Bright Network's investment banking CV template

Your CV is essential when applying for investment banking roles. It’s often the first thing an employer sees of you, so you want it to stand out. Our investment banking CV template will help you produce a well-formatted CV, giving you a competitive edge when applying for spring weeks, summer internships and graduate programmes.

Read our tips and download our investment banking CV template below.

Want to construct an impressive investment banking CV? We’re here to help.

Within our template, we’ve included some guidance on what to say and when. For the best results, combine the template’s top-level tips with our in-depth advice.

Your chosen investment banking CV format matters. Employers tend to skim job applications, so you need to format your CV in a way that makes skim-reading easy. Use clear heading sections and bullet points to make your CV scannable.

Our free finance CV template will help you format your application. It’s OK to tweak it to suit you, but keep your writing concise. Don’t cram in so much that your important points get lost. Sometimes, less is more.

Investment banking employers want to read your CV and know you’ve got the skills you’ll need to succeed in the sector.

On your CV, share your relevant soft skills (i.e. problem-solving) and hard skills (i.e. using software like Excel). In our template, you’ll have space to list abilities in the dedicated skills section. Remember, though, that skills should feature throughout your CV. When you’re talking about work experience, weave your skills into it.

It’s always good to play up your transferable skills, too. Captained a local netball team? You’re a leader. Worked in a busy coffee shop? You’re clearly good at working under pressure. Be explicit with calling out the skills you’ve picked up in roles outside of finance.

The perfect CV for one job won’t be right for another. While our investment banking CV template will give you a good starting point, you’ll need to tweak your CV every time you apply for a new job.

When applying for a role, carefully read the job description in the advertisement and make sure you connect your CV to the advert. If the job ad talks heavily about client-facing aspects, draw attention to your communication skills. Maybe you could mention how you’ve dealt with customers.

Try experimenting with re-ordering the bullet points on your CV to give more weight to certain things than others.

You should also rewrite your personal statement at the top of your CV so that it clearly states why you think you’d suit the advertised role (not just any investment banking job).

The banking industry places a lot of value on relevant work experience, so make sure it’s prominent on your CV.

“But how can I get my first finance job without experience?”, we hear you ask. It’s OK. You don’t have to have been employed as an investment banker to have relevant experience. List any insight weeks (and even days) to show your commitment to the sector.

When you’re applying for your first ever finance experience, consider giving more weight to the university modules that show you’ve got commercial awareness.

Before you send your CV, make sure it’s error-free. You don’t want to miss out on your dream role because of a typo!

After you fill in our template, take some time away from the screen to distance yourself from it. If you’ve got enough time before the deadline, it’s worth leaving it a day before you come back. With a fresh pair of eyes, read through your CV to make sure everything is clear and correct. You might find it easier to spot mistakes if you read it aloud. Even better, get a friend or family member to look at it with you.

Remember to run it through a spell checker before you send it too.

A good CV for investment banking is one that covers your education and qualifications, employment history, skills and other achievements in a concise way.

It should follow a clean format that’s easy for a busy recruiter to skim-read.

A strong investment banking CV also needs to include crucial contact details and a personal statement. It should also mention references (even if it just says, “References are available upon request.”).

Yes, most investment banks will use an ATS (Applicant Tracking System), but it’s nothing to worry about.

An ATS is a software that’s used by businesses for managing hiring processes and tracking processes. They help hiring managers deal with applications.

Using an ATS also improves anonymity to keep processes fair. For example, an ATS might hide the name of your CV. Anonymising applications reduces the risk of unconscious bias or discrimination during the early recruitment stages.

If you’re in the early stages of your career, a CV for investment banking should be one page in length.

As you progress, you might need to add another page. However, it’s always good to keep your CV as to-the-point as possible.