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Internships
Editor's Picks
Announcing Vault's 2025 Internship Rankings!
We’re thrilled today to share our 2025 Internship Rankings! The Internship Rankings highlight the top programs in more than 30 categories. Vault’s rankings include the Most Prestigious...
Editor's Picks
Top 10 Intern Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
A Guide to Networking During Your Internship
Interning at Lenovo: An Inside Look
What It’s Like to Intern for the LA Dodgers
Resumes
How to Write a Strong Resume Without Quantifiable Examples
Nowadays, there seems to be a lot of pressure on job seekers to have quantifiable examples on their resumes. Sure, hiring managers love to see how you increased revenue by 30%, cut costs by 15%, or boosted engagement by 200%, but what if your job didn’t involve numbers?
5 Ways to Highlight Leadership Skills on Your Student Resume
Demonstrating leadership experience on your resume can set you apart from the competition, even without an extensive work history. Highly valued by employers, leadership skills indicate your ability to take initiative, motivate others, and drive results.
How to Write an Internship Resume That Stands Out
Landing a summer internship is a crucial step in building experience and setting the foundation for a successful career. However, with competition high, your resume needs to stand out.
10 Essential Soft Skills Your Resume Needs in 2025
In today’s rapidly evolving job market, technical skills might get you noticed, but soft skills land the job. Employers in 2025 are prioritizing candidates who demonstrate adaptability, collaboration, and a host of other interpersonal strengths that align with ever-changing workplace dynamics.
5 Common Cover Letter Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Crafting a standout cover letter is essential in today’s competitive job market. A strong cover letter complements your resume, personalizing your application and demonstrating why you fit the role.
Resume Action Words That Get You Hired (with Industry-Specific Examples)
Your resume is your personal marketing pitch, and every word matters. Strong, dynamic verbs will inject energy into your resume, helping you stand out from the competition while catching the hiring manager’s attention; however, it’s not just about using any action words—it’s about using the right ones for the job and industry you’re targeting.
5 Common Resume Mistakes Students Make
If you’re a student or recent grad, your resume is often the first impression you’ll make on potential employers. This means avoiding resume mistakes is essential for creating an application that stands out—and for landing that all-important initial interview.
Breaking into Fintech: How to Craft a Resume and Cover Letter That Stands Out
The fintech industry is one of the fastest-growing job markets, combining the best of finance and technology. Breaking into fintech or advancing within it requires more than just experience—you need a strong resume and cover letter that proves you’re a perfect fit for the industry’s fast-paced, innovation-driven environment.
How to Recession-Proof Your Resume
The job market can be daunting during uncertain economic times, especially for students entering the workforce. The good news is a well-crafted resume can make all the difference in helping you stand out and secure opportunities.
5 Ways to Prep Your Resume for 2025
Crafting a standout resume for 2025 involves more than listing qualifications. Resumes must adapt to meet the expectations of employers and advanced recruitment technologies.
Is Your Resume Boring?
Your resume is your first impression. It’s the handshake before the handshake, but if your resume is dull, generic, or overly complicated, hiring managers might glance over it and move on.
How to Talk About Your Internship During Your Job Search
Internships strengthen your skill set and boost your confidence. They also give you experience to talk about during your job search.
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Cover Letters
5 Common Cover Letter Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Crafting a standout cover letter is essential in today’s competitive job market. A strong cover letter complements your resume, personalizing your application and demonstrating why you fit the role.
Cover Letter Tips for Recent Graduates
Searching for your first job after graduation can seem daunting, but with the right tools, like a polished cover letter, you can stand out from other candidates. Here are five tips to craft an impressive cover letter as a recent graduate.
6 Cover Letter Mistakes to Avoid
An effective cover letter has the potential to be one of the most powerful tools in your job search arsenal. It can provide a strong introduction that grabs the hiring manager’s attention, and may provide further details that aren’t necessarily included on your resume.
Cover Letter Tips for Creative Careers
Good advice– on anything these days– is hard to find. But in no area is it so woefully inadequate as cover letters for creative professionals looking to thrive in creative careers.
4 Great Tips for an Effective Cover Letter
When you’re locked into a serious job search it’s incredibly important to stand out from the multitude of other applicants, as things can get pretty competitive and hiring managers won’t waste their time on dull and repetitive applications. One way to help yourself stand out is with a great cover letter, which just so happens to be today’s topic.
7 Tips for Writing a Cover Letter with No Experience
Applying for a job when you have no, or limited, experience is daunting. Here we look at a crucial part of your application—the cover letter.
5 Benefits of Cover Letters
Including a cover letter is a great way to express your interest in a company and stand out against other candidates. Many candidates choose not to include cover letters, so putting in a little extra work can really go the extra mile for you in the long run.
Selling Yourself in Your Cover Letter
Your cover letter has two important roles: (1) it's a marketing document designed to sell a product (you), and (2): it's a business document that, while giving a glimpse of your personality, needs to remain professional. It therefore stands to reason that lessons from those who sell, and those who write for business, can teach us a little something about composing an effective letter.
