Resume example · For job seekers
Investment Banker Resume Example
An investment banker resume example in the one-page format banks expect, with deal bullets, summaries by level, skills, licences and what to leave out.
The short answer
A strong Investment Banker resume opens with a short summary, groups the skills employers will test, and backs each role with bullets that show what changed because of your work. Below is a full example, summary wording for student or graduate, career changer, analyst and associate candidates, and how to get through applicant tracking systems.
- Keep it to one page, even at associate level. Banks review a lot of resumes and expect the convention.
- Use a plain, single-column layout with consistent dates aligned to the right.
- Describe deals by type, sector and your role; name a deal only if it has been announced publicly.
Investment banking resumes follow stricter conventions than most. Recruiters expect one page, a clean layout, education near the top, and experience written as deals and analysis rather than duties. This guide shows a full investment banker resume example, how to describe transactions you worked on, summary wording for students through to associates, and the details that make a banking resume look like it came from someone who understands the job.
Example Investment Banker resume
Alex Morgan
Investment Banking Analyst
New York, NYalex.morgan@example.comlinkedin.com/in/example-alex
Summary
Investment banking analyst with two years in an industrials coverage team, working on sell-side M&A and debt financing. Builds operating and valuation models, drafts client materials and manages data rooms on live processes.
Skills
- Technical
- Three-statement modelling, DCF and comparables, LBO models, Capital IQ
- Software
- Excel, PowerPoint, Bloomberg
- Languages
- English, Spanish (fluent)
Experience
Investment Banking Analyst, Industrials · Woodgrove Capital Partners, New York
2024 – present
- Sell-side sale of a regional packaging manufacturer to a trade buyer: built the operating model, drafted the information memorandum and ran the data room.
- Term loan refinancing for a logistics group: prepared the lender presentation and covenant analysis.
- Built comparables and precedent analyses for pitches to industrial clients.
- Trained incoming summer analysts on model templates and formatting standards.
Summer Analyst, M&A · Woodgrove Capital Partners, New York
Summer 2023
- Built trading comparables for a business services pitch.
- Prepared company profiles of potential buyers for a sell-side process.
Education
BS Finance · Contoso University
2020 – 2024
Dean’s list; investment club analyst.
Licences
- FINRA Series 79 and SIE (illustrative)
- CFA Program Level I candidate (illustrative)
Interests
- Marathon running
- Restoring vintage bikes
Summary examples
Three or four lines at the top of the page. Pick the one closest to your situation and rewrite it with your own tools and work.
Student or graduate
Career changer
Analyst
Associate
Skills to list
Hard skills
Soft skills
List only what you could be tested on. Soft skills carry more weight shown in a bullet than named in a list.
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Experience bullet points
Live transactions
- Worked on the sale of a family-owned packaging business to a trade buyer: built the operating model, drafted sections of the information memorandum and managed buyer questions in the data room.
- Supported the refinancing of a logistics group’s term loan, preparing the lender presentation and the covenant analysis.
- Ran the buyer contact log on a competitive auction and prepared weekly process updates for the client.
Pitching and analysis
- Built trading comparables and precedent transaction analyses for pitches to industrial and business services clients.
- Prepared sector overviews used by the coverage team in client meetings.
- Built an LBO model to test a private equity buyer’s likely bid range for a client considering a sale.
Team
- Trained incoming summer analysts on the team’s model templates and formatting standards.
- Checked and reconciled figures across every page of a pitch book before it went to the client.
What to include
Header
Name, city, phone, email and LinkedIn on one or two lines. No photo or personal details unless the market you are applying in expects them; UK careers advice is to leave off date of birth, marital status and nationality.
Education
Goes first for students and analysts. Degree, institution, dates, grades and relevant awards or scholarships. Experienced associates can move it below experience.
Experience
Reverse chronological. For banking roles, list representative transactions with the deal type, sector and your work on it. Use only publicly announced deals by name, or describe them anonymously.
Licences and certifications
In the US, list FINRA registrations you hold. FINRA says the Investment Banking registration requires passing both the Series 79 and the SIE. Progress through the CFA Program, run by CFA Institute, can also go here.
Skills, activities and interests
A final short section with technical skills, languages, leadership roles and two or three specific interests. Interviewers often ask about these.
Formatting
- Keep it to one page, even at associate level. Banks review a lot of resumes and expect the convention.
- Use a plain, single-column layout with consistent dates aligned to the right.
- Describe deals by type, sector and your role; name a deal only if it has been announced publicly.
- Check every figure and date twice. In this industry, a formatting slip reads as a lack of attention to detail.
- Save as PDF with your name in the file name.
Getting past applicant tracking systems
- 1Use the words in the posting, such as M&A, leveraged finance, valuation and financial modelling, where they describe your work.
- 2Write licences in full, for example “FINRA Series 79 (Investment Banking Representative)”.
- 3Avoid tables and multiple columns for the main content.
- 4Keep standard section names: Education, Experience, Skills.
- 5Write the full name of tools, such as Capital IQ or FactSet, if you have used them.
Common mistakes
- Going over one page.
- Naming confidential or unannounced deals.
- Describing tasks (“helped with models”) without saying what the model was for.
- Listing a licence or CFA level you have not actually passed.
- Generic interests that give an interviewer nothing to ask about.
Common questions
Should an investment banking resume be one page?
Yes. One page is the convention for students, analysts and associates. Cut older or less relevant roles before shrinking the font.
How do I list deals on my resume?
Give the deal type, sector, size if it is public, and your work on it. Name the companies only if the deal has been announced; otherwise describe them, for example “sale of a regional packaging manufacturer”.
Do I need the Series 79 before applying?
Ask the bank which registrations the role needs and when. FINRA’s Series 79 covers advising on or facilitating debt and equity offerings and M&A, and FINRA requires the SIE as well for the Investment Banking registration.
Is a banking CV in the UK different from a US resume?
The one-page, education-first format is similar. In the UK it is usually called a CV, and official careers advice is to leave off date of birth, marital status and nationality.
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