⇢Allow Me to (Re)Introduce Myself....

A little about me, the founder of this newsletter

May 23, 2024

Hi! I’m L. C. Serrão. Thanks for stopping by! The official ‘About’ page, accessible by clicking here, gives a brief overview of my professional background. This post provides a more detailed account, including the graduate programs I have completed, examples of employers where my CV successfully passed rigorous screening processes and, of course, an overview of my extensive experience in screening CVs and interviewing candidates for internships and full-time graduate roles and the reasons that led me to policing CVs, lol. In essence, this post outlines why I can 'talk that talk' when it comes to screening applicants for graduate jobs. It also includes links to a post on how to book me for events or 1:1 sessions, my LinkedIn profile and contact information.

Remember that company that rejected your job application despite your strong CV? This newsletter will show you what probably happened.

Welcome to Keep, Ding, Ghost! A (roughly) weekly newsletter and podcast that provides feedback to graduate job applicants through FREE CV reviews.

Founder/Author: L. C. Serrão

Click here for FAQs. Click here for the Master Index.

More About Me, the Founder/Author:

About Me - as an Applicant:

The lack of feedback I received when applying for my first round of graduate roles as an undergrad at Imperial College led to 25 job rejections and forced me to decipher the lessons from those rejections on my own.

While I navigated these challenges independently, ultimately securing offers from top investment banks, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, I am confident that access to feedback would have expedited my success and spared me some anxiety and confusion.

I completed four graduate programs:

Two Analyst summer internships* (Goldman Sachs & Morgan Stanley - UK);
A full-time Analyst program (Morgan Stanley - UK) and;
A full-time Associate program (World Bank Group - US).

*I converted both internships into full-time offers.

Throughout my different levels of graduate job searches, I also successfully passed the CV screening rounds for graduate employers across various industries, including:

Accounting/Financial Services (PwC);
Consulting (Boston Consulting Group (BCG), McKinsey);
Private Equity (Carlyle, Development Partners International (DPI), Helios Investment Partners, Warburg Pincus);
Impact Investing (World Bank Group) and;
Investment Banking (Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley).

About Me - as a Graduate Recruiter:

In addition to my primary role as an investment banker, I got myself a seat at the Morgan Stanley graduate recruitment table after becoming increasingly curious about the selection process. And I’ve maintained this ‘extracurricular’ activity ever since by actively participating in and leading recruitment campaigns and activities for various employers and graduate roles across different levels (Analyst/Associate) and regions.

Hence, I've obtained 10+ years of experience helping highly selective graduate employers in the UK and the US (like Morgan Stanley and the World Bank Group) recruit candidates for internships and full-time graduate roles. My role included interviewing and assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate’s CV to decide which ones to reject and which ones to advance to the next round of the application process.

There are many ways of demonstrating skill and success. However, if you prefer some numbers, my achievements in screening candidates for top graduate jobs include being ranked #1 at the World Bank Group and #2 at Morgan Stanley.

At the World Bank Group, the ranking was based on the number of candidates who obtained an offer to join the full-time Investment Associate-level graduate program in the US (officially called the ‘Young Professionals Program*’). At Morgan Stanley, the ranking was based on the number of candidates who obtained an offer to join the Investment Banking Division (IBD)* and Global Capital Markets (GCM) Analyst-level internship program in the UK.

The Keep, Ding, Ghost newsletter builds on this experience by offering readers feedback through FREE CV reviews. Hence, Keep, Ding, Ghost demystifies the CV screening process and provides subscribers with the feedback employers often withhold from applicants.

Click here to request a FREE CV review

*I was also recruited into the World Bank Group Young Professionals Program (specifically with IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group) and the Morgan Stanley IBD summer Analyst internship and full-time programs (I converted my internship into the full-time program).

Examples of Additional Screening & Interviewing Experience:

Since 2022, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing candidates applying to the full-time post-experience London Business School Masters in Finance* course, which the Financial Times consistently ranks #1 in the world.

Since 2021, I have been a member of the Woodhouse College* Local Advisory Board for Career Ready, a UK charity primarily focused on a social mobility program that provides students with mentors, masterclasses, and summer internships with partner companies (many of which are top graduate employers). My participation on the Board includes interviewing candidates to join the annual Career Ready cohort, delivering masterclasses and running mock interview sessions.

*I am also a graduate of the London Business School Masters in Finance course and former Woodhouse College student (A Levels).

For More Information:

Follow me on LinkedIn

For more information about my professional background, click here to view my LinkedIn profile. I’ve set my privacy settings so that my LinkedIn profile is not accessible directly via Google (et al.), so you’ll be able to find it after you’ve logged into the LinkedIn app/website.

Check Out My Substack Profile

Click here to check out my Substack profile. Once there, and after looking around, you will see two options: 'subscribe' and 'follow'. If you select 'follow', you will become a follower of my profile without subscribing to the Keep, Ding, Ghost newsletter. Therefore, you won't receive any of the posts. Opting to 'subscribe' will grant you the benefits of both options, as you will be signed up for a FREE subscription to the newsletter and become a follower of my profile.

Book Me for Events or 1:1 Personalised Sessions

Feel free to reach out if you’d like to discuss booking me for FREE Keep-Ding-Ghost-themed events, school, university, or company-themed events, or personalised 1:1 virtual sessions. For more information, please click here.