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Interviewing How-Tos
How to Ace a Phone Interview [VIDEO]
Mastering phone interviews is a great way to kick off the hiring process on a positive note. Here are some tips that will help you ace your next phone interview and get you one step closer to your next role.
Dressing for Interviews Based on Industry and Role
Making a strong first impression is important in any interview. Dressing for interviews can set the tone for your potential employer’s view of you, influencing their perception before you even speak.
Stand Out in a Job Interview: Clever Strategies to Make a Lasting Impression
When it comes to nailing a job interview, preparation and professionalism are key. But what happens when every candidate has prepared, dressed the part, and rehearsed their stories of teamwork and grit?
How to Answer ‘What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses?’ [VIDEO]
During an interview, it's common to be asked about your strengths and weaknesses. This Vault video provides some tips for how you should, and shouldn't, answer these questions.
Interview Tips for Highlighting Your Greatest Moments
Interviewing, like the Olympics, is a competition. Typically, many people interview (compete) for only one open position (the gold medal).
How to Create an Effective Phone Interview Cheat Sheet
Potential employers will often use phone interviews as a screening tool, allowing them to narrow down the list of candidates. For job seekers, this initial contact is an opportunity to make a great first impression.
How to Talk Positively About a Negative Employer [VIDEO]
During an interview, you can encounter questions that involve a previous or current employer. When answering these questions, it's important to be truthful while also being positive and professional.
Can You Use ChatGPT to Help Prepare for an Interview?
These days, people are using artificial intelligence for all kinds of tasks, but can ChatGPT be used to help you prepare for a job interview? By feeding ChatGPT a few prompts designed to get answers to common interview questions, we’ve come to the conclusion that while it’s a great tool for interview prep, there are still a few things to watch out for.
9 Essential Tips for Virtual Interview Success
Even before the pandemic, virtual interviews began replacing in-person interviews, in part because they’re cheaper and more efficient. Now, post-pandemic, virtual interviews are the norm.
How to Dress for Video Interview Success
We got used to video interviews during the pandemic. They've become the norm, and it's a good bet they're here to stay.
How to Be Persuasive in Video Interviews and Virtual Meetings
Andres Lares is a negotiation and influence expert. He’s the managing partner of Shapiro Negotiations Institute, which provides negotiation, influence, and sales training to top companies like Bank of America, Boeing, Bristol-Myers Squibb, ESPN, and Verizon.
How to Decode Banking Firm Culture During the Interview Process
With the banking industry often requiring employees to work long hours, you may be wondering how to manage work/life balance. The interview process can give you the opportunity to decode a firm's culture and better understand how to navigate work/life balance at the firm.
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Interview Questions & Answers
How to Answer Big 4 Interview Questions Like a Pro: Part I
In the past we’ve gone over tricky, unusual, and downright tough interview questions, but navigating an interview at a Big 4 firm is another challenge altogether. Today, we’re going to kick off our giant-sized coverage of real questions Big 4 firms ask during job interviews, complete with how you should answer.
How to Answer Big 4 Interview Questions Like a Pro: Part II
Welcome back to our continuing coverage of Big 4 interview questions. If you haven’t read part one yet you can do so here.
Master These 5 Challenging Wall Street Interview Questions
Landing a job on Wall Street requires more than financial expertise. During a job interview, candidates face a gauntlet of brain teasers, hypothetical scenarios, and ethics-based dilemmas designed to test their creativity, critical thinking, and integrity.
Fintech Interview Questions: What to Expect and How to Answer Like a Pro
Landing a job at a fintech company requires more than just technical skills. Fintech firms seek candidates who can blend financial expertise with tech-savvy problem-solving and a deep understanding of industry trends.
Mastering Interview Questions from Top Accounting Firms: Part I
If you’re looking to get into a career in the world of accounting, you’ll need to be prepared for a rather challenging interview process. Top accounting firms want to know that you’re organized, resilient, and able to negotiate fast-paced environments.
Mastering Interview Questions from Top Accounting Firms: Part II
Welcome back to our coverage of real interview questions asked by top accounting firms. If you haven’t checked out part one yet, you can do so here.
Mastering Tough Interview Questions: Part I
Job interviews can be stressful regardless of your level of experience, or whether you’re interviewing for a full-time job or an internship. In the past, we’ve gone over many tricky and unusual interview questions, but there’s always more ground to cover.
Mastering Tough Interview Questions: Part II
Welcome back to our three-part series on tough interview questions. Last time we went over a series of challenging questions designed to test your professional skills, as well as your personality and work style, so if you haven’t read part one you can do so here.
Mastering Tough Interview Questions: Part III
If you’re looking to challenge yourself to some of the toughest interview questions out there, look no further. Today we’re going to show you how to answer even more of the most challenging interview questions you can encounter during a job search.
How to Answer ‘What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses?’ [VIDEO]
During an interview, it's common to be asked about your strengths and weaknesses. This Vault video provides some tips for how you should, and shouldn't, answer these questions.
