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The Investment Banking Cover Letter Template You’ve Been Waiting For

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graduate cover letter investment banking

A long time ago I said that we would never post a cover letter template here :

“I was tempted to post a Word template, but I don’t want 5,000 daily visitors to copy it and to start using the same exact cover letter.”

But hey, we already have resume templates that everyone is using, so why not go a step further and give you a cover letter template as well?

Plus, “investment banking cover letter” is one of the top 10 search terms visitors use to find this site – so you must be looking for a template.

The Template & Tutorial

Let’s jump right in:

Investment Banking Cover Letter Template [Download]

Download Template – Word

Download Template – PDF

Investment Banking Cover Letter Template

And here’s the video that explains everything:

(For more free training and financial modeling videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel .)

And if you’d rather read, here’s the text version:

Do Cover Letters Actually Matter?

At bulge bracket banks, people barely read cover letters.

Cover letters matter 10x less than resumes and 100x less than networking.

But there are a few special cases where they’re more important:

  • Boutiques and Local Banks – Sometimes they actually read cover letters.
  • Unusual Backgrounds – If you’re NOT in university or business school at the moment, you may need to explain yourself in more detail.
  • Outside the US – In Europe, for example, some banks pay more attention to cover letters, online applications, and so on.

Similar to grades and test scores, a great cover letter won’t set you apart but a poor one will hurt you – so let’s find out how to avoid that.

Keep your cover letter compact and avoid 0.1″ margins and size 8 font.

With resumes you can get away with shrinking the font sizes and margins if you really need to fit in extra information, but this is questionable with cover letters.

Go for 0.75″ or 1″ margins and at least size 10 font.

With resumes there were a couple different templates depending on your level – but with cover letters that’s not necessary and you can use the same template no matter your background.

1 Page Only

Ok, maybe they do things differently in Australia (just like with resumes) but aside from that there is no reason to write a multi-page cover letter.

If you actually have enough experience to warrant multiple pages, do it on your resume instead and keep the cover letter brief.

Contact Information

List your own information – name, address, phone number, and email address – right-aligned up at the top.

Then, below that you list the date and the name and contact information for the person you’re writing to, left-aligned on the page.

If you don’t have this information you can just list the company name and address and use a “Dear Sir or Madam” greeting.

That’s not ideal – especially if you’re applying to smaller firms where cover letters actually get read – but it’s all you can do if you can’t find a person’s name.

If you’re sending the cover letter via email as the body of the email, you can omit all this information and just include the greeting at the top.

Paragraph 1: Introduction

This is where you explain who you are, where you’re currently working or studying, and how you found the bank that you’re applying to.

Name-drop as much as possible:

  • Impressive-sounding university or business school ? Mention it. Even if it’s not well-known, you still need to mention it here.
  • Your company name , especially if it’s recognizable, and the group you’re working in, especially if it’s something relevant to finance like business development.
  • How you found them – specific peoples’ names , specific presentations or information sessions where you met them, and so on.
  • The position you’re applying for (Analyst? Associate?) – especially for smaller places that are not well-organized.

This first paragraph is all about grabbing their attention.

Example 1st Paragraph:

“My name is John Smith and I am currently a 3rd year economics major at UCLA. I recently met Fred Jackson from the M&A group at Goldman Stanley during a presentation at our school last week, and was impressed with what I learned of your culture and recent deal flow. I am interested in pursuing an investment banking summer analyst position at your firm, and have enclosed my resume and background information below.”

Paragraph 2: Your Background

You go through your most relevant experience and how the skills you gained will make you a good banker right here.

Do not list all 12 internships or all 5 full-time jobs you’ve had – focus on the most relevant 1-2, once again name-dropping where appropriate (bulge bracket banks / large PE firms / Fortune 500 companies).

Highlight the usual skills that bankers want to see – teamwork, leadership, analytical ability, financial modeling and so on.

If you worked on a high-impact project / deal / client, you can point that out and list the results as well.

This may be your longest paragraph, but you still don’t want to write War and Peace – keep it to 3-4 sentences.

Example 2nd Paragraph:

“I have previously completed internships in accounting at PricewaterhouseCoopers and in wealth management at UBS. Through this experience working directly with clients, analyzing financial statements, and making investment recommendations, I have developed leadership and analytical skills and honed my knowledge of accounting and finance. I also had the opportunity to work with a $20M net-worth client at UBS and completely revamped his portfolio, resulting in a 20% return last year.”

Paragraph 3: Why You’re a Good Fit

Now you turn around and link your experience and skills to the position more directly and explain that leadership + quantitative skills + accounting/finance knowledge = success.

There is not much to this part – just copy the template and fill in the blanks.

Example 3rd Paragraph:

“Given my background in accounting and wealth management and my leadership and analytical skills, I am a particularly good fit for the investment banking summer analyst position at your firm. I am impressed by your track record of clients and transactions at Goldman Stanley and the significant responsibilities given to analysts, and I look forward to joining and contributing to your firm.”

Paragraph 4: Conclusion

This part’s even easier: remind them that your resume is enclosed (or attached if sent via email), thank them for their time, and give your contact information once again so they don’t have to scroll to the top to get it.

Example 4th Paragraph:

“A copy of my resume is enclosed for your reference. I would welcome an opportunity to discuss my qualifications with you and learn more about Goldman Stanley at your earliest convenience. I can be reached at 310-555-1234 or via email at [email protected]. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.”

Unusual Backgrounds

These examples cover how to apply to a bank if you’re in university, business school, or you’ve been working for several years.

If you have a more unusual background (e.g. you went to med school, graduated, started your residency, but then decided you wanted to be an investment banker), then you might need to add a few sentences to paragraph #2 or #3 explaining yourself.

Resist the urge to write your life story because no one will read it – interviews are a much better venue to prove how committed you are.

Email vs. Attachments

If you’re emailing your cover letter and resume, do you create a separate cover letter attachment?

Or do you make the body of your email the cover letter?

I think it’s redundant to create a separate cover letter and attach it, so don’t bother unless they ask specifically for a separate cover letter.

If you’re making the body of your email the cover letter, make it even shorter (4-5 sentences total) and cut out the address bits at the top.

Optional Cover Letters?

If you’re applying online and it says “Optional Cover Letter” should you still upload one?

You might as well because it takes 2 minutes once you have a good template – it’s not the end of the world if you don’t include one, but you never know what everyone else is doing and it’s not terribly time-consuming.

Cover Letter Mistakes

Remember the role of cover letters: great ones don’t help much, but poor ones get you dinged.

The biggest mistakes with cover letters:

  • Making outrageous claims (“I’m a math genius!”) or trying to be “creative” with colors, pictures, fonts, and so on.
  • Going on for too long – 10 paragraphs or multiple pages.
  • Listing irrelevant information like your favorite ice cream, your favorite quotes from Wall Street or Boiler Room , and so on.

If you think this sounds ridiculous, remember the golden rule: do not overestimate the competition .

For every person reading this site, there are dozens more asking, “What it’s like to be an investment banker?” at information sessions.

Sometimes you hear stories of people who write “impassioned” cover letters, win the attention of a boutique, and get in like that …

…And I’m sure that happens, but you do not want to do that at large banks.

If you do, your cover letter will be forwarded to the entire world and your “career” will be destroyed in 5 minutes .

More Examples

As with resumes, there are hardly any good examples of investment banking cover letters online.

Most of the templates are horribly formatted and are more appropriate for equities in Dallas than real investment banking.

Here’s a slightly different but also good templates you could use:

  • Best Cover Letters – MBA Template

More questions? Ask away.

Still Need More Help?

Introducing: premium investment banking-specific resume/cv and cover letter editing services.

We will take your existing resume and transform it into a resume that grabs the attention of finance industry professionals and presents you and your experience in the best possible light.

When we’re done, your resume will grab bankers by the lapels and not let them go until they’ve given you an interview.

Specifically, here’s what you’ll get:

  • Detailed, line-by-line editing of your resume/CV – Everything that needs to be changed will be changed. No detail is ignored.
  • Your experience will be “bankified” regardless of whether you’ve been a student, a researcher, a marketer, a financier, a lawyer, an accountant, or anything else.
  • Optimal structuring – You’ll learn where everything from Education to Work Experience to Activities should go. Regional badminton champion? Stamp collector? You’ll find out where those should go, too.
  • The 3-point structure to use for all your “Work Experience” entries: simple, but highly effective at getting the attention of bankers.
  • How to spin non-finance experience into sounding like you’ve been investing your own portfolio since age 12.
  • How to make business-related experience, such as consulting, law, and accounting, sounds like “deal work.”
  • How to avoid the fatal resume mistake that gets you automatically rejected . Nothing hurts more than making a simple oversight that gets you an immediate “ding”.
  • We only work with a limited number of clients each month. In fact, we purposely turn down potential clients in cases where we cannot add much value. We prefer quality over quantity, and we always want to ensure that we can work well together first.

FIND OUT MORE

You might be interested in reading The Definitive Guide to Equity Research Internships.

graduate cover letter investment banking

About the Author

Brian DeChesare is the Founder of Mergers & Inquisitions and Breaking Into Wall Street . In his spare time, he enjoys lifting weights, running, traveling, obsessively watching TV shows, and defeating Sauron.

Free Exclusive Report: 57-page guide with the action plan you need to break into investment banking - how to tell your story, network, craft a winning resume, and dominate your interviews

Read below or Add a comment

279 thoughts on “ The Investment Banking Cover Letter Template You’ve Been Waiting For ”

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I love how hand downs and direct this page is. Trying to break into IB come from a (semi-)target school but very bad GPA, love how you are always motivating, but realistic. Keep it up!

graduate cover letter investment banking

I am a sophomore and have a low gpa (2.5) should I include this on my cover letter? how do I stand out and not get dinged, low gpa because had to work full time freshman year because my dad lost his job, and my family had health issues. Am an only child.

All you can really do about a low GPA is network extensively so that people who know you can recommend you, and so you can avoid being filtered out by screening tools. See: https://mergersandinquisitions.com/low-gpa-investment-banking/

Maybe include a brief mention of why your GPA is lower in your cover letter, but focus on how you’ve improved since your first year (mention the higher GPA since then).

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Thanks for the write up!

If i am writing my cover letter in the body of the email, Do i write the name of the recipient instead of dear Madam ?

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I like it not bad

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Hey Brian – thanks for this article. Quick question: is there a certain point in your career (in my case, I’m an associate) when you can stop with the cover letters even if they give you the option?

Cover letters are pretty much always optional unless they ask for one.

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I was wondering for your template, you gave a solid and formal introduction. I also see other career advice sites that recommend making the cover letter “memorable” and straying away from the cookie cutter method with more flashy intros. As an example just from another online source: When I was seven, I wanted to be the GEICO gecko when I grew up. I eventually realized that wasn’t an option, but you can imagine my excitement when I came across the events manager position, which would have me working side by side with my favorite company mascot. So what’s your opinion on this? I’m sure it’s different for every field, so would you say the average investment banker appreciates something like this, or would it just make them roll their eyes and make you seem too keen/tryhard.

Same Andrew again…

Sorry I should’ve watched your video fully before asking. But you mentioned to not get too fancy with fonts, photos, etc. But would the bit of personal information outside the cookie cutter approach separate you in the slightest? To me, cover letters sound like they have the same purpose as GPA. A 4.0 (good but generic cover letter) won’t give you any advantages, but a 2.5 (poorly done letter) will eliminate you from the application process.

Yes, cover letters are basically used to weed out people, not to select them. You can include some personal information such as an interesting student group, study abroad, or experience that led you to IB, but don’t go overboard with trying to appear “interesting.” Save that for actual networking and interviews.

If you are applying to traditional “high finance” roles such as investment banking, private equity, etc., you should not do anything creative with your cover letter. It will only backfire. Firms either do not read cover letters, or if they do, they simply look at them to make sure you didn’t do something silly or inappropriate. You’re taking a very big risk by writing a “creative” cover letter, and one that has very little upside with tons of downside.

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For online applications that request your resume, but do not specify whether a cover letter should be included, should I submit a cover letter? Also since you can only submit one document in these cases, should you compile resume and cover letter into one document?

Thanks so much.

If they just request your resume, just include your resume. I would not even bother with a cover letter or combining them into one document.

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Do we have to leave

“Enclosure: Resume”

At the bottom of the Cover Letter? Many thanks

*In Online Application where they ask you to attach your CV and Cover Letter – if that makes any difference

Brina, many thanks for the quick answer. Just a last question:

Shall we sign between sincerely and our name or under our name?Both options are good?

Alternative A:

(Signature)

Alternative B:

The first one is slightly better.

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I just wanted to thank you for not only this Cover Letter template but also your Resume template. I have used both and I have received great feedback from interviewers and getting my foot in the door for asset management.

Thanks! Glad to hear it. Good luck!

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This question targets the paragraph listing relevant experiences & skills gained through it.

