Complete Guide
Investment Banking Resume
Your resume gets 30 seconds. Learn the exact format, bullet point structure, and positioning that gets interviews at top banks.
Bankers review hundreds of resumes. They're looking for reasons to reject you, not reasons to interview you.
The Non-Negotiable Format Rules
Investment banking resumes follow a strict format. Deviate from this and you signal that you don't understand the industry.
One page only
No exceptions. Even with 10 years of experience, keep it to one page.
Times New Roman or Garamond
Conservative fonts only. No Arial, Calibri, or creative fonts.
10-11pt font size
Small enough to fit content, large enough to read easily.
0.5-0.75" margins
Don't go smaller than 0.5" or it looks cramped.
Consistent date formatting
Pick 'Jan 2024' or 'January 2024' and stick with it.
No color, no photos
Black text on white paper. That's it.
The Bullet Point Formula
[Action Verb] + [What You Did] + [Quantified Result/Context]
Weak Bullets
- •Responsible for financial analysis
- •Helped with pitch books
- •Assisted team with various projects
- •Worked on M&A transactions
Strong Bullets
- •Built 3-statement financial model for $50M revenue SaaS company, identifying 15% EBITDA margin improvement opportunity
- •Created 25-page management presentation for Series B fundraise, directly contributing to successful $30M raise
- •Screened 50+ potential acquisition targets in healthcare sector, recommending 3 for further due diligence
- •Analyzed trading comparables for 12 public companies, supporting $200M sell-side M&A engagement
Notice the difference? Strong bullets have specific numbers, clear actions, and business context. Weak bullets describe responsibilities without showing impact.
Resume Section Breakdown
Education
Top of resume for students/recent grads
✓ Include
- •School name, degree, graduation date
- •GPA if 3.5+ (bold it)
- •Relevant coursework
- •SAT/ACT if strong (1500+/34+)
✕ Avoid
- •High school (unless prestigious)
- •GPA below 3.0
- •Irrelevant coursework
Experience
Main body of resume
✓ Include
- •Company, title, dates, location
- •3-5 bullet points per role
- •Quantified achievements
- •Action verbs (Analyzed, Built, Led)
✕ Avoid
- •'Responsible for' or 'Helped with'
- •Paragraphs instead of bullets
- •Generic descriptions
Skills & Interests
Bottom of resume
✓ Include
- •Technical skills (Excel, Bloomberg, SQL)
- •Languages if fluent
- •Specific, interesting hobbies
- •Things you can discuss for 5 minutes
✕ Avoid
- •'Microsoft Office proficient'
- •Generic interests like 'Travel'
- •Anything you can't talk about
9 Resume Mistakes That Get You Dinged
Any one of these can get your resume rejected instantly.
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