Unusual Interview Questions and How to Answer Them: Part I
During a job interview, it’s important to stay on your toes. In this two-part series, we’re going to go over some interesting, quirky, and truly perplexing interview questions.
Unusual Interview Questions and How to Answer Them: Part II
Welcome back to our series on unusual interview questions. If you haven’t read part one yet, you can at the link.
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A Day in the Life
A Day in the Life: Assistant Brand Manager
Interested in brand management? Take a look at a typical day in the life of an assistant brand management.
A Day in the Life: Assistant Account Executive
9:00 AM: Arrive at office. Very tired.
A Day in the Life: Social Media Manager
Ever wonder what a social media manager does all day? If so, check out the below: one social media manager tells Vault what she does during each minute of her day at work.
A Day in the Life: Staff Assistant on Capitol Hill
8:30 AM: Come in to open up the office. Since you are the first person a visitor sees upon entering the office, it is your responsibility to ensure that the reception area is neatly kept and that there are plenty of brochures about things to do in Washington, DC.
A Day in the Life: Design Assistant for Interior Design Firm
8:00 AM: Arrive at the office before the rest of the staff, brew coffee and ensure the office is in order. Wash dishes left over from yesterday's client meeting.
A Day in the Life: Entry-Level Scientist
8:15 PM: I come in and check my e-mail then plan the day. I usually have to communicate with the Operations Group (they run the high-throughput screens) to check on the status of ongoing experiments so I can go from primary to secondary characterizations.
A Day in the Life : Assistant Wind Developer for an Independent Power Company (Energy)
8:00 AM: After waking up in the Holiday Inn in a remote part of Iowa, you get in your rented SUV and drive into town to have a breakfast meeting at the local diner with the mayor. Your development team has optioned a hilltop in the area for developing a windpower facility, and you are now in the process of negotiating a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT agreement) with the town.
A Day in the Life: Entry-Level Tax Associate at a Big Four Accounting Firm
8:00 AM: Arrive at work. I like to get in a little earlier than others (most other people in the office get in around 9:00 a.m.
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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
How to Protect LGBTQIA+ Colleagues from Workplace Harassment
Workplace harassment and violence disproportionately affect the LGBTQIA+ community. In the U.S.
Influential Women in Tech and What We Can Learn From Them
In 1889, Anna Bissel became the first female CEO in the United States, breaking traditional gender roles and setting an example for generations of women to come. Fast forward to today, 10 percent of Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs.
What Companies Can Do to Support LGBTQ Employees
Larger companies, such as multinational corporations, exist not only to provide a product or a service, or to drive profits for their investors, but they also have a role to play on the world stage. Large corporations can influence public opinion across the globe with their stance on any number of social issues, along with their advertising and charitable endeavors; however, it is far too easy for a company to simply say they take a stance on either side of an issue, without ever really doing anything.
5 Companies with Great LGBTQ Resource Groups
In recent times, many companies have begun establishing their own, employee-run resource groups. These resource groups provide support for employees of various backgrounds, while allowing individuals to come together under common values and interests.
4 Ways to Support Your Transgender Colleagues, During and After Pride
This year’s Pride Month is a bittersweet one, perfectly captured by the chosen theme: Peace, Love, Revolution. At the time of writing this, the ACLU is tracking more than 490 anti-LGBTQ+ laws on the dockets of nearly all state legislatures, the overwhelming majority of which target transgender people.
Juneteenth: What Companies Are Doing to Celebrate
In the wake of civil unrest and the death of George Floyd in 2020, Juneteenth has become more widely recognized and is now an official federal holiday following bills that were passed by the Senate and the House in 2021. As of the present, many companies are celebrating Juneteenth in a variety of ways, with some offering their employees time off, or by raising awareness with events or promotions.
A Brief History of LGBTQ Equality in the Workplace
We all spend a considerable amount of time in our lives in the workplace. It stands to reason, then, that many social and cultural movements over the years have stemmed from discrimination in the workplace, or from work environments that are otherwise toxic to a group of people.
Being Yourself: Part II
Welcome back, friends. Today we will be continuing our journey towards unlocking our authentic selves.
Being Yourself: Part I
Whether you’re a student, a recent graduate, or a 40-plus-hour-a-week veteran, by now you’ve likely noticed how quickly our precious free time can slip away. When you’re caught in the constant motion of everyday life, it can sometimes be difficult to take time to yourself and discover (or rediscover) who you truly are, and what motivates you.
4 Career Lessons from Janelle Monáe
The multitalented singer, songwriter, actor, performer, producer, and activist Janelle Monáe has had a busy quarantine. In addition to fighting food insecurity amid the Covid-19 pandemic and starring in the second season of Amazon’s Homecoming, the eight-time Grammy-nominated artist was the subject of two popular podcasts: Marc Maron’s WTF and NPR’s Fresh Air.
The Difference Between How Black and White Professionals Rate Their Firms in Diversity
Each year, Vault surveys thousands of banking and accounting professionals, asking them to rate their firms in several workplace categories. These categories include compensation, benefits, hours, work/life balance, training, relationships with managers, promotion policies, and business outlook.
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