Your resume is your gateway to an investment banking interview. To land an interview, investment bankers will hand-select your resume from a pool of hundreds, if not thousands of candidates.
Contrary to what some believe, your resume will primarily be viewed by investment bankers rather than HR professionals at investment banks. Investment bankers have an acute eye for the candidates they want on their teams, making it pivotal that your resume is tailored to their criteria to have a chance in recruiting.
Below are a few points investment banking professionals will look for when quickly scanning your resume to determine if you should be interviewed. Keep these points in mind when writing your resume, and try our investment banking resume reviews if you'd like further help.
Demonstration of Interest in Finance
Viewers of your resume will look for a demonstrated interest in financial services, particularly investment banking, throughout the document. Investment bankers want to see that you are motivated to pursue investment banking or financial services as a career and that you have taken the initiative to learn about and gain experience in the industry.
Showing this initiative and interest in finance can be done in several ways. A tried and true method is to be an executive team member of a finance club at your university or having participated in finance case competitions. Both of these activities usually involve a considerable time commitment in addition to academics and highlight an ambition to learn more about finance.
Well-Rounded and/or Applicable Experiences
When viewing resumes, investment bankers will look for candidates with well-rounded experience with some applicability to investment banking. Investment bankers want to discern that you can handle a high workload and perform varying tasks excellently. This can be shown through relevant work experience in finance, but it can also be demonstrated by having a range of extracurriculars and other experiences.
For example, you might have done two finance internships that have provided you with applicable experience and transferrable skills to investment banking, which would be viewed favorably. However, another candidate may not have any direct finance experience, but is on a varsity sports team, is an executive team member of a university finance club, has high grades, and has recently won an inter-university stock pitch competition. This candidate would also be viewed favorably as they have well-rounded experience demonstrating their ability to work hard in various disciplines.
For candidates that have completed finance internships, investment bankers will also pay attention to the reputation of these firms and look for 'strong names'. Suppose you received an internship at a reputable firm with a notoriously difficult interview process, for example. In that case, it tells bankers that you can probably handle the adversity of an investment banking interview process. It also indicates that you may be able to handle the rigor of an investment banking internship.
Analytical Ability and Finance Knowledge
Within your experiences, whether work or extracurricular, investment bankers will aim to quickly deduce whether you have the analytical ability or finance knowledge for an internship. This knowledge will also be tested during the technical portion of an investment banking interview, but your resume should provide some indication of your knowledge through your experience.
Investment bankers are relatively risk-averse in their hiring, and they do not want to take any risk that you will show up to an interview without the finance acumen to proceed in the recruitment process. It is, therefore, important that your experience indicates your finance knowledge and analytical ability through the content in your bullet points.
Communication and Teamwork Skills
Similar to the previous point, the experiences on your resume should also indicate that you have strong communication skills and can work well with others on a team. As an investment banking intern or analyst, you will be working closely with colleagues for long hours and under sometimes stressful circumstances. These communication and teamwork skills will also be assessed through behavioral interview questions. Still, an experience that highlights similar situations through academics, work experience, or extracurriculars is favorable to the resume viewer.
Some Personality and Interesting Experiences
Lastly, investment bankers often look for a differentiator with so many candidates to choose from that often have similar experiences, degrees, grades, and other factors. When finalizing interview lists, decision-makers often split hairs between candidates with similar profiles. It is therefore essential to have a differentiator that makes people want to interview you. This differentiator could be an exciting experience or achievement, such as starting a successful business or completing an ultramarathon, for example.
Even if you do not have a significant differentiating experience, you want to ensure that you fill the 'Interests' line on your resume. The idea here is to indicate who you are on a more personal level. You might be an avid volleyball player, and the investment banker that saw your resume might have played in college, pushing them to choose you over another equally qualified candidate. You never know.
Putting your investment banking resume together can be difficult with so much to include and convey in a single one-sided document. If you need further assistance with writing your resume, or would simply like an active investment banker to review it and provide comments and advice, Top Bucket Blueprint has the investment banking resume review solution for you.
