“Series 7”, otherwise known as the “General Securities Representative Qualification Examination” (GS) is an exam administered by FINRA which measures one’s competency as a general securities representative.
In the financial market, being able to buy and sell securities is a necessary asset in many positions. Should you be putting this on your resume?
Should You Put Series 7 On a Resume?
A series 7 license should be included by anyone in a financial or economic field. It allows stockbrokers to sell securities, and those in other financial industries can use a series 7 license to prove their investment knowledge. For fields outside of finances, series 7 should not be included.
Because the Series 7 license is a necessity of a stockbroker, it is a given that it needs to be included on a resume. For financial advisors within the stock or securities markets, the series 7 license is an integral part of their careers.
Series 7 is the entry-level license for workers in the industry, so the need to include it on a resume is high.
For those with little practical experience with finances, Series 7 is reassurance to an employer that the employee is competent and knowledgeable.
If you are applying to a field outside of finances or economics, the utility of a Series 7 license drops significantly.
Unlike other relevant accomplishments such as having done research or knowing how best to do remote work, Series 7’s financial expertise does not transfer well to other fields.
It is not an inherently understood skill, therefore should not be included on a resume that it is not applicable to.
Do not try including it on a resume by adding an explanation, because it would take up too much space.
Keep Series 7 on your financial resume and leave it off any other type of resume.
Does a Series 7 License expire?
Series 7 licenses do not expire so long as you continue to work at a FINRA member firm or a self-regulatory organization (SRO). If you leave a financial firm, you have two years to find alternate employment before the license expires.
You must also continue to satisfy the continuing education requirements while holding a Series 7 license. Every two to three years, an online training session must be completed to keep the knowledge of the securities representative current. You can read more about this requirement on the FINRA website.
In some cases, expired certifications or licenses are okay to include on a resume. Series 7 is not one of these cases, because it is an essential part of the job.
Never include an expired Series 7 license on a resume, and be honest with an employer if you do not have it.
“How Can You Put Series 7 On a Resume?”
Series 7 can be included in the summary section or in the certifications/skills sections. Include the name of the certifying body and “Series 7 license”. For the summary section, keep it as simple as possible and without a date. For the certifications section, you may include the date if an employer asks.
How to include Series 7 in the summary section
Series 7 should be written into the summary section as a sentence without personal pronouns. It does not need to be flourished with many details, but rather written into a sentence about your present profession, and followed by your current work or your career goals.
Do not list a date in this section.
The summary section on a resume should be as the title indicates: a short summary of your skills and who you are as a professional.
This section typically includes your career, your years of experience, and any necessary licenses for your industry.
Because the summary section is always the top section below the name and contact information, it is a good place to include such relevant information.
An employer should be able to easily find necessary information within seconds, so write it plainly and clearly.
The summary section is nearly always formatted with the header centered on the page, and the body text aligned on the left. This helps keep the sections from being too left-heavy and looking cluttered.
When formatted correctly, the summary section may look like this:
Summary
Skilled financial services professional with over 5 years in the industry of financial strategies and investment banking. FINRA Series 7 license holder and fluent Spanish/native English speaker. Working to secure the financial futures of clients by assisting them in growing their assets.
How to include Series 7 in the certifications/skills sections
Series 7 should be written as a short bullet point in the certifications or skills section. It is not necessary to include the date unless the employer specifically asks in the job ad. Include the certifying body and label Series 7 as a license.
When including Series 7 as a skill or certification, it is recommended to move this section above the experience section.
This is because like with programming languages for a programmer, Series 7 is a necessary license for a securities representative. This section may be renamed to “Relevant skills” or “Highlights” to best fit all the relevant information in.
Be careful not to list Series 7 as a certificate or a certification. While it can be placed in the certifications section, it is technically a license and should be referred to as such in the resume.
When formatted properly, a Series 7 license will look like the following:
Certifications
In the case of a relevant skills section, you should only include extremely relevant skills to the job which you are applying for.
At the very top of a resume, you want to be sure that you do not list anything which does not pertain to the job. This may look like the following:
Relevant Skills
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Formatted on your resume, it should look like this (see above).
It is not recommended to put too many skills in the relevant skills section.
However, it is a good idea to include your specialties here so that the potential employer knows how you can best fit into their company.
Hey fellow Linguaholics! It’s me, Marcel. I am the proud owner of linguaholic.com. Languages have always been my passion and I have studied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics and Sinology at the University of Zurich. It is my utmost pleasure to share with all of you guys what I know about languages and linguistics in general.