Application Materials
Investment Banking Resume Template
The one-page resume format banks expect, with formatting rules and bullet examples.
6 min read
Your resume is one of the most important parts of the investment banking recruiting process. Before a networking call, application, or interview, it is often the first thing someone sees.
A strong investment banking resume should be clean, concise, easy to read, and focused on experiences that show work ethic, analytical ability, leadership, teamwork, attention to detail, and interest in business or finance. Use these files as a starting point when building your own recruiting resume.
Download the Free Resume Template
Use the editable Word template to build your resume and the PDF to preview the expected one-page format.
View the Anonymized Example Resume
The example shows how a student might organize experience, leadership, activities, honors, skills, and interests in a clean investment banking format.
What Makes a Strong Investment Banking Resume?
A strong resume is not simply a list of everything you have done. It should show why your background makes you a strong candidate.
- Strong academic performance
- Interest in finance, business, markets, or companies
- Analytical ability
- Leadership and teamwork
- Work ethic and attention to detail
- Initiative and responsibility
- Communication skills
For most undergraduate candidates, the resume should be one page.
Recommended Resume Sections
Education
Include your school, degree, major, minor, expected graduation date, GPA, honors, and relevant coursework. Younger students may include high school if it is impressive or relevant, but it usually becomes less important over time.
Experience
Include internships, work experience, entrepreneurial projects, research, part-time jobs, or other meaningful professional experiences. Strong bullets usually include an action verb, what you did, how you did it, and the result or impact.
Leadership and Activities
Include athletics, clubs, student organizations, volunteer work, leadership roles, or campus initiatives. This section can demonstrate teamwork, discipline, responsibility, and time management.
Honors and Awards
Include academic, athletic, community, or leadership awards that strengthen your profile. If an award is not obvious, add a short explanation in parentheses.
Skills and Interests
Include relevant tools such as Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Python, SQL, Bloomberg, PitchBook, or Capital IQ. Specific interests can make your resume memorable and give interviewers natural conversation starters.
Resume Bullet Point Tips
Strong bullet points are specific and results-oriented. Instead of “Worked on company research,” write “Researched sponsor-backed companies nearing debt maturities, identifying 50 potential refinancing targets.” Whenever possible, quantify companies analyzed, dollars raised, customers acquired, people led, time committed, or measurable impact.
Common Resume Mistakes
- Making the resume longer than one page
- Using vague bullets or listing responsibilities without impact
- Including too many unrelated details
- Using inconsistent formatting
- Failing to quantify results where possible
- Typos, spacing problems, or inconsistent punctuation
- Overloading the interests section
- Waiting too long to get feedback
Small formatting mistakes matter. Investment banking is detail-oriented, and your resume should reflect that.
Need Help Making Your Resume Banking-Ready?
A template shows you the format, but every student's background is different. A tutor can help decide what to include, what to remove, and how to position and rewrite your experiences.