Only 2% of Finance CVs are successful. Learn Why.

IOnly 2% of Finance CVs are successful. Learn Why.

This article is written by Hassan Akram, the Managing Director of City Careers Coach. He is an ex-investment banking, venture capital, private equity and corporate law recruiter. He has reviewed 10,000+ CVs for elite corporate careers. These include investment banking professionals from top bulge bracket banks, such as Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan. Click here to book a 1–1 personalised consultation with an expert recruiter who has hired 1,000+ elite corporate professionals:

Over 98% of CVs are rejected for elite corporate careers.

As current and former finance recruiters, we’ve personally reviewed 10,000+ CVs. These were for elite investment banking, private equity, venture capital, and corporate law careers.

The careers you are applying to are elite. They are within the top 0.1% of the most prestigious and high-paying careers internationally.

They attract elite candidates. They are from the world’s most prestigious leading universities. These include Harvard, Oxford and the London School of Economics. McKinsey actively targets such universities. It still only accepts 1% of the 200,000 applicants it receives annually.

At City Careers Coach, we’ve created proprietary CV frameworks to excel for elite corporate careers. These frameworks have led to 100% of our clients being successful at CV stage. These proprietary materials have been created after 2 years of development. They have also been reviewed by 25+ experienced corporate recruitment professionals in the City of London. These recruitment professionals had over 150+ years of experience altogether. In short, we’re very well qualified to write this article!

So how do you increase your chance of success when applying to Goldman Sachs or McKinsey? There are many ways. In this article, we will detail one — impact.

IMPACT IS VITAL ON A CV

Impact is vital. The CVs most consistently successful are the ones that show impact throughout. This is in every line, every section and even in every educational achievement. Having impact allows the CV to be extremely persuasive to the CV reviewer. It also creates a narrative. It shows that you’re a proactive individual. A person who gets stuff done wherever they go.

But what does impact actually mean? City Careers Coach defines this as clear evidence that the candidate makes a tangible difference and adds value. For instance, education, internships or extracurricular achievements.

Having impact on your CV instils confidence in us as recruiters. It shows that if you’re entrusted with a task, you’re not only likely to complete it, but excel at it. Past behaviours are also often the best indicators of future performance. An impact-driven approach on a CV suggests that an individual will therefore likely excel as a hire. This may be as an investment banking analyst producing consistently strong financial models. This may be as a trainee corporate lawyer producing research notes that are shared with clients. This may be as a junior strategy consultant formatting logos for a client presentation.

But what does this mean in practice? We’ll provide some further detail below.

HOW CAN WE SHOW IMPACT ON A CV DURING AN INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE?

There are many ways. Below are some questions which may help when writing a CV.

-During your recent finance internship, did you outperform your peer group?

- Were you, therefore, entrusted to work on more complex and strategic matters?

- Was your work deemed good enough to be sent to the client with minimal revisions?

- If at a startup, did you help create and define a process that increased their operational efficiency?

There are thus many ways from a professional or internship perspective you could show impact on your CV.

HOW CAN YOU SHOW IMPACT IN YOUR EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES?

Again, it’s vital to show that you are an all-round strong candidate who has a wide and diverse range of interests but also provides a substantive impact in all of them.

That could again mean many things. Below are some questions which may be helpful prompts to think when thinking about writing a CV.

If we are to take the example of the President of a university Netball society.

- Did we develop a strong team environment by suggesting the creation of a special social secretary?

- Did we create an effective communication channel for all society members by suggesting the use of X?

- Did we create a strategy to build and develop the Netball society’s brand awareness on campus?

- Through our tenure as President, did we create an exceptionally strong environment?

In conclusion, there are many ways to show how you tangibly added value.

RECRUITMENT STORY

An example of an exceptional impact driven CV.

Whilst working as a private equity recruiter — an industry known for exceptional academic elitism (having a 1st at Oxford and being an investment banker in one of Goldman Sachs’ TMT is, for instance, no guarantee of a career to the buy-side), we were reviewing a candidate’s CV which was exceptional.

Examining his CV, we firstly assessed his educational background. This was outstanding. He secured 10A* at GCSE and 4 A* at A level. He ranked within the top academic decile within his school and sixth form. Moreover, whilst completing his A-levels, he set up an NGO. This provided free GCSE tuition services in Maths for underprivileged and low-income individuals. Through this NGO, 75% of clients exceeded their target grades and achieved a C in Maths and English. (Note: this experience has nothing to do with a career in an elite corporate career. But what it does show is that this person makes a clear and tangible difference in whatever he does.) This outstanding extracurricular achievement was alongside him completing 3 4-week internships. These internships were at a bank, law firm and consulting firm.

At university, he had an active involvement in the Banking and Finance society. As a first-year student, he secured 50 new member signups outperforming his peer cohort by 98%. Due to his strong record, he was promoted to treasurer of the Banking and Society. Here, he created a sponsorship strategy targeting bulge bracket investments. He increased society sponsorship by £10,000 enabling investment in a beta app for the society. As a result, he was recommended to apply for the presidency position which he won.

In terms of his professional career, he consistently created exceptional financial models. As a result, he was ranked in the top 5% of analysts in his class. When his associate was unfortunately ill, he also stepped up. He performed the tasks typically reserved for someone at associate level very well. He also gained strong feedback from the Managing Director. His Managing Director highlighted his work on transactions and interpersonal skills.

This was all effectively, objectively and clearly written in his CV.

How did this look as a recruiter? Amazing. Did he pass CV stage? Yes.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1) Ensure every line of your CV is impact-driven

2) Ensure each line of your sentence is written in an analytical manner

3) Ensure that your CV is action focused and demonstrates what value you’ve been able to provide

ABOUT US: City Careers Coach is an international network of freelance finance recruiters. We are from investment banking, corporate law and private equity backgrounds. We provide premium, unique and personalised career development programmes to help university students enter elite corporate high-paying careers. We have an exceptionally strong track record: 100% of our clients pass CV stage, 90% of our clients secure at least one finance internship or graduate role, and our average client starting salary is £150,000.