***All individuals are available for contact and further reference via LinkedIn***

“Opening City Doors has played a paramount role in my application for summer internships and eventually helped me secure a ‘Bulge Bracket’ trading position. Paul is exceptionally well-equipped with knowledge about the financial industry and has an excellent knowledge on the application process. It is both enjoyable and beneficial to work with him every session. Paul is really passionate about helping students who wish to start a career in the City and I will never forget his help to start my career.”

Mingyang Ni, BSc Statistics with Finance, LSE

 

“Opening City Doors is the reason I am now in employment and enjoying working life after university. I approached Paul McCormick regarding my resume and job searching approach and he immediately jumped to my aid. Within two days, I had liaised with Paul several times until we formed the perfect CV for my sector and thus, secured several interviews a short while after.An invaluable service to all graduates, not just in banking!

Jonathan, Nuclear Engineering Graduate, Lancaster University

 

“Hi Paul. I have some good news! I received this morning an offer from RBC for a summer internship I am so grateful to you for having trained me”.

Tom Assouline, ESCP Business School 

 

“Paul McCormick of Opening City Doors is the reason I secured, not one, but two Internship offers from leading financial market service providers”.

Colin Nelson, Economics Student, Lancaster University 

 

“Opening City Doors has given me an invaluable assistance across my whole job application process from telephone interviews, Covering Letter tips and full technical interviews. OCD’s Market Knowledge section has given me the information to sound like a business insider at an interview! I have also invested in OCD’s 1-2-1 service with Paul which has enabled me to feel confident at interviews with a pre-interview conversation focusing my knowledge of the worlds Financial Markets. Paul and Opening City Doors has provided me a kick start to job search and career prospects for which I shall be forever grateful.” 

Avinash Gossain, Mechanical Engineering. University of Birmingham.

 

“I have known Paul McCormick since October 2016 as my career coach. It goes without doubt that job hunting in the UK can be very tricky, especially for international students. Paul manages to provide the support and motivation to succeed in this very complicated task, he is both an outstanding professional and a wonderful person. Through all the stages of recruitment process I had a feeling that there is somebody who has faith in me and believes in my success, working with Paul definitely has made me very well-prepared and also very confident. By March 2017, we, as a real team, managed to secure a job in London, the job I really wanted, my dream job. I would like to thank Paul for all his time, effort and attitude. He is a very enthusiastic and optimistic person and I was very lucky to have met him.”

Katya Shauliuha, MSc Finance, Lancaster University Management School

 

What differentiates Paul from other career coaches is his extensive market knowledge. He knows the industry inside-out and is an excellent teacher who’s always happy to answer any of your queries however urgent they may be. I managed to secure an internship in a tier 1 financial institution and all the credit for it goes to Mr McCormick. I am very lucky to have been working with him and I will always value his advice. 

Dominika Stylinska, Accounting & Finance, Lancaster University

 

With the help of Paul and his unique insight and knowledge of the  financial industry I have secured an offer for a Spring Week position at a bulge bracket bank. Paul has helped me greatly with polishing my CV, reviewing my cover letters and preparing me for interviews. The communication has been outstanding throughout and it is clear that Paul really enjoys helping in any way that he can. In the end I feel like it has been a very good investment for my future career and I am sure that I will use his services in the future.”

Kim Olsson, Economics & Finance, Exeter University

 

I worked with Paul at Opening City Doors and together we rapidly improved my application, interview and Assessment Centre skills so much so that I have now secured a year’s placement at the Fixed Income division of major asset management firm. Furthermore, due to Paul’s insight and training, I was offered a position from all 3 divisions of this firm – the first time that had happened in their history. I could not recommend Paul and Opening City Doors more highly!   

Alex Branford, BSc Business Studies, Lancaster University

 

“Paul has given me excellent support and advice throughout the application process of the various positions I’ve applied to and it was this invaluable assistance that was one of the main reasons for why I managed to secure my summer internship position. Every time I approached him for some help regarding a specific aspect of the application process, he was always keen and willing to help me out. It was clear to me that Paul was extremely passionate about helping graduates achieve their goals”.

