If you have investment banking work experience or similar corporate experience then you are going to want to scrawl it on your investment banking resume in size 100 font, because it's not only impressive but it is perhaps the number one quality bankers look for in applicants.
But even a Morgan Stanley summer internship can end up sounding second-rate if it's not described in the optimal manner, i.e. in order to make your investment banking work experience stand out you need to know how to write about it on your resume. With limited space this is no easy feat.
Thankfully there are 6 ways to take your work section from good to great...
Real results - although bankers aren't expecting million dollar achievements from a 20-something student, they do want to see sizeable results so don't be afraid to stretch the truth a little here. To help you decide how far (i.e. whether bankers will believe you) we'll take a look at an extract from an investment banking resume example - you can access this tutorial at our website (see below).
Extremely specific - adding in details like numbers, dates, project names etc. will make your achievements look 10 times more believable than every other student who simply fills their dot points with Ben Stiller esque words like "a lot" or "for a project". But be sure to keep everything succinct per the '15-seconds to bin' rule. Getting this balance right is part of the riddle of the resume and something we will help you solve in the Inside Investment Banking System this fall (BETA version just launched).
Client or employer focused - banks are in the 'people as resources' / 'enrichment of stockholders' business and want to see what return they would get on you; what value you would add. So when you're writing about results you achieved in past jobs be sure to hammer on about how you increased profits, turnover, morale, insight, strategy, ideas, or how you saved time, money, made things easier, more convenient, innovated, increased efficiency, brought in more business, new customers, or otherwise rocked the joint. This way you are not simply telling them just what you did, but also why it mattered...i.e. it enriched your former employer's clients or the former employer themselves.
NOT 'you' focused - no banker wants to hear about how you learned lots of 'awesome lessons man', unless it's directly relevant to banking. I mean can you think of anything more contrary to the previous point than writing "I learned so much, me, me, me". So just like any good car salesman slinging busted up Dodges on some highway near San Diego make sure you talk about "them, them, them" (former employer / client), not you.
Laced with banker-friendly and business-y terms - littering your resume with terms like 'the space', 'competitive landscape', 'return on investment' and other financial dirty talk will endear you to bankers instantaneously. You will subtly showcase insider knowledge, and probably above all that you are a student who actually cares about business. But please avoid turning into a freaking management consultant who fires more BS lingo around than a CNBC talking head - ie don't let your resume get too BS-dense!
Supplemented with metrics - whether it's $, %, fold, units or amount, you have to use numbers to quantify your achievement, because they are the language of bankers and also add further authenticity to your achievements. To make the numbers 'pop' time frame them; i.e. how long they took to achieve. Numbers when used right will also hypnotically draw bankers eyes to your resume, which is crucial for gaining their attention and interest - and beating the '15 seconds to bin' rule. Also numbers will help a banker understand your achievements even when they are in an unfamiliar industry (e.g. reading about your part time engineering job!). PS It might be worth verifying ballpark numbers with your current or former employer in case the bank wants to ring your old boss as a reference.
For more advice on writing your investment banking internship resume check out our website.
Richard is the head writer for Inside Investment Banking - a one-stop shop of advice for students just like you who want to know how to get into investment banking without a 4.0 GPA from Harvard or nepotistic connections on Wall Street.
Created by a team of 5 young bankers, Inside Investment Banking contains all the real insider advice you need to write killer banking resumes, answer tough interview questions, network with bankers and much more.
You can read more Free Tutorials on Investment Banking Recruiting just like the one above by visiting http://insideinvestmentbanking.com/ now.
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I'm an epic failure at writing cover letters.thanks
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