pressure" should be "thrive under pressure". To strive is to work hard, whereas to thrive is to do well.
    Third paragraph, I think "taken/took" would be better than "learnt" when talking about modules. I'm not sure whether or not it is incorrect, but it sounds a bit odd.

    And on to something more important:
    I agree with Van and think you should elaborate more on the leadership experience you mentioned. You could mention what you did, like whether or not you helped plan meeting/training times, or if you helped motivate your teammates.

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  3. Personally,I admire your boldness to apply to banking area as we know they always requires the most talented and hard-working students.You indeed have a good start!

    Why banks always recruit biz major students? I think we could also ace in this area with our logic and critical science background. I think you did a great leadership job in debate team.Could add in more details about it!

    Hope all the best in your final year !

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