Investment Banking Resume Example and Complete Checklist

Investment banking recruiting is a process of elimination, not selection. Bankers don't read resumes to find reasons to hire you; they scan them for 30 seconds to find reasons to ding you. Your resume has one job: survive that initial scan by looking exactly like what a burned-out analyst expects to see.

If your font is too creative, your bullets are too vague, or your formatting is even slightly off, you will be rejected before anyone reads a word about your internship.

The Only Format That Works (The "Gold Standard")

Forget everything career services told you about "standing out" with design. In finance, standing out visually is a negative signal.

The Non-Negotiables:

• Length: One page. Period. No exceptions.
• Margins: 0.5" to 0.75" on all sides
• Font: Times New Roman or Garamond, size 10-11pt
• Structure: Header → Education → Work Experience → Skills & Interests

Section 1: Education (The Anchor)

For students and recent grads, Education goes at the top. This is where bankers look first.

• GPA: If it's 3.5 or above, bold it. If below 3.0, you have a major problem.
• Test Scores: If you have a 1500+ SAT or 34+ ACT, keep it. Bankers love standardized metrics.
• Relevant Coursework: List 4-6 finance/accounting classes.

Section 2: Work Experience (The Bullet Point Formula)

This is where 90% of candidates fail. Most students list responsibilities. Bankers want to see impact.

The Perfect Bullet Formula: [Action Verb] + [Context/Task] + [Quantified Result]

Before (Weak):

• Researched potential acquisition targets for a client in the tech sector
• Helped creating pitch decks for client meetings

After (Strong):

• Screened 50+ potential acquisition targets in the SaaS sector based on EBITDA margins and recurring revenue, identifying 3 high-priority targets
• Developed 15-slide management presentation for a $20M Series B fundraise, including market sizing and pro forma projections

Key Rules:

• No "Assisted" or "Helped"—use Constructed, Evaluated, Spearheaded, Modeled, Executed
• Quantify everything. If you don't have exact numbers, estimate conservatively.

Section 3: Skills & Interests (The "Airport Test")

The "Airport Test" is simple: If I'm stuck with you at O'Hare for 4 hours during a flight delay, will I be miserable?

• Be Specific: "Travel" is boring. "Backpacking through 4 countries in Southeast Asia" is a conversation starter.
• The Golden Rule: If you list it, you must be able to talk about it for 5 minutes.

10 Resume Mistakes That Kill Your Chances

1. Typos: One typo = ding. Investment banking requires extreme attention to detail.
2. Inconsistent Dates: Using "Jan 2023" in one place and "January 2023" in another.
3. No GPA: Bankers assume it's sub-3.0 if you hide it.
4. Bad Margins: Making margins 0.2" to cram text in.
5. Fluff Skills: Listing "Leadership" or "Microsoft Word" as skills.
6. Photo: Never put your photo on a US finance resume.
7. Summary/Objective: Delete it. Your objective is obviously to get the job.
8. Colored Text: Black and white only.
9. Gaps in Timeline: Explain gaps or format dates to minimize them.
10. Lying: If you say you "Built an LBO model," you will be asked to walk through it.

Final Step: The "Fresh Eyes" Review

You've looked at your resume for 10 hours; you are now blind to your own errors. You need a second pair of eyes—specifically, eyes that have screened thousands of these before.

Don't let a formatting error be the reason you miss out on a $110K starting salary. Get a Professional Resume Review from finance professionals who catch what you miss.

Ready to master the technical questions? Check out our Finance Technical Interview Guide.