Adrian Kwan, BSc Economics Student, London School of Economics  

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“My success in getting a Risk Management Internship Programme would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve without the professional assistance of Paul McCormick. He offered me tremendous support in building my CV and Cover Letters. However, what was truly amazing is how thoroughly Paul prepared me for my interviews. Paul has also enabled me to find some truly unique career opportunities in the financial sector and has provided with the information to succeed at several interviews.”

Kirill Ivanov, Economics & Spanish, Lancaster University

 

“I had the opportunity to work with Paul over the course of 2 months. At the first meeting, Paul was meticulous in finding my strengths and immediately put ideas together to restructure my CV to make it stand out in the competitive job market. Paul also offered tailored cover letter services which were written by him very quickly (1-2 hours) and to a quality that would usually take me 1-2 days. This definitely saved me time as I could focus on my interview technique in which Paul also helped by going through rigorous but necessary training through Skype.

Paul’s services are very comprehensive and high quality at the same time! I have secured a Trainee advisor position at St. James’s Place in networking through one of Paul’s contacts. With my ultimate goal to work in Tokyo or Shanghai one day, I will still seek career advice and services from Paul.”

Prajesh Patel, Economics, Queen Mary, University of London 

 

“As a final year student, Opening City Doors has been an invaluable asset to secure a place on a prestigious Graduate Programme. With the 1-2-1 service offered by Paul I was able to build confidence in areas that had previously let me down in my career search. Helping with my career search from start to finish, Paul has helped me transform from an undergraduate to a young professional. The most important aspect of the 1-2-1 process was to determine where my skills lie and which career will be best suited to my personality. I cannot thank Paul enough for all of the advice I have been given over the past few months and I look forward to my career in the City”.

Ryan Thompson, Biochemistry and Genetics, The University of Nottingham

 

“Opening City Doors has played a significant role in preparing myself, and many other students for a career in the finance industry. Paul McCormick’s tips really stand out from the crowd. It gives me immense pleasure to say that the advice has been very useful. His talks at UCL, where he has developed a strong bond with the UCL community, right from helping students build their CVs, to interview preparation, assure me that Opening City Doors has even greater potential in the near future.I would recommend this Page with great enthusiasm. My good wishes will be with him always.”

 

Dhruv Singh, Engineering,University College London 

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“I’ve worked with Paul for a number of years, both when I first joined Reuters as a graduate, and then again at a later stage of my career with the company. Throughout the initial years of the graduate scheme, Paul helped me with several internal role applications, and provided great insight on cover letter writing, approaching recruiting managers, and interviewing techniques. Paul was also instrumental in helping me obtain a permanent role in the company following the end of the graduate scheme. During that period, I witnessed first-hand the invaluable advice he provided to a number of other Thomson Reuters interns and graduates, and Paul became the go-to person for junior staff looking to move their careers forward. When I was approached for external positions, I always discussed my different options at length with Paul, and we always had interesting exchange of ideas that helped me prepare for the interviews. I would recommend Paul to anyone wanting to move their career forward”.

Costa K, Client Relationship Manager, MSCI

 

“Opening city Doors and Paul McCormick in particular is the reason I now have my dream job at Societe Generale. Using OCD 1-2-1 services Paul took me through the whole process from building a fantastic CV to working through Covering Letters for each application and a number of mock interviews that enabled me to stand out in the hiring process, beat the completion and get hired at SG ! For me it is truly life changing and I will not forget your assistance. Thank you OCD / Paul”.

Enrique Zaragoza, Fixed Income, Societe Generale

 

“I have just received the employment contract from XXXXXX Capital.I would like to thank you once again.Your help was great and without it my chances to get the offer would have been significantly less”.

Alexander Kryuchkov, Finance, Lancaster University

 

Paul at Opening City Doors opened up my eyes and ears to areas of London financial markets that I didn’t even know existed  as well as helping me with every stage along the way. I’ve gone from lowly paid Intern to a well established young professional and have truly started my career. Thank you OCD!”

Cristina Peris Garulo, Relationship Manager,The Mergermarket Group

 

“Opening City Doors and Paul McCormick helped me prepare for every step of the recruitment process but most importantly made me realise what employers really look for. Paul McCormick is a markets professional and that makes the difference.”

Konstantina Kalantzi, MSc Advanced Financial Analysis, Lancaster University