As a University Student with some corporate finance and consulting experience but nothing directly related to investment banking, do you think it would be relevant to list explain skills gained during university classes (e.g. a term project that simulated the entire M&A process based on a real life deal) that involved valuation, simulated investor calls, etc. Or do you believe sticking to actual work experience would be best suited.

Thanks a lot for all the content you post.

Stick to your work experience if you have actual CF and consulting internships. Maybe add a line or brief phrase within a line that mentions your learnings from university classes as well.

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I live in the UK and I’ve been told cover letters carry a lot of weighting in the initial application process. I have written a cover letter which is 8 paragraphs but it’s still 1 page. Do you think this would be ok or should I take some stuff out? Thanks in advance, great website you have.

By the way, it’s still size 10 font but I had to reduce the line spacing between the paragraphs to fit it all in.

Cover letters only matter in the “negative” sense, i.e. if you write something stupid or have typos, you could lose an offer or interview opportunity. Your cover letter should be as short as possible, so 8 paragraphs is too long, especially if you had to reduce the font size to 10, which is too small. So, be more concise and realize that bankers glance at hundreds/thousands of these letters each recruiting season…

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How do one relate a tax internship experience which I acquired In an accounting consulting firm to an investment banking internship I hope to start with with BofA

Talk about how your tax findings/work affected the big picture… did they potentially change the company’s valuation? What was the impact on the company’s financial statements? Did anything you did result in changes to the internal controls at the company? Did you do any tax work related to M&A or equity/debt deals?

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Hi Brian, I have read that the header of a cover letter should match your resume. Is there a reason the header from the M&I resume template was not included in this cover letter template?

??? I think it would be very odd if your cover letter started with your name in a bigger font size at the top… so, no if that is what you are asking about. A cover letter should start with the normal heading of a letter. Your resume is different because it’s intended to present the key points in bullet/highlight format.

I agree. Thanks.

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I’m applying online to banks in the EMEA area and most banks ask for my motivation – they don’t require a cover letter. Could I still use this template? or wouldn’t it make any sense to use this template?

If its the case that this template would not be useful, do you have any tips on what to focus on in such a motivation letter?

I think this template is too long for a simple question about your motivation. Your motivation should basically be the last part of your “story” – assuming 150 words for a competency question and a 300-word story. See:

https://mergersandinquisitions.com/walk-me-through-your-resume/

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How do you travel like a dug dealer? haha…You are funny. Great info. Thanks a lot. I’m trying to break the front door at Piper Jaffray so I can put my little two feet inside that door.

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hey, i am actually studying law in France but i wanted to go on trading/investment banking/hedge fund area. What would you suggest me ? Which arguments should I point out ?

Thanks a lot !

??? I’m not sure I understand your question.

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The links for Workbloom – Investment Banking Intern Template and Vanderbilt – Cover Letter Template are not valid anymore. Is it possible to fix that? Thank you very much!

Sincerely, Frank

We don’t have alternate links, sorry. But the template there wasn’t much different anyway.

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Hi Brian, I had a question in mind. I have been working with a Big four Audit firm in India for the past 10 months now, and have a Bachelors in Commerce degree from a non-target University here. The role here is Back-end, as in we do not have client interaction, and rather coordinate with the US/EMEA teams – which deal with the clients directly – for the work. Recently, I got a call from GS for an Analyst position under the Data Resource Group for its IB Division in India. How do you suggest I pitch my auditing experience to get an offer for this position? Also, considering the work I do here is back-end and basically, formatting files around and punching in numbers! Thanks in advance for your help!

I would just point out how your audit work led directly to results with clients and how you were a part of the client-interaction process, even if you didn’t speak with them directly. As a result, you have a good understanding of what they’re looking for and how to get them results most efficiently.

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Thanks for the template. Is it correct to include in the cover letter an entreprise which I am auditing or not?

Sure, you could, but you have to be able to tie that to whatever role(s) you’re applying for.

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Hi there, thanks for the cover letter template you provided. It’s a great help. Just wondering does the same template work for UK application? As you mentioned they tend to pay attention to cover letters.

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Yes this template works for UK applications.

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Thank you for sharing your blog, it helped a lot cos I am also having a hard time in writing a cover letter and I suck! Hope you can help more. Keep it up!

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Thank you for sharing the template and guide! I am a recent college grad and just started working in an economic consulting firm (last month). I want to make the career transfer to IB and I am trying my best networking everywhere. I am applying for an IB analyst position and editing my cover letter. Should I still mention in the cover letter my leadership roles in college or it does not matter much?

Many thanks!

You can mention them briefly, but you should focus on your current role.

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Thanks for the template! After working as an ER associate for 2 years in my hometown, I am moving from North America to Europe in the next few weeks. Should I mention in my cover letter something to the effect of “After visiting [country] several times over the past few years, I applied for and received my Work Visa” or will the recruiter assume I have a visa and do not require sponsorship? I just do not want to be passed over if they are assuming I will be a headache for them!

Furthermore, I am also hoping to move from ER to corporate. Besides tailoring the letter to reflect skills mentioned in the posting, are there any other changes that need to be made when moving out of capmarkets?

Thank you for your time!

Sure you can include this. Yes, I’d talk about why you want to move from ER to corporate and talk about why you prefer corporate over ER (perhaps you prefer the type of work in corporate better and you see yourself in a corporate vs. in a bank) and you want to move over to XX industry [the industry the corporate you’re applying for is in] given XX reason [ideally you’ve covered that industry in ER before]

Thank you Nicole. Should I be putting this explanation in paragraph 2? Or later on in the letter?

I’d probably list this later in the letter.

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Hi, I’m studying in the US and applying to summer IBD internship in 3 different locations (New York, London, HK), so who should I address to in my cover letter since there is only one cover letter for three different recruiters? Thanks!

I’d say Dear Sir/Madam or To Whom It May Concern

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when you express abbreviations, let’s say M&A, how do you put it in a cover letter? i.e., (“M&A”) or (M&A) without punctuations mark?

M&A is fine I believe

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Hi! You mentioned that putting the name of the recruiter is always better than just a “Dear Sir/Madam”. When applying in London, do you think it is appropriate to address the cover letter to a recruiter I haven’t personally met that I just found his name via an internet search, specifically from Linkedin. Also, there are dozens recruiters for the same company on Linkedin, should I still address the letter to a specific person? What about if it is the director of HR? Should I address it to him/her directly?

Yes, I’d address the email to Director of HR. If you don’t know the person’s name, I’d say “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Sir/Madam”

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Hey, I have a question concerning applying for an internship at G&S in Europe. Instead of a cover letter they want you to submit a motivational statement with 300 words when applying, which is according to them similar to the cover letter. But I am a bit unsure that I express my motivation for applying for an investment banking postion with this cover letter because it focuses more on previous internships. Should I outline my internships and then explain that I want to pursue an career in IB because of them? and should I mention my extra curriculare activities which involve leadership experience and exotic interests?

I’d briefly touch on your previous experience and focus on why IB, and why GS. If the previous experience can serve as your IB spark, use them. So yes you can mention that you want to pursue a career in IB because of your previous internships, but don’t dive too deep given word limit and you can address that in interviews. No, the latter part should be demonstrated on your resume, unless you have space in the statement

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What should you do in [Signature]?

I’m not sure I understand your question. I’d just insert your signature there.

Upload an image of your handwritten signature?

Yes you can do that. Copy and paste it below “Yours sincerely/Best Regards”

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I resigned from my previous role in April this year as we were planning a family move to another country However, it did not materialize due to some unexpected changes and I have to start looking for a job again. This has left an employment gap of about 3 months in my resume. During this period, I have taken the BIWS course to enhance my knowledge. Shall I mention my current status and address that in my cover letter? or leave it out and talk about it when asked during interview?

Xavier, you can list that on your resume and cover letter. You may also want to talk about other activities you’ve done during those 3 months.

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I am a first year associate working at a boutique bank on the trading floor and trying to switch into equity research/banking side. How is the cover letter different from the cover letter template above. Do I need to specifically state why I am switching?

Yes you need to address why you’re switching

Do you have any suggestions as to how I can gracefully address this? The reason why I am switching is because I don’t feel like I am learning much out of my positions – not being given much responsibilities, etc…

I’d focus on the positives on why you prefer the other division versus your current one; not what you’re lacking.

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Hi, I am wondering when introducing my skill sets and experience in the second paragraph of the cover letter, is it appropriate to use bullet points? e.g. my key skills/experience include: bullet point: A bullet point: B

Yes you can do that, though a lot of times we find that its best to follow our template, unless you’re a very experienced candidate

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I worked at a boutique investment bank for an internship and I was wondering how I may explain my low gpa on my cover letter. I would focus on my strengths and what I learned from the position but sooner or later the question of gpa will be addressed either during an interview or sent through email. How would I approach this?

This may come up in interviews and I’d address it then. I am not sure why you had a low GPA. If you had family/personal reasons you can list that. Otherwise if you were taking more advanced courses because you were too ambitious and got a lower GPA as a result of that you can list that too.

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I’m applying to various finance and IB positions and my documents will be seen as a package sent through my school. I created my resume in a very similar format to the template on your website, only using .5″ margins. I have the same header layout (with name and personal info) on both my resume and cover letter. My question is regarding holding these .5″ margins on both of my documents to keep a consistent look. I’m just curious as to whether this would be a good or bad idea, or as to whether you think it would even matter.

I haven’t seen the format of your resume so I am not 100% sure. 0.5 margins maybe a bit crowded but depending on your content it can be doable. If you have lots of solid content, yes this is applicable. Otherwise, I’d shorten your content and go for the standard margins

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Hey, this template isn’t just for investment banking right, it can be used for targeting internships in accounting as well? Same with the resume template?

If you change the paragraph from why IB to why accounting, you can use this template. The resume template is tailored to IB though you can use it for Accounting roles too

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I graduated from a top school 1.5 years ago, but unfortunately ended up at a not so impressive bank. What’s the best way to name drop the school in the cover letter? Thanks.

First paragraph – you can just say that you are working at XX bank and have recently graduated from XX school

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I am applying to three different divisions in the same investment bank that are different in nature (2 back office and one front) and there is only one cover letter for all three that asks you to describe your motivation for each. Since they are different positions, how do I go about this?

I’d be generic and focus on why finance and how you can make an impact to the firm

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How about adding the recommendations from the previous job? Is it worth? Should we add it even if they do not menton about that?

You can provide recommendations upon request

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Hi, I am wondering whether I need to include a signature in my cover letter for online application. If so, should I just insert it in the pdf document or scan a paper copy of the cover letter? Thanks!

Yes you can include it. Both works.

Yo’re welcome.

Just a follow-up question: I am applying for summer analyst position at CS, and they only allow one application per applicant. Should I use the same cover letter during campus recruiting (addressed to an alumnus) for my online application? Since I am applying to CS HK as well, I am wondering whether I should use a slightly different cover letter.

Sure I think this shouldn’t be a problem. Yes the HK one should be slightly different – i.e. why HK, why Chinese market

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Dear M&I staff,

I’m a master student in Europe. I’m currently attending a Master of Science in Finance after completing a bachelor in business administration. Do you have any specific suggestion about my first paragraph? Also, if I can’t find the name of the recruiter, how can I start the letter? I was thinking about expressions such as “To whom it may concern…”; does this work?

Thanks in advance

Yes it does, or Dear Sir/Madam.

First paragraph – I’d follow the template on the post

Dear Sir or Madam,

My name is [Insert Name] and I am currently pursuing a Master of Science in Finance at [Insert University Name] where I have also been awarded a Bachelor of Science with honors. How would this sound?

Sounds good, though I’d probably just use My name is [Insert Name] and I am currently pursuing a Master of Science in Finance at [Insert University].

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Hey Brian/Nicole, Thank you guys so much for this website. I spend days on it reading your articles! lol I’m just wondering when I do the name-dropping on the cover letter, is it alright to put the company names in bold? or is that too much? What do you guys think?

Thank you for your kind comment. You should credit Brian for his hard work! I don’t think its necessary to bold company names. I think its probably better to leave it “unbolded.”

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i a lil older i was originally an engineering major, left school (didnt graduate), started working as a stock broker, then mortgage broker, and then more sales background. I then re entered school and graduated with a degree with finance, gpa not so high bc of past screw ups, but now looking to break into finance. I love finance, and cant figure out how to convey that in a cover letter. can you help?

Focus on the impact you’ve made in your previous roles. Then say while you’ve enjoyed and learn a lot from your previous experience, you realize [Talk about your IB spark here], and that you realize you wanted to pursue IB because [XYZ]. Then say that you’re confident that your [XX] skills can be an invaluable asset to the firm (something around those lines)

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If I’m applying for a job based on an online job posting (LinkedIn / other job board), then in my 1st paragraph, ho would you address the section about how you learnt about the job / company ?

