Truth About Investment Banking CVs

[AlexLielacher1]

I remember when I started working full time in banking and witnessed for the first time how bankers actually look at CVs of potential interns and graduates.

At the time, I was a graduate trainee on the corporate bond trading desk at a major UK bank and I was only a few months in. I noticed a colleague a few seats away from me looking at CVs of potential interns he was about to interview and browsing through them at lightspeed while having the occasional giggle. I approached him and we had a look at the CVs together.

I remember reading back when I was applying for banking internships that recruiters will look at your CV for 30 seconds, so you have to highlight your strengths clearly because that is all the time you get. Now, the reality is you have a lot less than 30 seconds to convince someone to give you an interview. It is actually more like 10-20 seconds, on a good day.

Bankers will look at three things, and I can attest to this, as later on in my career I also screened CVs of interns and graduates and interviewed them.

1. What university you go to and what you are studying.
2. Where you previously interned or what work experience you have.
3. Anything that makes you stand out - often something in the personal interests section.

The first is pretty standard. By the time your CV has passed through HR, and landed in the inbox of an actual hiring manager, your CV will most likely state that you are at a top tier university and are studying a relevant subject such as mathematics, finance, economics or another science.

The second is an area where you can already differentiate yourself. If you have previous internship experience this will be looked upon highly. If you don’t, it will get tricky, and you need to make sure you have previous work experience that stands out positively. But most CVs that make it to hiring managers will have at least one strong internship experience on them.

The third point is the one that matters the most. The third point is really the only area where you can stand out and differentiate yourself. Once, the hiring manager has gone through what university you are at, what you are studying and where you have previously interned he or she will briefly look if there is anything interesting on your CV.

Quite frankly, CVs are all pretty much the same. All CVs I have seen, that have been filtered by HR, were from students from a top tier university, studying a relevant subject with at least one strong internship experience. So, the only way to really stand out is to have an interesting personal interest or an exotic language, such as mandarin, that will make you stand out as a candidate.

Examples of things I have seen that have made candidates stand out: a non-Chinese person who spoke fluent mandarin, under 18s national kickboxing champion, national youth chess champion and work experience as a dating coach.

So, when you are applying for an internship or graduate position be aware that most hiring managers will look at your CV for only a few seconds so make sure you highlight your strong points and have that one thing that makes you stand out from the masses of Oxbridge clones.

 

[thebondking1]

Do you have any tips on how does one become more competitive? What should I do with my summer?

 

[AlexLielacher1]

Hey thebondking, I suggest you do some form of work experience or internship. If you haven't secured one yet (I think most internship programs are closed now) see what you your family's contacts can set you up with. As long is it is loosely related to the field you want to go into it is definitely worth doing. Doing 'nothing' the whole summer is a bit of a no no as you want to show drive, work ethic and committment on your CV.

Otherwise, CV-wise, the key is to stand out! Make sure you have that one thing (or two) that makes you stand out. And that won't be an internship at a bank or your degree at "target university". It could be an extra-curriclar activity (like founding a finance-related society), a cool achievement like being the youngest person ever to do this or that or a personal interest that makes you stand out positively and that not everyone has.

 

[magellan1]

I completely agree with your post, Alex. I have also reviewed CVs of people from tier universities applying to investment banks and know what are the most common mistakes.
1) Using the wrong CV format. There are dozens of templates and websites for creating CVs. All of them promise that they will help you will stand out and have a higher chance of success. I would avoid them and stick to the standard black/white 1-page investment banking CV format.
2) Having a CV that is longer than 1 page. No matter how many extracurricular activities you have done, unless you are an MD at Goldman Sachs, all key information should fit on 1 page.
3) Focusing too much on GPA and university subjects. I have been told by an MD at a top-tier firm that they have the following problem - receive dozens of perfect CVs of people from top-tier universities with high GPA, perform well in interviews but perform poorly on the job ( in the real world).
If we take apart the educational background and previous work experience, it boils down to being an interesting person.

 

[JustAnotherHuman1]

I completely agree with your post, Alex. I have also reviewed CVs of people from tier universities applying to investment banks and know what are the most common mistakes.
1) Using the wrong CV format. There are dozens of templates and websites for creating CVs. All of them promise that they will help you will stand out and have a higher chance of success. I would avoid them and stick to the standard black/white 1-page investment banking CV format.
2) Having a CV that is longer than 1 page. No matter how many extracurricular activities you have done, unless you are an MD at Goldman Sachs, all key information should fit on 1 page.
3) Focusing too much on GPA and university subjects. I have been told by an MD at a top-tier firm that they have the following problem - receive dozens of perfect CVs of people from top-tier universities with high GPA, perform well in interviews but perform poorly on the job ( in the real world).
If we take apart the educational background and previous work experience, it boils down to being an interesting person.

What does "poorly" mean, though? Average? Students from the top universities with the best grades are competent. There are a lot more people at the bottom than the top so obviously not every analyst will become MD one day but generally high grades from a top university is a good indicator of future performance. Employers prefer graduates from "target" universities for a reason.

Rules in the real-world are less clear and success is a lot less democratic than in education. Study the material etc and get a high grade. Doing the job "itself" extremely well is merely enough to become a high earner and this is what the MD meant. One can have great Excel skills and be very organized, that will only take one so far. Soft skills are equally if not more than important than hard skills, as well as playing politics right, which is why ECs are so important and employers value them highly.

I can attest to this fact as a successful contractor in IT (Hays), doing the job is only half the equation: obviously one needs strong technical skills, but building and maintaining relationships is a different ballgame. And good luck matters too, which usually will come sooner or later if one tries for long enough.

 

[TheCanaryConsultant1]

Interesting piece. I agree with what you are saying: I also interviewed many candidates and the screening is done in seconds. It is important to highlight strengths, but it is very important to do it in a good format as you say (i.e. respecting the usual CV format we see almost everywhere in finance).
However, I believe it is quite important to have a fulsome CV regarding past experience. Because of the amount of people having the same past experience or same university categories, the differentiating factor will be in the details you add to the CV. I have seen people saying they have worked on a project, but without a lot of details about the mentioned project. It is good to be very specific (yet succinct), and mention as many key aspects the company could relate to. I always do two screenings: the first one to see if the overall experience works, and then I look at what has been done in more detail for the few selected ones.

 

[TheWharfConsultant1]

Interesting piece. I agree with what you are saying: I also interviewed many candidates and the screening is done in seconds. It is important to highlight strengths, but it is very important to do it in a good format as you say (i.e. respecting the usual CV format we see almost everywhere in finance).
However, I believe it is quite important to have a fulsome CV regarding past experience. Because of the amount of people having the same past experience or same university categories, the differentiating factor will be in the details you add to the CV. I have seen people saying they have worked on a project, but without a lot of details about the mentioned project. It is good to be very specific (yet succinct), and mention as many key aspects the company could relate to. I always do two screenings: the first one to see if the overall experience works, and then I look at what has been done in more detail for the few selected ones.

Try also to quantify the project and what you did (e.g. instead of "improving efficiency", write "cut cost by X%)