(I find it awkward to say that “I recently learnt about your company through your online ad on abc.com”)

ThankX Guys!

I recently learned about your company from [a contact/an event/an online job posting] and was impressed with what I learned of [List what you’re impressed with here]

Hey Nicole,

Thanks for your reply.

I’m finding it awkward to write “I learnt about your company from an online job posting” bcoz I feel it sounds like I did not know them before seeing the posting (which, in turn, sounds insulting for the company).

Instead, can I just say “I recently found out about the XYZ position at ABC Capital & want to apply for this position”?

Sure, this sounds good. No, this isn’t insulting – this is why companies post on job postings! It is best if you have already spoken to people at the company and use that as an intro. line.

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please i am an undergraduate in my final year with just one internship experience and one teaching experience, that was before i gained admission. i want to know if it is appropriate to include my date of birth and list of referees; i will also like to know the maximum length of resume ideal for some one in my category. Thanks.

Please see https://mergersandinquisitions.com/free-investment-banking-resume-template/

No, I don’t think you need to include your DOB and list of referees. Maximum length of your resume would be 1 page.

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Hi Brian, thanks so much for creating this awesome website.

I’m a year one student in a non-target uni in HK who’s interested in IBD. My first semester GPA wasn’t stellar because I had a hard time balancing family issues and adapting to a new country.

I’m currently applying for several pre-internship programs, and am afraid my less-than-3 GPA will cause my immediate disqualification. What can I do?

I’ve had several leadership positions in high school, am great at networking/socializing, and speak a few languages. But my first semester GPA is lackluster. Please advice, should I explain in my cover letter?

Best Regards, Sara

Yes, your GPA is likely to be alarming to interviewers. Sure, you can explain the above on your cover letter, though I would focus on your strengths and what you have achieved first. You want to draw people to your strengths. I’d also try as hard as you can to boost your GPA next semester and craft a very good explanation when you land interviews.

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Hey there M&I,

Firstly, I’d just like to thank you for this template – it truly is priceless.

I’m from Melbourne, Australia and I’d like to break into Investment Banking for a long-term career.

I’m starting a Bachelor of Commerce degree at The University of Melbourne and I was thinking of double majoring in Accounting and Finance.

I feel as though this will put me in a good position for Investment Banking and will also provide me with a few alternatives should I be unable to make it to Investment Banking or decide that it’s not for me.

Sorry about the long-winded explanation, I guess what I want to know is whether or not the double major sequence I have suggested is desirable in Investment Banking or there is a better sequence you could suggest to me.

Also, what do you have to say about people getting summer internships after first year? I haven’t heard of anyone doing this before, but have you? How should I go about trying to increase my chances?

Thanks very much!

Thanks. Yes, that sequence is fine but I don’t know if it would give you an advantage. From what I understand about Australia, I believe most people who get into banking there actually have dual Commerce and Law degrees.

Summer internships after year 1: very tough. You’d have to aim for small local firms. And probably not common in Australia.

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I’m applying to a Private Equity internship and I completed the BIWS fundamental and advanced modeling courses. Should I talk about this in my cover letter? Right now I just have a general statement about it and that I worked on some case studies.I was wondering whether I should go more in depth and mention a specific case? Leave it as a general statement? Or take it out completely

Yes, definitely mention the specific case studies as that makes it sound much better than just saying you completed the courses.

Document for listing them on your resume (you may be able to apply parts of this):

http://biws-support.s3.amazonaws.com/BIWS-Courses-Resume-Instructions.docx

Thanks Brian,

I took your advice and mentioned specific case studies.

One other thing, currently in the second paragraph of my cover letter I talk a lot about my internship experience, but this internship doesn’t have to do with IB, its accounting and sales for a hotel. I did spin it in away that says that I picked up skills from this internship that I can apply to IB, PE, etc. Should I focus less about this and more on the BIWS courses, and projects in school I worked on since it doesn’t directly relate?

I would probably do an even split in that case.

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I found this guide and template very useful. I was wondering, though, if I were to apply online to bb investment banks that didn’t make any meeting at my university and require a cover letter, what should I write in: “I was recently introduced to your firm via [Friend / Contact at Firm / Presentation] and was impressed with what I learned of [Your Culture / Working Environment / Bank-Specific Info.].”

I know about these banks just because of their fame, so should I just skip this part?

Sure though having this line may be more convincing.

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I am now applying to Société Générale M&A summer internship in Power, Utilities and Infrastructure department. I tried to find some alumni working there. I could manage to find one via linkedin; however, i cannot contact him because he sets a permission. I wonder what should i write on cover letter if i can’t find a contact in SG?

Dear Sir or Madam / [Name of Recruiter if you have it]

Dear Nicole,

I feel sorry not to explain it clearly.

Quoted from the IB template: ” I was recently introduced to your firm via [Friend / Contact at Firm / Presentation] and was impressed with what I learned of [Your Culture / Working Environment / Bank-Specific Info.] ”

I searched SG career website but they mention the work environment and culture very vague. I tried to find an alumni working there; however,the alumni office hasn’t replied me yet.Even worse, SG hasn’t held any campaign event at our uni. At present moment,I can’t manage to get a contact at firm. I did search they have an aggressive expansion plan for the department 2 years ago. Should I mention this instead?

Much thanks

It would help if you have spoken to a contact who is working/worked there or attending one of their info sessions. Otherwise, yes it may be useful to mention of their department’s aggressive expansion plan.

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Hi! What if I have not attended any presentation and I do not know nobody that work in a specific bank? Can I still apply online? I am applying to investment banks in London and I know that they recruit using the online application process.

Yes you can still apply online.

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Hi Nicole/Brian,

Adding to what Paolo has mentioned, what about the cover letter? Since we do not know anybody that work in that specific bank (nor attend any presentations), who do we address the cover letter to? (Or is it better not to submit one if the cover letter is optional?)

Secondly, is it alright to say that we found out about the job/vacancy by browsing through their website?

Again, thanks for your continuous kind support.

Regards, Rifki

Quoting from the article:

“If you don’t have this information you can just list the company name and address and use a ‘Dear Sir or Madam” greeting.’ ”

If it’s optional, I wouldn’t even bother submitting it especially if you don’t know anyone there. Yes saying you saw it through a website is OK.

Thanks Brian!

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I’ve just graduated in Finance and Accounting but wasn’t able to get summer internships in my 2nd year. What else can I write in section 2+3? I’ve got work experience in wholesale, an accounting firm and an insight day at a Merrill Lynch which were just before I started uni, i.e. 2009 can I still use these in this section or would it look bad since they are old?

I’ve taken part in many trading simulation games in teams etc which show all the skills you have mentioned in the paragraph, would it be acceptable to use this as an example even though it was a simulation?

They wouldn’t look bad but not exactly current. Ideal if you have recent experiences to list. Otherwise you can list them

Yes – show the returns you generated

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Thanks for the useful resources.

Last year, I hadn’t as much insight and experience with IB (I was coming from law and bearely started to study a MSc-Finance in a good school). I still got two interviews with a nice boutique and a bb. I got reject at the final round.

This year I’m applying again (I’m currently doing an off cycle M&A internship)

1. Shall I mention I applied last year, and why I like the firm so much? or shall I just make a regular cover letter and avoid to mention I applied a year ago?

2. How many interviews should I go through to secure an offer, or what is the average? I’d like to know whether I am doing something bad or just if it is because you need to go through several interviews to finally get something?

3. What would shall I do with the current market if I secure another off cycle internship or a full time M&A position in a leading law firm? (I prefer finance than law, but I m getting old and need to start working as oppose to “intern”)

Sorry for this long thread, thanks for your help.

1. you can mention it if you want though I don’t think its necessary 2. hard to say – depends on you. people generally go through more than several rounds of interviews to land an offer 3. network a lot

Last year, I hadn’t as much insight and experience in IB profiles (I am coming from law and bearely started to study a MSc-Finance in a good school). I still got two interviews with a nice boutique and a bb. I got reject at the final round.

— Shall I mention I applied last year, and why I like the firm so much

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Hi, I have an upcoming interview with a bulge bracket bank in Capital Markets. I submitted my resume about 1 month ago and got selected recently. My resume was updated recently and is much much more in depth than before. Should I reach out to the recruiters and ask if I can have them replace the resume on the website with my new one? Or would this be frowned upon? Thanks!

Yes, please do that!

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Thank you for your tips, they are great!I have two questions:

1. All templates I find are about experienced people. If you are a person with no experience (or with a very short experience in a different area), how can you turn this fact around and convince someone to hire you? Should you really emphasize your academic background?

2. I started a PhD but early on I realized that it was not the right fit for me. How and where should I mention this? Should I explain why? I am afraid that no one will be considering me for a job position because I am quitting the PhD…

Thank you so much!

1. There are templates for inexperienced hires – pls look for the one for undergraduates. If you have NO work experience at all, I’d suggest you to emphasize your academic background and extracurricular activities. 2. Explain this on your cover letter & interviews. No, it shouldn’t be a problem if you know how to spin your story. Most jobs don’t require a PhD these days anyway.

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Hi, Thank you very much for uploading the template.

But what if I don’t have background info or experiences specific to the investment banking industry even though I have banking experience in a different field such as Loan Officer? Will that matter?

I will be considered as a fresher in that case how can I convince anybody about changing my profession to investment banker or wealth management analyst from this profession?

And can you also please help me with a sample C.V for freshers in Invest and Wealth Management.

I do have an MBA in finance.

You’ll have to figure out why IB and pitch your story well.

You can use the same template for Wealth Management – just focus on your research and investment experience

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I’m planning to use this short cover letter as my email body. My question : “Should I opt for a longer version with more elaborate details?”

— Dear Sir/ Madam [or the recruiter’s name],

I would like to express my interest in a position as [position] for [company].

As you may perceive from my summary, I’ve been leveraging my consulting and technical skills from my previous career as an IT Consultant to break into the finance industry. Thus, I’m adapt at translating clients’ problems into a satisfying, concrete solution. I also possess good leadership skill and can work well with others. [ + other skills the company valued / demanded for this specific job]

I would love to expand my career with your company, and am confident that I would be a beneficial addition to your company. I have enclosed my resume and I would welcome a personal interview at your earliest convenience.

[Name and contact address] —

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I’d keep your email short, sweet and succinct. Anything longer than that is too much.

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Hello, my question is regarding the introduction —

“Paragraph 1: Introduction This is where you explain who you are, where you’re currently working or studying, and how you found the bank that you’re applying to.”

I have nearly 2 years of consulting experience, but have recently been laid off. Since I’m no longer working or studying, how would I approach this as far as introduction?

Just introduce yourself and tell interviewer you’ve been laid off due to the lackluster economy – they should understand. Tell them what you’ve been doing with your free time i.e. traveling, studying, picking up a new hobby, etc. As long as you sound like you are doing something productive/interesting with your life, you should be fine

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Errors – If there are minor typos that most people don’t see at a glance, are you in the clear? I’m not sure if people read cover letters that closely especially during OCR when hundreds of people apply at the same time from one school.

It depends on whether your reviewer is attentive to details or not!

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I don’t exactly have a stellar GPA, so I was wondering if the cover letter is where I would explain myself? Or is it better to just not mention it? Thanks! And love this website!

It depends why you don’t have a stellar GPA – if you have a legit reason i.e. you had sick parents you needed to take care of etc I think it would help

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Thanks for the article. I just had a quick question. I was originally interested in marketing and completed two internships my freshman year undergraduate (currently a junior applying for summer analyst positions). Since then I have had several research internships. Would it be a good idea what lead my decision to go from marketing to banking in my cover letter?

Any input would be awesome. Thanks!

Yes I would explain why you changed your mind in your cover letter and point to a specific person/incident

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I am studying at a “frontier market” university and am currently an exchange student at a highly ranked (Top 100) universities.

Should I use an exchange studies university in a cover letter instead of a university where I’ll be graduating and mention it accordingly (I am currently an exchange student at…)?

No, I think you should still use the university where you’ll be graduating

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ha frontier market. I am putting where I am an exchange student with the frontier school I attend.

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I’m applying for an internship in the US, but I’m studying in Germany. Should I mention that my University/Business School, is one of the best business schools in Germany?

Thank you for your answer!

I don’t think it makes a difference. You could try but reviewers might not necessarily care too much re that

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Hi, thanks so much for this article. I am writing a cover letter to J.P. Morgan, but I cannot find the office address in HK, shall I omit it at the top?

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But what if I don’t have background info or experiences specific to the investment banking industry? does that automatically rule me out as a candidate even though they specify that finance background is not necessary?

Could I simply emphasize my skills and abilities that I have gained through other experiences such as working for an NGO?

Not necessarily.

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just one other quick question. At Goldman Sachs, one could apply for internship in several divisions and they have asked motivation for applying to different divisions. Would it make this impression that you yourself do not know what division is right for you when you make applications for several divisions? Thanks a lot.

With Goldman, yes. However, in a way you still need to hedge your bets because one division’s MD might like you and the other’s MD might not.

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I’ve shown my CL to the Head of HR in my firm and he adviced me to write something “catching” as a title between the date and “Dear Sir or Madam,..”. So do you think it would be okay to write there: “Why I am a good fit for taking part in your spring programme”? Or does this sound too arrogant?

Thanks a lot! Jevira

This sounds generic.

Have you got another idea or just put there: Spring Programme at XYZ. :D Thanks, and sorry for the time you lose with all my questions..

Come up w something original he said right? I don’t know if the above is original. You should just ask him what his suggestions are. I’d love to help but I need to think through it and have to look at your CL; wouldn’t be fair to other customers who are paying for our CL editing service.

Thanks very much for your helps. I have a few questions and I would greatly appreciate if you could help me. I am doing a double degree master in Complex Systems Science (A multidisciplinary field), so I have studied one year at Warwick, UK and now I am studying the second year at Ecole Polytechnique, France. 1) Should I mention anywhere that I have had a multidisciplinary approach since in my field I have to interact with people with completely diverse backgrounds, from Physics and math to economics and Philosophy? 2)I have got a full scholarship from European commission for my studies. How should I mention it? 3)I think many people are not very acquainted with the structure of such joint programs between two universities in two different countries. In my CV, shall I mention it as two masters and not saying that they are in fact joint? 4)My master thesis has been about financial contagion and I do not have ant job or internship opportunity, so how should I write the second paragraph?

Thanks in advance and sorry it becomes too long. Mostafa

1. Not sure how you will be wording this one. Difficult to use this to stand out 2. Yes 3. No, put joint but you can separate the two in diff lines 4. Can’t help you on this one.

Hi, it’s me again. Does this template also apply for online applications where you have to upload the cover letter? Or can my personal adress, the banks adress and the date can be removed withous replacement?

Yes these templates apply to online apps too

No, I don’t think you should remove the details you mentioned

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I’m a first year university student in the UK, and looking to apply to a spring division internship at Goldman Sachs (and probably many others in the near future).

I have litte actual experience in terms of working for firms, but have competed in many stock market challenges/competitions, and I have come to university a year early, having been moved up a year.

Clearly with my lack of experience, I will need to slightly change the template you have provided above; how would you recommend I do this?

Many thanks.

I nearly asked the same thing – but my question didn’t even appear.

You should elaborate on your stock market challenges/competitions

Is it okay to write under my asset mgmnt firm that I “increased producivity of checking several entries by about 60%”? It was an excelsheet with about 120 rows in which I had to find the entries which were more than once in these rows. (it was an excel formula I made for that).

Or does it sound ridiculous?

Oh, its in the CV, not the cover letter.

yes it does sounds a bit ridiculous and monotonous. Sorry.

So I’ll delete :) Thanks. Its very difficult to boost your CV.

btw: may I send you, Nicole, my CV that you could look over that? You see my email adress, i guess. I’d really appreciate it! Thinking, that it sounds “too” ridiculous…

We’re not offering resume editing at the moment but will be introducing it shortly, so you can watch for that announcement.

What does “shortly” mean? Within this month? And will it be free? If not, how much would it cost? If you’re launching in the very near future, please reserve one place for me :-).

Haha yes but not free. Sure.

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Thanks for your work!

My question is that if I apply for some regions where original language is not English i.e. China, Japan, will it be ok I send a 2-page resume/cl with one in English and another Chinese/Japanese/whatever? or seperately in 2 .pdfs?

Thanks again

No. Not necessary. Just send a one-page resume in English

If bilingual required?

No still submit one pager unless they ask

Thanks Nicole.

Another not-related question, do you think that a 4-month full time internship in PE department of commercial banks, say, standard chartered, strong enough to pass the summer/FT online selection? prior to that i had internship in big-4. a senior in university and will pursue a finance master degree right after. thanks

Should do but again it depends on what position you are interviewing for and which division you are looking at. Also depends on who is screening you..However, I believe your experience should suffice

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Do you think sending a cover letter with a CV directly to the Head of investment banking dpt is inappropriate? The bank is hiring (according to website). Sent my CV to HR a month ago, no responce.

Sure, just send him a brief email and your resume. No point in sending a cover letter – address what you need to say briefly on the email

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What is your opinion about listing client names. Obviously working in a deal situation it would not be acceptable to mention a client name and the transaction itself if this is not public but in my case I have done a lot of work which didn’t result in deals however I am quite keen on mentionning the clients as I have worked with many PE and large Corporate clients. Is it fine to write: “selected list of clients: A,B,C,D,E…

Why would you want to use names there? Just for more credibility when you discuss deals? I would still avoid using names if possible for dead deals. You can still mention that you’ve worked with some big PE names such as X but I wouldn’t go into details; pretend deal is still ongoing even if it died, and leave out the names.

https://mergersandinquisitions.com/why-investment-banking-deals-fail/

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You do such a great service for idiots like me!Keep it up.

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Hi! For my motivation letter, which the company requires on their application website, shouldn’t I just say I like money and that I want to work for their company because I would like to earn a lot? Or should I go with the “It’s my passion… I like to be challenged… I’d like to contribute innovations for the growth of the business…” bits? Thank you!

applications for bulge brackets. thanks!

Um #2, always

Okay, thanks!

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I am beginning to write my cover letter for a number of boutique banks in the fall to apply for analyst positions. What do I if I don’t know anyone at the firm and can’t namedrop a presentation I attended (1st paragraph)? Can I just say

“My name is John Smith, and I am a recent graduate of Fordham University (Class of 2011). I am interested in applying for an analyst position at XYZ firm”

Is there anything else I can add to the first paragraph to flesh out my cover letter a bit? Thank you very much and keep up the good work!

That’s fine

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Hi, I recently switched to a major in economics from engineering. The engineering curriculum at my school is very challenging and had a negative impact on my GPA over my freshman/sophomore year (3.4 currently). Would it be appropriate to list that I was previously an engineering major on my resume to reflect the challenging curriculum I was previously engaged in?

Yes that’s a good idea or at least reflect coursework on there

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Thanks for the cover letter and resume templates, they’re really helpful. A friend of mine used your templates to score a summer internship in corporate finance advisory at a big four company in london and I was able to score a SA offer in the IBD of a BB firm in frankfurt, germany. we’re both germans btw.

depending on how fulltime recruiting develops we should set something up for a “breaking into IB in europe”-feature if you see the demand for this. So long, Nick

Congrats, interesting to hear that it works in other countries. There are a few articles on Europe (UK, Germany, Italy) already but could use more if you have a unique angle.

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A company was recruiting at my college, and all they asked for was for us to send them a 1-page motivational letter? Any idea what I can include in the letter? Eg, why me? Why should I get the offer? Why should I get the bursary? My strengths and weaknesses?

They don’t want a cv, they just want a motivational letter. I’m not too sure what to include in it. Any help would be appreciated.

I would just follow the cover letter template here and expand on it a bit… don’t go into strengths/weaknesses, just follow the outline above.

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Thanks Brian for putting up such a nice website and sharing valuable stuff with us aspirers. I might be using a wrong space to look for your suggestions anyways here I go. My challenge here is to make a successful transition from a business development/ strategy side (prior 3 yrs of exp. with a commercial bank) to IB. Being done an MBA recently from a decent B school in UK where I gained the required skill sets for IB, I was targeting at BB which doesnot seems to be working out my way so I m considering the small boutiques as well to start with. I thought a good cover letter can win recruiters attention in my case. Any advice on the approach I should carry to enter into IB & put my prior experience into use to encash it is highly appreciated.

If you do a search for “Networking” and “Cold-calling” you’ll see the most helpful advice – cover letters do not make a difference, focus on your cold-calling and networking skills and do not give up until you try hundreds of places.

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is it okay to put stuff on your resume you don’t mention in your cover letter? or should your resume ONLY include stuff from your cover letter?

It’s fine, you can’t even mention everything in the cover letter anyway

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In the 3rd paragraph you explained that we should say something along the lines of “I am impressed by your track record of clients and transactions at Goldman Stanley…”

This is obviously a great way to tailor your cover letter, but I was wondering where you find out information of transactions. I’ve found some doing a simple Google search, but is there an independent authority that tracks all of these? As well, how do you know which transactions to mention? The ones that the firm is particularly proud of or ground-breaking?

Use the WSJ Deal Journal or NYT Dealbook to find recent deals they’ve done, anything sizable or significant e.g. the Goldman / Facebook deal

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I realized I made a grammatical error in the last paragraph of my cover letter today. I never noticed it before and I’ve sent it to three places already, one BB and two boutiques. Big deal?

No, no one reads cover letters anyway

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Firstly thanks for the website, it’s great.

My question is: in most summer IB internships, they ask several cover letter-like questions like “In 250 words max, describe your career aspirations” etc., however there’s usually an option to upload a cover letter as well. Would you advise keeping it concise or would you include examples of IB-related things, adapted to the question, despite the fact you’re effectively rewriting the cover letter?

This is in UK by the way.

Thanks in advance.

Just keep it concise – competency questions are not a big factor vs. CV/interviews.

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Thank you for the template.

Quick questions:

Should we use the email format for a doostang message as well?

No keep it way shorter like 2-3 sentences maybe

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Dear M&I,

I guess I’m the most complicated case here. I’m currently doing BA in Art History and Italian at UCL, London, now doing my Erasmus in Italy. However, last summer I worked as a M&A Summer Analyst in a small boutique bank specializing in cross-border M&As. There, I started from scratch, with no finance experience/knowledge, but learnt a lot and had lots of hands-on experience, since the company was really small and I was involved in literally everything.

I’m applying for summer internships in large investment banks and about to start writing my cover letters. I assume I must explain myself for studying Art History & Italian and my out-of-the-blue interest in I-Banking, plus use my last summer experience as a selling point. Any other specific hints?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Well, why did you work there? What made you interested in doing that? Reference a specific person or if nothing comes to mind use something from the news or your background e.g. I was always really interested in Italy and the UK and got interested in finance as a result of [xx] so I wanted to explore cross-border M&A and leverage my skills/interests like that.

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Hi, I have completed my masters in Drug Discovery and Translational Biology. But currently I am planning to apply for any investment banking positions. As I don’t have any background or experience in the given field, i don’t what to write in the 2nd and 3rd paragraph.

Can you please help me,

Talk about the analytical skills you gained and how they apply, or the leadership / project management skills or anything else like that from previous internships or school.

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Hey guys, this letter just repeats what is inside the Resume anyway. What is the additional value for the potential employer to read this kind of resume? There are no additional information. Wouldnt it be better to wite about your motiviation, your personal (not work) background, and reasons to chose this department/bank ? Or would it harm to do this?

Furthermore, the letter includes the information about resume enclosure 3(!) times. I like this site but this template really does not look too promising for me!

So don’t use it? The point is that no one reads cover letters, but in case they do, you don’t want to screw up by saying anything controversial or anything that could be misinterpreted.

If you start writing your personal story, bankers might mistake it for a soap opera script rather than cover letter.

Cover letters have no value at all, but just like grades if you screw one up it could hurt you. This template is intentionally boring and gives very little information because otherwise people would download this and insert pictures of unicorns, write about their past relationships, and other nonsense.

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Great comment, made me laugh

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Do you recommend being creative in cover letters, ie varying sentence structure, using big/expressive words ?

No, creativity is for marketing or poetry – this is finance.

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I’m a US student currently at Oxford for my junior year. All the applications for the UK offices are online. I know you have already answered the question before, but I don’t want to make any mistakes. So just to clarify:

1. Omit the physical addresses, mine as well as theirs. 2. Omit the recruiters name leaving only the name of the bank 3. Omit the signature 4. Do not enclose resume since that is a separate attachment

Thanks so much in advance.

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Hie ,i realy luv ur advice!.,Im doing a Bsc in Financial modelling with UNISA.is this a good start for a career in investment banking?.i finish next year, could u tell wat i can do to make myself marketable after graduation.

Honestly, I’m not sure on that one because I’m not familiar with the school. If a lot of banks recruit there, it’s fine; otherwise you should transfer elsewhere.

Its University of SouthAfrica ,im also staying in Africa.is there something i could do 2 giv me an added advantage over my coleagues?.

This article has some tips on South Africa: https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-south-africa/

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Hey M&I,

What’s your take on headlines (i.e.Application for IB Analyst) and postscripts? I’ve heard from many friends to add them on because they will grab attention. But then again, they aren’t going into banking.

Thanks, Mack

Not applicable for banking

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i will be applying to merrill lynch. In the template, you stated many of the internship and job roles that provide the skills required to be a great investment analyst. However, i was just wondering, if i have a perfect gpa, perfect sats score, how can i use these to my advantage in my cover letter?

You can’t really, just list them and be done with it – no point in trying to emphasize those because there’s not much to say and they speak for themselves.

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Hi, If the firm’s online application says “you can only attach one file: this should contain your CV, cover letter and any other materials relevant for the position”, does it mean in the word document file I upload, the 1st page is resume, the 2nd page is cover letter and the 3rd is transcript? It looks pretty strange because the document is gonna be 4-5 pages. But since they only allow me to upload one file, I’m not sure what to do with the cover letter and the transcript. Or can I just omit them and attach the resume document only? Thanks a ton.

I would not send the transcript unless they specifically ask for it, otherwise just create a 2-page file with your cover letter and CV

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First of all, great website! It’s really helpful and I think you guys are doing a great job.

I am visually impaired, however I have always followed regular education and have performed like anybody else (also in jobs, at associations, etc). Many banks stress their emphasis on diversity and now I am wondering if I should include this fact in my cover letter / online application? On the one hand I feel it would fit great into the whole “what are you most proud of”-question, but I am also scared it might work against me?

Please note I’m applying London, not NY. (I think European regulations might differ from US-ones). I go to a European target school.

Personally I would not list it on your CV / cover letter / online application, but maybe bring it up in an interview if it fits in naturally.

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Hi Brian, I was beginning to start writing coverletters–atleast get them going, but I’m confused on where to find the unique strength of each BB, which makes it diff from its competitions. One of the things which makes a good cover letter is that its specific to a firm, but I dont know how to find such information. For instance, I was looking at MS, Barclays website in the section ,’Why MS’ or ‘Why Barclays’, and it seems every firm had the same agenda. We are committed to diversity , team player etc. Obv I need to go into more depth than this. Brian where I can find information specific to each BB on their website? I would really appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

You should read the WSJ Deal Journal blog and look for recent mentions of the bank and what deals they have been advising on – then reference those in the cover letter.

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Hi Brian, I’m in a similar position as the above poster. For companies without a personal contact I want to talk about a specific deal they’ve advised on.

I’m just unsure how to formulate such a sentence without encouraging diffcult to answer questions.

E.g. I was thinking of something along the lines of “I was impressed with your company’s role as target advisor in the $X bn acquisition of companyX”

I’m afraid this would result in the question of ‘why were you impressed?’.

Any chance you could give a sample sentence of how you would talk about a deal in a cover letter?

P.S.: Keep up the good work with BIWS, love the constant updates. Highly recommended, well worth the money!

You can say something like “I recently saw news of your role as an advisor in the $X bn acquisition of company X and was immediately interested, since I’ve followed the [X] industry for awhile.”

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Hi, I graduated from a target, went to medical school after graduation, but left after two years to pursue a career in investment banking. I now work at a small investment research firm, and I am applying for 2011 analyst class.

How much “explanation” do I need to do in cover letter? Or should I just focus on my job experience and modeling skills?

I don’t think you need much explanation since you quit medicine after 2 years, so just focus on other aspects

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Is the physical address at the top still necessary if you’re attaching the cover letter as a .PDF in an online form?

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I can’t thank you enough for all these info Brian,

In all honesty, I did have a sudden family death last year for which I had to leave school in the middle of the semester and come back after about two weeks. I got in a lot of psychological stress and uncertainty and I ended up messing up my grades significantly for two semesters. However, I did improve last semester with a full workload (maximum number of credit hours allowed at my school + advanced level classes) and got near 4.0.

How should I mention this on my cover letter? Also, how would I do that on an electronic cover letter which should only be about 4-5 sentences?

Thanks again in advance.

I would just say you had a health issue and had trouble balancing everything, but quickly learned your lesson and received perfect grades right after that. Giving a family excuse sounds fake so I would probably not write that even if it’s true.

Thanks but the thing is that wasn’t my freshman year. It was my sophomore year. So I did well my freshman year than poorly as a sophomore and improved as a junior.

Also, what about the electronic cover letter? Would it be ok to take up some sentences to explain my situation?

Just say you did poorly “at first” and then improved and have perfect grades this past year. I would still keep your cover letter short as no one has time to read a lot.

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I would appreciate your advice on this.

I’m a senior at a target school in Far East Asia. It’s really tough to get into a BB here and I’m thinking of visiting each BB and handing them my resume and cover letter to ask for a junior equity research position. I doubt I’d be able to personally meet the head of research or a senior analyst without prior arrangement, so I’d be probably handing my resume and cover letter to HR. I need to stand out but I have no equity research internship experience. What I do have, is a equity S&T internship at a BB and a RA (intern) at a top-tier mgmt. consulting firm. Plus experience managing a personal portfolio and trading derivatives in notable amounts.

Now, my problem is this. I made it to the final round for a junior ER position at GS but unfortunately was not given the offer (the offer ended up going to someone with some full-time experience in ER; had I been competing against fresh-out-of-college candidates would the result have been different?). I would like to mention this in my resume or cover letter hoping that it would serve as evidence that I’m really interested in ER and that I have the potential. But I’m worried that this might send the wrong signal. Who would like to accept a candidate knowing that he was unsuccessful elsewhere? I’m worried that I might appear arrogant in their eyes. I’m thinking of visiting CS, UBS, Citi, MS, ML, JPM, etc. In ER here in Asia, they’re at least at par with GS if not better…

I realize that answer to this may depend on the culture here. Please advise. Thanks.

I would not mention an unsuccessful interview with GS for the reasons you mentioned.

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Hi Brian! Long time reader, first time poster. I’m currently a rising senior at a target school on the tale end of my internship at a strong boutique bank in New York. I only have one week left, and I’ve been given zero modeling opportunities. I’m very disappointed. I figure that I should ask for some modeling work. But I have some questions.

1) Does it reflect poorly in interviews for full-time that I didn’t do any modeling? Should I “stretch” the truth?

2) Do you have any other relevant comments about doing a junior year internship and not getting any modeling experience? I’m concerned with how this hurts my full-time credentials, how this might affect my resume, and how overall my standing will decrease relative to my peers because I didn’t get modeling experience.

It’s quite common not to have modeling experience… just say you did research and assisted with potential clients / potential buy-side deals but don’t say anything about modeling. Most people do no modeling in their internships so it doesn’t matter much anyway.

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What’s a better part-time fall internship, BB PWM or no-name boutique (I mean no name.. say 3-7 employees)?

Both are about the same, but the boutique is better for your resume because you can write “Investment Banking Analyst”

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off-topic question:

I often read though it’s June interviews are still taking place.

When do banks in America/Europe begin accepting applications for: 1) summer interns (analyst) 2) full-time (analyst/associate)

Is the end of a summer intern equivalent to the end of the full-time offer application period? Because ppl. might are offered a full-time offer after their summer intern.

To put it in a nutshell: When is recruting/application time generally?

Summer interns are December/January, full-time is August-September.

And when do you start as summer intern, when u successfully applied in dec/jan or successfully applied for aug/sep?

Summer interns usually start in June

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This post reminded me of the classic cover letter to Lehman that was on Leveraged Sellout. I tried to see it, but it appears LSO has shutdown. Is this the case? Are the days of re-reading the same, hilarious stories over?

I don’t know because it’s not my site, but yes it appears to be down. Maybe check the google cache.

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Thanks for the release of this article, much appreciated.

Curious on an unrelated question though, when you try to develop relationships with bankers and do the initial outreach to set up an information interview, how far ahead should you plan? I mean should you give them dates within the week you email, 2 weeks ahead, etc?

Also, for specific time slots you ask for, what time is it usually best for a banker to talk to someone about that? Like early morning, late night, right after lunch, etc?

Thanks again, H

Give dates within the next 1.5 weeks so they have a few days to respond. Usually right after lunch is best for bankers, for traders you have to call after market hours are over

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Hi Brian, Thanks for the website, I have a quick question for you. I am in one of the new Masters in Finance/Management programs. I am at a target school for undergrad/MBA (think UNC/Duke/UVA). However, since the program is very new, banks don’t know much about it. Aditionally, although I have had some Wealth Management internship experience, I don’t have an I-Banking internship.

Given my situation, do you think it is better for me (in terms of B-school and exit opportunities) to go into a top ten consulting firm (excluding MBB) or try for mid-market/boutique investment banks (My school is very good in placing people in consulting), assuming I don’t get into a BB. I ultimately want to end up in PE or HF (preferably PE).

Thanks for your help.

I would still say banking because consulting –> PE is very tough unless you go for firms like Golden Gate Capital that hire a lot of ex-consultants… and even there they’re mostly from MBB. Much easier to go from smaller bank –> PE than to go from smaller consulting firm –> PE.

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Should I mention the fact that my company is in F500? It’s know in Europe, but I doubt it is known in North America.

You can add it in, yes

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I don’t have any inside experience about the recruiting process, but a friend/colleague of mine (BB) mentioned that while recruiting for regional european branches/off-cycle internships often look at the cover letter, they almost never do it for summer positions in London.

Everyone seems to have different stories re: cover letters, but they are certainly less important than resumes, networking, or interviews

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What about for laterals?

Same template applies but talk about how your previous banking experience applies to the new position you’re applying for

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I appreciate your template for its compactness, I understand I shouldnt overestimate the competition, but Im trying to sell myself to the recruiter, so simply mentioning my skills and experience will not differentiate me from the “competitor”…?

I personally dont have so much experience in the finance realm (although Im genuinely interested in it and have managed to get a ten day insight into a BB) so do you encourage mentioning transferable skills I acquired through extra curricular activities, ie football = teamwork, etc, etc…

Cover letters are not really the place to “sell” yourself, which is why this is short… much safer to keep it boring and then do the selling via networking / interviews.

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I know this is supposed to be basic, but the first paragraph is pretty useless. Your name, university/job position and contact details will already be on your resume so what’s the point in wasting time and space repeating the details on your cover letter. Also, saying “I am interested in pursuing an [Investment Banking Analyst / Associate] position at your firm” is also somewhat redundant, since the recruiter knows what position you’re applying for.

The template is good as a starting point, but on the off chance someone actually does read your cover letter, I would try to do a lot more than just make redundant statements.

This template is for both email and traditional letters… and in email it’s certainly not redundant. Even with traditional letters you are introducing new information by giving the name of the person you met at their firm as well as your major / where you’re working more specifically.

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so do you expect the same stats as what you have written for the resume template? A given population, and a limited percentage will download it, and even a limited percentage will copy it word for word?

Cheers, thanks for all the great info!

In the grand scheme of things, yes – online a lot of people use these templates but most people who apply to banks do not use them.

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I’m currently a rising junior at a semi target looking to be a SA next summer. This past summer I interned at a discount brokerage firm but had significant responsibilities (they didn’t have to hire an additional broker because of me) and got a lot of experience and face time with clients.

I have an opportunity to apply for a PWM internship for the fall with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Should I continue with my current internship through the fall or would it look better to move to the more distinguished name? I imagine the work would be similar. thanks

Go to the better name

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nice template, it sure will be easier for internationals like me to write one now. thanks.

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Thank you for the cover letter template.

“If you’re making the body of your email the cover letter, make it even shorter (4-5 sentences total) and cut out the address bits at the top.”

Do you mean we should drastically cut down the entire 4 paragraph cover letter into 4-5 sentences?

Yes, make it so they don’t have to scroll much (if at all) when reading on a Blackberry. 1-2 sentence intro, 2 sentences on your work experience and how it makes you fit for the job and then 1 sentence conclusion.

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A nicely put article! Anyway, I like the new template for the website too!

A question that is unrelated to the article:

How far does an interviewer expect you to know in a previous live deal that you were previously involved in as an INTERN? I mean really, to be fair, often times, even if interns are being put into live deals, they are only doing menial works (including me), such as researching, data mining, presentation slides building, etc.

How far of financial analysis would the interviewer expect you to know?

Also, in terms of financial modeling, you’ve said it before that it is the kind of work that everyone should want to be exposed to. But what if the financial modeling is not for a live deal, but for a potential deal? Would it still look better than the menial works in live deals?

Thank you! You have no idea how helpful you have been.

They expect you to know what you indicate you know… so don’t set expectations very high. And yes any type of modeling work is better than menial tasks

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Investment Banking Cover Letter Guide & Example

Template & Writing Guide

The key to effective investment banking cover-letters is story-telling. Most people write cover letters like resumes, with cold, hard facts, and that’s the problem.

Cover letters are much more effective if they contain stories capturing the burning spirits of candidates. This article will show you how to install such stories seamlessly into your investment banking cover letters, and land an interview yourself.

1. Why Write an Investment Banking Cover Letter?

1.1. what are investment banking cover letters for.

graduate cover letter investment banking

A well-crafted cover letter for investment banking shows three very important facts: 

  • You understand what the bank is looking for
  • You have the skills needed for the job
  • You are articulate

1.2. Do investment bankers actually read cover letters?

Truth be told, investment bankers hardly ever read cover letters. The HR department hands off all resumes and cover letters to investment bankers to choose interviewees for the next round. Given their hectic workload, most bankers only spend 30 seconds on each applicatio n . 

They typically look at the resume first to make sure you have the desired skills and experience before taking the time to read your cover letter.

Situations where a good investment banking cover letter is critical include:

  • Boutiques and local banks – These banks are smaller and have a lower number of applications, so they are more likely to read cover letters than bulge bracket banks.
  • Unusual backgrounds – You should use a cover letter to explain your situation if you’re a career changer, not having a finance background, or have gap time in your work experience.
  • Outside the US – In Europe, for example, some banks pay more attention to cover letters and online applications.
  • When applying directly to a bank without going through a recruiter.
  • When you are a new graduate applying for an investment banking job.

Although a cover letter may matter less than a resume and networking , you still need to put some effort into it. A perfect cover letter (without a strong resume) may not get a candidate an interview , but a bad one will certainly knock you out of the process.

1.3. Cover Letter vs Resume – What’s The Difference?

Because so many candidates end up writing boring cover letters resembling “paragraph versions” of their resumes, it is important to differentiate the two. 

There are four marked differences between a cover letter and a resume for investment banking:

Cover letters go deep, resumes go wide

In cover letters, you should select one or a few most notable achievements , and describe them in detail to reflect your 3 defining aspects: values, competencies, motivations .

This stands in contrast with resumes, where you cram as many relevant achievements as possible into the space of 1 or 2 A4 pages .

Cover letters are “soft” stories, resumes are “hard” bullet lists

The content format of cover letters is much less defined, leaving room for a lot of creativity, unlike resumes which are almost always bullet lists of cold, hard facts.

Your goal as the candidate is to fully utilize that loosely defined format and make your cover letter as attractive and memorable as possible.

A crucial role of the cover letter is to portray who you are as a person. Resumes don’t do that, they focus on your achievements.

Your personality does not only come directly through the contents, but also reflected in the style of the letter – so take time to make your cover letter more attractive, and you’ll make a better impression with the screener.

Cover letters describe personality, resumes do not

In cover letters, you have to answer the motivation questions ( why investment banking , why this firm). In resumes, that aspect is barely mentioned.

The most credible answers to those questions connect the job with your future plans – as such, the cover letter is not confined to the past like resumes.

Cover letters touch on future plans, resume concerns mostly the past

2. What Do Investment Bankers Look For In A Cover Letter?

In an investment banking cover letter, you must display these three essential qualities and two motivations :

  • Quantitative and analytical ability
  • Result oriented mindset
  • Leadership skill
  • Why investment banking?
  • Why this firm?

2.1. Quantitative and analytical ability

graduate cover letter investment banking

2.2. Result oriented mindset

While you already include specific achievement numbers in their resumes, investment bankers need more “evidence” of your strong motivation to achieve higher results. Do you perform better than requirements? Do you pay attention to details while involving multiple tasks or under time pressure? Do you always take an innovative approach to problems?

2.3. Leadership skill

graduate cover letter investment banking

2.4. Why investment banking?

graduate cover letter investment banking

2.5. Why this firm?

Private Equity

For example, you can reveal your interest in a bank by talking about how motivated you are to work in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs after having conversations with bankers at a Spring Insight program organized by the firm.

3. How To Write an Investment Banking Cover Letter?

The structure for an investment banking cover letter is fairly simple and straightforward. There are four main parts to a standard investment banking cover letter:

Step 1: Write a compelling introduction

  • Step 2: Show your experience to stand out
  • Step 3: Explain how you fit in the role
  • Step 4: Give a closing

The introduction part should briefly show candidates’ basic information including name, educational background and company name (of your internship or working experience). Mention the role you are applying to and how you heard about the position (particularly if you were referred by a mutual acquaintance). 

The best thing you can do is name drop people you have talked to. That way the application reviewer knows you have done your homework, and might ask the person you talked to about her impression on you. This way catches bankers’ attention when mentioning something relevant to them. Applicants can write about the participation in an event or a conversation with bankers that motivates them to apply for this position. Additionally, reaching people on LinkedIn to grasp the financial world is another way to show your interest.

graduate cover letter investment banking

“My name is Peter and I am currently a 3rd-year finance major at University of Southern California. I recently talked with Tom Linzmeier from the Leveraged Finance group at Deutsche Bank over the phone last week, and was very impressed after reading about your M&A deal with Vodafone Hutchison Australia, as well as the fantastic things I have heard about the company’s culture. I am interested in the investment banking summer analyst position at your firm, and have enclosed my resume below for consideration.”

Why this is a good example?

  • Overshadow the non-target school name with a name drop of someone you spoke to
  • Mention a recent deal the bank worked on to show you did your research

Step 2: Show your experience to stand out 

This is the space for candidates to demonstrate their interest in finance through practical experience. An investment banking cover letter is not used to show off all the banking-relevant experiences but the most outstanding ones. The best way to pass the resume round is to utilize the name of bulge bracket banks , large PE firms or big-4 companies.

Here are some relevant experiences: 

  • Previous investment banking internship
  • Previous analytical-based internship ( Hedge Fund /Private Equity, research firm, anything where you are doing financial modeling , valuation and analyzing companies)
  • Being part of a student run investment fund (managing your university’s endowment)
  • Participating in major stock pitch competitions or case competition 

When describing responsibilities at a firm, it is important to highlight the quantified achievement of that job, quantitative & analytical ability, and leadership skills.

After showing the most relevant experience, it’s time to reiterate the suitability of your profile to that position. Insights about the firm are utilized from networking that is hardly found on the internet. Our networking guide provides practical tips on how to talk with bankers in the most insightful way.

Already had an investment banking internship: “I have previously completed an internship in investment banking at Jefferies’ San Francisco office. My experience gave me exposure to multiple deals, building financial models as well as helping with pitch books, and allowed me to hone my knowledge of accounting, modeling and other technical skills. I was lucky enough to directly work on a M&A deal with a $2 billion tech company, providing some input on the model and working extensively on the final pitch book.”

Had experience similar to an internship:  “I completed the Tuck Business Bridge Program at Dartmouth University. The program gave me exposure to the fundamentals of value investing, financial analysis, modeling & equity research, and allowed me to develop my technical skills. Working in teams on a final capstone project and presenting our findings to industry executives had the biggest impact, as we were forced to defend our position in a high-pressure situation. In my final project on Dunkin valuation, I built out the model, analyzed the financials, and concluded the equity was more than 40% undervalued.”

  • Mention relevant experience
  • Highlight the technical skills
  • Give a specific example of a deal/a company you worked on

Step 3: Explain how you fit the role

Above all, investment banks will want to know that you have the right skills and attributes for the job. In this paragraph, you’ll need to draw parallels between the skills, qualifications and knowledge you’ve picked up during your degree course and/or placement and the role you are applying for.

Also, take the time in the third paragraph to explain why you want to work for the bank you are applying to. Be specific, so again, do some research. Make sure you don’t just reiterate what you see on their website. Find some unique reasons for choosing the particular bank to make your cover letter stand out. Show an understanding of the bank’s culture, the company’s future goals, and why it appeals to you.

“Given my background in [insert previous experience: investment banking, private equity, equity research,etc.] along with my leadership and analytical skills, I am a particularly good fit for the investment banking summer analyst position at your firm. I am impressed by your track record of clients and transactions at Goldman Sachs and the significant responsibilities given to analysts. I believe my skill set and experience will let me hit the ground running from Day 1 and look forward to joining and contributing to Goldman.”

Step 4: Give a closing 

This closing part of a cover letter seems to be the least “nerve-wracking” part. Keep it simple and brief. Think about resume attachment and state your availability for the interview. Giving a sincere thank you for recruiters’ time and reiterating contact information. 

You should end the letter “Yours sincerely” if it’s being sent to a named person; if you haven’t managed to find out a name then use: “Yours faithfully” followed by your name.

“A copy of my resume is enclosed for your reference. I would love to have an opportunity to discuss my experiences and qualifications with you and learn more about UBS at your earliest convenience. I can be reached at 333-333-3333 or via email at [email protected]. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.”

4. Visual Format of an Investment Banking Cover Letter

4.1. a basic and clear font for a cover letter.

When it comes to fonts, keep it simple and professional. Choose a basic, clear font like Arial, Calibri, Verdana or something similar . Avoid using fancy or decorative fonts.

Many employers use applicant tracking systems—software that allows automated sorting of job applications based on specific keywords, skills, job titles or other fields. Complicated fonts can make it harder for the software to read your letter, which might prevent your application from moving forward.

Use 10- and 12-point sizes for easy reading. Anything smaller will leave the hiring manager squinting, and anything larger will make your letter look unprofessional. In general, you should use the same font and font size that you used in your resume.

4.2. Spacing within your cover letter

Good spacing is essential for your cover letter—whitespace in the right places will make it easier for the hiring manager to read quickly. Follow these guidelines:

  • Make your cover letter single-spaced
  • Add a space between each section: contact information, salutation, opening paragraph, middle paragraph, closing paragraph and complimentary closing. (There’s no need to indent any of your paragraphs.)

4.3. Margins and alignment

Align your text to the left and use standard 1-inch margins all the way around. If your letter is spilling off onto a second page, first reread it and see if there’s anything you can cut. If you can’t cut anything, you can consider shrinking the margins to ¾” or ½”, but avoid going smaller than that so your cover letter doesn’t look squished on the page.

4.4. One page only with around 200 to 300 words

A cover letter for investment banking should be kept within 1 page (around 200-300 words). Investment bankers have no time for multiple page cover letters. 

4.5. Save a file as a PDF

Since an applicant tracking system may be parsing your cover letter, make sure you save your document in a compatible file format—either .doc or PDF. It’s also a good idea to rename your file to something specific, especially since hiring managers can see the file name of your online submission. Follow the format of First Name-Last Name-Cover-Letter (e.g. Jade-Young-cover-letter.doc) to make it more convenient for the person downloading it.

5. Investment Banking Example Cover Letter

Best regards,

August 5th, 2020

Bank of America

123 West St, New York, NY 10282, United States

Dear Hiring Manager,

I am Peter Anderson, an MBA graduate at Chicago Booth School of Business. I’m writing in support of my application for the Investment Banking Associate position at Bank of America. I recently talked with Tom Linzmeier from the Healthcare group at your firm, and I was really impressed about your deal flow as well as the fantastic things I have heard about the company’s culture.

Over 1.5 years as an analyst in Miller Buckfire & Co., I have contributed meaningfully to 4 M&A deals totaling in excess of $2.3 billion, serving as the lead analyst in 2 of these deals. Apart from being integrally involved in valuation and financial modeling for these deals, I was also responsible for maintaining pitch books and ensuring that all stakeholders, both internal and external, had all the information they needed at the right time.

I’ve been praised by my seniors for the attention to detail and clarity in my reports, especially my executive summaries. One of the MDs termed my executive summary for a critical $680 million M&A deal the “most well-written report I’ve come across in years.” I understand how critical data and reports are in decision making, which is why I approach writing even the simplest of reports or updates with utmost diligence. 

Given my experience in investment banking along with my analytical and teamwork skills, I am a particularly good fit for the Investment Banking Associate position at Bank of America. I believe my skill set and experience will let me hit the ground running from Day 1 and look forward to joining and contributing to the company.

I enclose my curriculum vitae and photographs as required, and I would be happy to provide you with further details should they be required. Thank you for your consideration.

Yours faithfully, 

Peter Anderson

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Writing A Cover Letter For Graduate Investment Banking Jobs

Avantika vaishnav, we’re here to help you dot your is, cross your ts, and order your numbers, with detailed investment banking cover letter advice for graduates.

We know that in some circles – like graduate investment banking, for example – the humble cover letter is presumed dead in the water.

When it’s well-documented that recruiters spend mere seconds looking at each CV that lands in their inbox, why would they waste even more time on reading a letter?

(It’s a good argument, you have to admit).

But there are some cases in which a cover letter could give you a fantastic head start.

Like… if you’re a graduate, and you want to land yourself a dream job in investment banking.

(You can also browse our free Debut App to find some of the top graduate employers to send your fabulous letter).

Why Should You Write A Cover Letter For A Graduate Investment Banking Job?

Well… the investment banking industry is ultra-competitive, right?

So, if there’s a little something extra that a humble graduate like you could do – to show how much you’d really like the job, and how great you’d be at doing it – wouldn’t it make sense to give it a go?

And that’s the power of a good cover letter.

We’ve got just one note of caution: a bad cover letter is worse than none at all.  To help you sidestep the ‘laughable letter’ landmine, let’s take a look at each part in detail.

A Few Cover Letter Basics Before We Begin

It’s called a ‘cover letter’ because you’re sending it with something – namely, your CV.  That’s where you’ll put detailed information about your skills, your degree, and any relevant investment banking experience.

Translation?  Your letter shouldn’t run onto a second page, and it has to look inviting at first glance.  

That means no bunched-up blocks of text, and a clear, readable font size (at least size 10, since you ask).

If you’re more of a visual person, we’ve included a basic template at the end of this article for you to download, or just to check your own letter against.

How To Structure Your Graduate Investment Banking Cover Letter

Contact information.

For letters that are being sent by post, your own information – name, address, mobile number and email, should be right-aligned at the top of your letter.

A few spaces below that, left-align the date, along with the name and contact information of the person you’re writing to.

(Try to find an actual person to write to, rather than resorting to a bland ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ opening – as this will show attention and initiative).

Of course, if you’re sending the letter via email, you won’t have to include all this information.  Simply go straight in with your greeting.

Introduction

This is the part where you explain who you are, where you’re studying, and how you found the graduate opportunity you’re applying for.

Your introduction should be attention-grabbing, so if you’ve done anything that really stands out, now’s your chance to mention it!  

If your university is a top one, or it’s particularly favoured by the investment banking industry, reference it.  If your degree subject is industry-niche, talk about it.  If you’ve done relevant work experience – especially if it was at the same type of bank – say so.

Get the idea?  It’s all about making you shine, right from the start.

Explain how you found the role, and/or if you know someone who works at the company.

Here’s an example:

“I’m coming to the end of my economics degree at St. Andrews University, and I’ve been following your organisation with interest.  I spoke with Angela Evans when she presented at our university recently, and she encouraged me to apply for your investment banking summer analyst position – which would be a dream role for me!  I therefore enclose my CV and some additional information to support my application.”

Your Background

What skills and experience have you gained that will make you a good investment banker?  

Choose the best, and share them in a maximum of 3-4 paragraphs.  Again, if you’ve completed work experience in an impressive or ultra-relevant setting, don’t be afraid to name-drop!

You could also mention softer skills, such as teamwork and problem-solving, along with the usual banking chestnuts of analytical ability and financial modelling.

Again, here’s an example:

“I have previously completed an internship at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and another in a private firm.  These placements have allowed me to gain excellent grounding in working closely with clients, deep financial analysis, making investment recommendations, and honing my leadership skills.”

Now it’s time to link your skills and experience back to the role in a more direct way.

“I believe I would be a good fit for this role, as I understand the particular ethos and values of your firm, and can bring solid, relevant experience to contribute towards your impressive track record.”

All that’s left to do is remind whoever you’re writing to that you’ve enclosed (or attached) your CV, then thank them for their time.  

Another useful tip is to provide your contact information again, just in case they’re compelled to contact you immediately! 

“As mentioned, I’ve enclosed a copy of my CV, and I would very much welcome an opportunity to discuss my skills and experience further.  I can be reached on (number) and (email).  Thank you very much for your time and consideration.” 

And you’re done!

(Don’t forget to download our free Debut App to find graduate investment banking employers who’d very much like to receive your letter!)

We’ve just got a few more tips before you go.

Should I Still Attach A Cover Letter If It Isn’t Requested?

One thing’s for certain, it won’t hurt.  

In a world of thoughtless ‘Quick Apply’ buttons, a little extra effort could well be appreciated, and maybe even rewarded with an interview.

What Are The Biggest Cover Letter Mistakes In Graduate Investment Banking?

Remember what we said earlier, about a bad cover letter being worse than none at all?

Here are some of the reasons why.

Saying things like “I’m a genius with numbers” is an honest-to-God no-no… it just makes you sound like a bighead (you might be joking, but remember… this recruiter hasn’t met you yet!)

Similarly, being creative with colours and fonts will likely serve as irritants that make you stand out for the wrong reasons.  And we’ve said this once before, but it bears repeating: don’t ramble onto a second page.

Keep in mind that for all the shining, ultra-creative application attempts that make it onto Twitter, there are many, many more that crumble horribly into dust.  

‘Out there’ is just not the way that large investment banks tend to be… and trust us, you don’t want your creatively zany letter shared on social media, for the whole world to make fun of.  

So, our biggest tip is: keep it professional.

One Last Thing…

Attention to detail matters (investment banking is an industry that relies on meticulous analysis, after all).

So, once you’ve finished, proofread your letter with the eye of a Victorian schoolmaster – or ask a trusted person to do it for you.

You can download our handy graduate investment banking cover letter template below.  

In the meantime, why not do a double-download, and get the free Debut App, too?

Tell Me More About This Debut App!

Well, since you insist.

It’s basically a fun, free, and remarkably easy way to apply to top graduate employers – with just one tap.

But that’s not all.

You’ll have the chance to sit back and get yourself talent-spotted, as you gen up on practical career advice, and analyse your most marketable skills.

We thought you might be partial to playing a few fun, educational games, too, so we’ve thrown some in… with not a single annoying ad to distract you.

Graduate Investment Banking Cover Letter Template

[Your Name]

[Your Postal Address]

[Your Mobile Number]

[Your Email Address]

[Name of Recruiter]

[Name of Bank]

[Bank Address]

Dear Mr. / Ms. [Name],

I am about to graduate in [Degree Subject] at [University], and I was recently introduced to your firm through [Friend/Contact/Presentation].  

I was very impressed with what I learned about your culture and working environment [Specifics], and would very much like to pursue a [Title] position with your firm.  To this end I have enclosed my CV, along with a summary of additional background information below.

I have completed previous [internships/work experience] with [firms’ names], during which I gained valuable experience in [Investment Banking Specifics].  I also had the opportunity to hone additional skills, such as [Soft Skills, such as leadership and problem-solving.  Mention any specific projects/results worked on here, too].

Given the relevance of my background, upcoming qualification, and experience, I believe I am a particularly good fit for [Position] with your firm.  Particularly as I have completed extensive research on your unique culture and values, and was very impressed with what I discovered [Add Relevant Specifics].  Your successful track record is inspiring, and I would welcome the chance to contribute towards it in future. 

As mentioned, I enclose a copy of my CV, and can be reached on [Phone Number] and [Email] should you wish to discuss any aspect of my skills and experience in further detail.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Yours sincerely,

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Investment Banking Cover Letter Template

Free cover letter template to help you break into Investment Banking (IB)

Rohan Arora

Mr. Arora is an experienced private equity investment professional, with experience working across multiple markets. Rohan has a focus in particular on consumer and business services transactions and operational growth. Rohan has also worked at Evercore, where he also spent time in private equity advisory.

Rohan holds a BA (Hons., Scholar) in Economics and Management from Oxford University.

Christopher Haynes

Chris currently works as an investment associate with Ascension Ventures, a strategic healthcare venture fund that invests on behalf of thirteen of the nation's leading health systems with $88 billion in combined operating revenue. Previously, Chris served as an investment analyst with New Holland Capital, a hedge fund-of-funds  asset management  firm with $20 billion under management, and as an investment banking analyst in  SunTrust Robinson Humphrey 's Financial Sponsor Group.

Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and earned a Master of Finance (MSF) from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis.

  • Investment Banking Cover Letter Template: Advice From The WSO Community

Why Do Cover Letters Matter?

  • Less Is More For Cover Letters

The Hail Mary Cover Letter

  • WSO Cover Letter Template

Attached at the bottom of this post is the FREE investment banking cover letter template that is sometimes used for WSO cover letter review clients.

We have decided to make it free to help those of you that can't afford a more tailored service .

This cover letter template uses bullets to keep the points succinct and format easy to read .

You'll also notice that the header matches the WSO  investment banking resume template format.

Investment Banking Cover Letter Template

Investment Banking Cover Letter Template: Advice from the WSO Community

Here's what you need to know about the IB cover letters from our community.

CompBanker: The cover letter holds almost no weight, other than to put you at risk for being dinged. Make it very simple, very bland, and just say all the usual things. If you have mistakes in it or make outrageous claims, your cover letter will be circulated and laughed at.

Like @CompBanker said, you won't get the interview with your cover letter .

Your goal for the cover letter isn't to single-handedly land you an interview with your eloquence and grandiose; it's to check the box and make sure it's proper enough that it doesn't get you dinged .

graduate cover letter investment banking

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Less Is More for Cover Letters

Our users shared great input on why 'less is more' when it comes to cover letters.

bkm125: What you really want people to be looking at is the resume. The longer your cover letter is the larger the chance that you'll have a typo or say something stupid. Just tell them what job you're applying for, who you've been in touch with at the firm, and maybe a few sentences about your qualifications and lock up the deal with a solid resume.

graduate cover letter investment banking

K.I.S.S: Keep It Simple Stupid.

Mention who you've talked to at the firm , your interest in the job, your qualifications , and briefly (very briefly) explain any gaps in your resume .

Avoid excuses , more on this later.

Two or three paragraphs is all you need for that. Any more than that , and you're giving them potential reasons to ding you .

Here's some great advice from @blackice".

blackice: The best thing you can do is name drop people you have talked to. That way I know you have done your homework, and I can ask the person you talked to how your chat was. I think cover letters are better when they are focused on your past work experience as opposed to general and arbitrary sentiments about how you are a "hard worker and team player with a strict attention to detail".

If you've talked to someone at the firm and they'd remember you, DO namedrop them in your cover letter.

graduate cover letter investment banking

Common Cover Letter Mistakes

Here are some of the usual mistakes candidates make in their cover letter as mentioned by our member @qonnect.me.

This is an example of an excuse in a cover letter:

"I realize I have more professional experience in technology than in finance. I believe that was just due to bad luck due to graduating from my MBA program at the height of the 'Great Recession '. However, I am 100% committed and motivated to prove myself in a finance position."

graduate cover letter investment banking

Bad luck? No, it's the shitty and difficult-to-read resume , cover letter , and 'research reports' that are the issue .

What goes on in the recruiters head: I'm almost certain you would be a terrible employee just by the quality of the work you sent me in a cold email . You graduated from college 10 years ago, by the way. I remember at least a few of those as being pretty good years. If you were halfway decent, you could have squeaked in the industry in more than a few of those years.

Please do not pin all of your circumstance on luck , especially in a cover letter .

Even if the reader is a big believer in luck , you're telling him you're unlucky .

Who wants to hire someone who's unlucky? It seems the bad luck streak started in utero, if you ask us.

Revealing Your Ignorance:

Even worse than just plain ignorance, is the below quote from an attached research report that a candidate had written. Since he thought it was worth including, I assume the report was something he was proud of, but it was cringe-worthy.

"I am placing a STRONG BUY recommendation on [company]. ("ticker") and believe that [the company], at the current price of $10.00, trades at a 123% discount to my estimated fair market value of $22.30" (Both made up numbers to scale to the actual numbers listed in the 'report')

graduate cover letter investment banking

The report should have never been attached .

It made a weak applicant look even worse . He's clearly never done anything but 'book learn' on these subjects. It's painfully obvious by reading the report. He uses four valuation methodologies on the stock with the sole intention of showing that he knows more than one valuation method .

If you're thinking of including a research report on a company when you're cold emailing people, it's a high-risk strategy. Your research probably sucks unless you've been doing it professionally. If there is any doubt at all about including a 'research report', do not do it.

Side note: The research report had a lot of opinions and not a lot of facts, and it lacked connections between really basic facts about the current state of the business to the 'projections'.

If you don't think you have a chance to get the job, you can toss a Hail Mary with your cover letter .

Here's a cover letter an audacious undergrad used in an effort to stand out and grab the attention of its reader .

A big swing that's either a hit or miss . We don't recommend using this cover letter unless you lack the slightest chance of getting the interview in the first place.

Dear BLOCKED, My name is (BLOCKED), and I am an undergraduate finance student at (BLOCKED). I met you the summer before last at Smith & Wollensky's in New York when I was touring the east coast with my uncle, (BLOCKED). I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to talk with me that night. I am writing to inquire about a possible summer internship in your office. I am aware it is highly unusual for undergraduates from average universities like (BLOCKED) to intern at (BLOCKED), but nevertheless, I was hoping you might make an exception. I am extremely interested in investment banking and would love nothing more than to learn under your tutelage. I have no qualms about fetching coffee, shining shoes, or picking up laundry, and will work for next to nothing. In all honesty, I just want to be around professionals in the industry and gain as much knowledge as I can. I won't waste your time inflating my credentials, throwing around exaggerated job titles, or feeding you a line of crap (sic) about how my past experiences and skill set align perfectly for an investment banking internship . The truth is I have no unbelievably special skills or genius eccentricities, but I do have a near perfect GPA and will work hard for you. I've interned for Merrill Lynch in the Wealth Management Division and taken an investment banking class at (BLOCKED), for whatever that is worth. I am currently awaiting admission results for (BLOCKED) Masters of Science in Accountancy program, which I would begin this fall if admitted. I am also planning on attending law school after my master's program, which we spoke about in New York. I apologize for the blunt nature of my letter, but I hope you seriously consider taking me under your wing this summer. I have attached my resume for your review. Feel free to call me at (BLOCKED) or email at (BLOCKED). Thank you for your time. Sincerely, BLOCKED.

Interested in Investment Banking - Breaking In

graduate cover letter investment banking

If you want to break into investment banking, you need to be well-prepared for the technical aspects of the interview. We advise you to check out our  Free Investment Banking Interview Guide  first, before investing in  our paid course , so that you have an idea of what to expect.

Two common mistakes that candidates make while recruiting for IB: 

  • Using phrasing like "After my summer analyst stint, I learned the entire deal execution process...", "I am extremely proficient in Excel and financial modeling ...", etc. You get the idea. Be confident, but don't over-emphasize anything out of the scope of your ability to speak to it.
  • Not enough emphasis on teamwork. This is important. People should know that you are able to work with others. This is easy to incorporate, just give a brief two sentence overview of what your team structure was and why it made sense.

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More Resources:

We hope this template helps you land that dream IB job ! Please check out the following additional resources to help you advance your career:

  • Investment Banking Interview Questions
  • Private Equity Resume Template
  • Hedge Fund Resume Template
  • Consulting Resume Template
  • Investment Banking R esume Template

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The cover letter that will get you a job in a bank

The cover letter that will get you a job in a bank

Do you really need to write a cover letter when you're applying for a job in an investment bank? These days, it's surely all about the skills in your CV - who's got the time to read that extra blurb saying how perfect you are for the role?

Recruiters working with experienced hires certaintly don't have the time. Most of the banking recruiters we speak to treat the cover letters (or 'cover emails') they receive from experienced candidates as an irrelevance. "For experienced roles, we rarely look at cover letters," says the CEO of one London-based financial services recruitment firm. I just go for the CV," agrees another. "I look at the CV and then I phone them. - If the CV is relevant, I'll get everything that would have been in the cover letter from that call." 

This doesn't mean you should just attach a CV/resume with no introductory email. It does mean that the introductory email might not be read - but you still need to make sure you don't make common mistakes like referencing the wrong bank, or forgetting to attach your CV altogether.

However, there some situations in which cover letters can make all the difference.  

These include:

  • When you're applying for graduate jobs in banking.
  • When you're applying to banks directly (without going through external recruiters),
  • And... when you happen to be using a recruiter who simply likes cover letters (hard to tell!).

"For graduate hires, cover letters are very important," says one headhunter. Just how important is reflected by the fact that some banks specify them as a must-have in the ir graduate recruitment process .   Banks like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Macquarie typically all demand that their would-be analysts in Europe write cover letters or something very similar, says Victoria McLean, a former Goldman Sachs recruiter and founder of banking CV specialists, City CV.   "Some banks still ask for specific questions to be answered around motivation, strengths and key behaviours/competencies (these are of varying word counts depending on the bank)," she says.

Goldman Sachs historically demanded that recruits write a 300 word personal statement as a cover letter. A former recruiter at the firm told us it was  very important. "Some students were excellent until they got to the cover letter," - those 300 words let them down.

What makes a good banking cover letter? Mai Le, a former Goldman Sachs investment banking associate who ran  CoverLetterLibrary , a community which houses a collection of cover letters that have enabled juniors to get jobs at banks in the past. Le says the best cover letters have two things in common: narrative structure (they emphasize your story and show the choices that brought you here) and facts and figures that underscore your background and achievements. By comparison, Le says the worst banking cover letters suffer from key-word stuffing, irrelevant information and spelling and grammatical mistakes.

It can help to follow a general template... 

You need to tailor your cover letters for each job you apply to. But this doesn't mean that you can't write a cover letter that follows a template. It does mean that each time you apply for a new job, you will need to fill in the template all over again.

McLean suggests your template follows the following format: Introduction. Why me? Why you? Why this job? In total, the text within the template should be no more than 750 words, or one A4 page, long. Le says some candidates also use a format that's ordered as, Why this job? Why this bank? Why me?  "It's a matter of personal preference," she says. Ultimately, you want all these elements in the cover letter and should go with which ever you feel comfortable with.

Either way, here's what to include.

The easy introductory paragraph

The first paragraph is all about explaining why you're writing. If you're applying for a graduate job in a bank, keep it short and sweet.

"The first paragraph is just to say who you are and why you're writing the letter," says McLean.

This paragraph might read something like. "I am an X with X year history of X at global banking firms including X as well as X. I have been working for X for the past X years."

If you're writing a Goldman Sachs cover letter that's 300 words or less, you can ditch this style of opening paragraph. - There's just no space for it.

If you're writing to a recruiter, there's less need to be quite so brief with your introduction. Say who you are, and explain why you've approached that recruiter in particular: "If someone says they've been referred to me by someone I know and respect, I will sit up and pay attention," says one U.S. recruiter. "The same applies if they say they've learned that I mentor women and that this is something they're interested in too."

In other words, when you're writing a cover letter to a recruiter, you need to know who you're writing to. Use this introductory paragraph to address them in person. Flattery will get you everywhere.

The selling yourself paragraph. 'Why you?'

The second paragraph is usually harder. This is where you need to start selling yourself, expressing your personality, and explaining why you're such a hot catch. It's here that you can add in some of the narrative explaining how you came to apply for this role, plus some of the substantiating figures that Le says make successful cover letters so effective.  Don't  use bland and empty phrases like, "I am a determined, motivated person." Do look at the key words and skills used to describe the job you're applying for and (without too obviously reiterating the ad) explain how you match them. Focus on the results and on  outcomes you've achieved in similar situations in the past.  You need to be specific and you need to bring yourself to life.

If you're writing a cover letter to accompany a graduate application, McLean says you can use the second paragraph to talk about what you've studied and how it's relevant. If you've studied finance and know how to do a DCF, now's the time to mention that. If you haven't studied finance but have good relationship management skills and you want to work i n M&A (a relationship-focused business), say that here. Provide EVIDENCE for the skills you're claiming to have.- List any awards you've won. Never, ever, make empty statements. "Many successful trading cover letters feature the candidate's trading return profile and their rationales for their success or failure," says Le. " - Cover letters for sales positions highlight the candidate's track record that evident their ability as a natural salesperson."

The motivational paragraph. 'Why this job (in this sector?)'

If you're an experienced hire applying through a recruiter or applying directly to a bank, this is where you explain why you want the job you're applying for. If you're a student applying for a first job, this is why you need to explain why you want this job and why you want to work in this sector. Be specific -  you'll need to know about the job and the sector before you start this section.

As a student, you'll need to link your skills back to your motivation for working in that area of banking above others, says McLean. Why M&A? Why not sales and trading? Why not compliance?  - If you want to work in operations , for example, explain how you have a passion for building systems and improving efficiency, as evidenced by your system for serving customers in your weekend job...

"You should include what you love about the industry to which you are applying," says McLean. "Why is it important to YOU? Why does it matter to YOU? How does it make a difference to YOU? and why is it interesting to YOU? Especially valid for Graduates: Why finance? Why investment banking / asset management?  before addressing the specifics of the division or programme to which you are applying. The key is to make this personal…. This is where most grads go wrong in their cover letters, they sound too generic and impersonal."

The connection paragraph. 'Why this bank ?'

The fourth paragraph is all about explaining why you want to work for that particular bank. Again, you need to be specific. McLean says graduates often copy and paste from banks' own websites. For example, it's not unheard of for them to write, "I want to work for Goldman Sachs because you have 170 locations across 90 cities in over 30 countries."  This will get you nowhere.

"The idea is not to flatter your potential employer but to identify what makes them a good choice for you and you a good fit," says McLean. "Telling Goldman or Citi you want to work for them because they are the best is not going to impress anyone. However, writing that it’s an opportunity to work with some of the best minds on the street and that you want to be held to those same exacting standards is a bit more engaging." But you need to put this in your own words: you need to make it personal and say what the banks strengths mean to YOU.

The other ex-Goldman Sachs recruiter we spoke to said she particularly looked for, "creativity and effort and writing about Goldman Sachs," when running through students' cover letters. People were expected to say exactly why they wanted to work for Goldman rather than, say, J.P. Morgan.

Instead of just reiterating what you've read on banks' websites, therefore, you need to cite some unusual reasons for choosing that bank that will make you stand out. If you're a student, it helps to say that you've met some of the banks' staff and were impressed by them.  Citigroup, for example, suggests that  student cover letters  reference encounters with the bank's staff at recruitment events. - Make a note of the staff you meet and explain what they said or did that impressed you, and what made you think you'd like to work with them.

Mark Hatz, a former M&A associate at Goldman Sachs and Perella Weinberg Partners who now helps people get jobs in banking , says stressing your rapport with people you've met from the firm is particularly important when you're applying for a job in M&A or capital markets: "These are advisory businesses and they want to see that you can build a rapport and work in a team. If you get the job, you'll also be spending a lot of hours in the office with these people, so showing you like them is very important."

It also helps to reference the bank's strategy, to mention any awards the bank won, and to cite any conversations you've had with or comments you've read from other industry professionals and analysts who've given concrete reasons why it's good place to work. Everything in this section needs to be positive. - You need to explain why you want to work for Deutsche Bank specifically without writing anything that denigrates its rivals. The more senior you are, the more you will need to reference solid strategy points at this stage.

"Show a grasp of where they are going, what the plan is and why this appeals to you," says McLean. Show that you know their strategy and that you agree with the way they're addressing challenges. "You should also write about the future of the firm. You should be planning to be there for a few years and hoping to share that future with them," McLean adds. Look at the shareholder letter in the last annual report for information on a bank's strategy.

The call to action

Finally, you need to end the cover letter with a call to action. McLean suggests completing the letter with the following sentence: "I really look forward to hearing from you. I am available for interview and contactable by X.'

Simple. Except all of this has to be written in 750 words - or just 300 if you're a student applying to Goldman Sachs. It's not so easy after all.

Click here to create a profile on eFinancialCareers. Make yourself visible to recruiters hiring for top jobs in technology and finance. 

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: [email protected] in the first instance. Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram also available.

Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)

Photo by Florian Klauer on Unsplash

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Investment banking cover letter tips and samples

Cover letter

First, is a cover letter necessary for investment banking jobs ? In many cases, no, but in some cases, yes, as it turns out.

At bulge bracket investment banks , the recruiters are unlikely to read a cover letter for just-out-of-school positions; they may only see your resume. But some insist on cover letters for graduate positions for a sort of first assessment.

Generally, a cover letter is more likely to be read in smaller or local banks. If you can write a good cover letter and it gets read, you have made an impressive start.

But if you have drafted a poor cover letter, you have already ruined your chances before you’ve even started.

If you’re applying to investment banks in New York, London, Mumbai or Singapore- or if you’re hoping to get into Citi, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley or any other investment banking team – we hope this article helps you put your best step forward.  

Investment banking cover letter for candidates without experience

For candidates who are only completing their business school programs or recently completed them with internships but have no work experience, the investment banking cover letter consists of four parts: Introduction, Background, Fit, and Conclusion.  

Introduction

The introduction is best written in three or four sentences. Introduce yourself, and mention where you’re studying or doing your internship.

You should give the school name regardless of whether it is well known (you may give your GPA if it is really great), and the name of the company/group where you did your internship, especially if it is well known.

How did you find the company? Did you attend a campus seminar organized by them? Did you read an article written or presentation made by the company CEO or an interview with her? Mention names. What position are you applying for? Be specific, especially with smaller firms.  

I am (name), a third year business major at (school). I recently met (name) from the M&A team at (company name) at a conference organized at our school.

In the paragraph giving your background, focus on your relevant internship experience and how the knowledge and skills that you picked up would help the company you are applying to.

If you have had a half dozen internships, don’t mention all of them but only the relevant ones.

As far as possible, try to relate any experience that you have to banking skills such as financial modelling and valuation. Here, too, four sentences may be your maximum limit.  

I have completed accounting internships at (company name) and trained in wealth management at (company name).

During these internships, I (mention your work, such as “analyzed financial statements and made investment recommendations”), and (your takeaways, such as “honed my accounting and financial skills and developed my leadership capabilities”).

Explain, in the next paragraph, how your personality and abilities make you a good fit. Show that you understand the bank’s work culture and its people and will get along with them. You may mention any relevant extracurricular activity.  

I am confident that I can bring my experience and skills in (area of expertise) to the position of (analyst or associate) at (company name).

I am impressed by the track record of your transactions and responsibilities given to (analyst or associate) at your organization and also your corporate culture that includes (corporate social responsibility program, etc.).

Winding up the cover letter, you should express thanks, remind them that your resume is enclosed (a call to action), provide your phone number or email once again for quick reference, and indicate that you would love to hear from to discuss your qualifications.  

Cover letter for emailed applications

If you are emailing your cover letter or resume, it is perhaps not a good idea to attach a separate cover letter, as it might not be read at all.

If you are forwarding your resume by email, the body of your email can itself serve as the cover letter.

But you should remove the addresses on top and make the cover letter much shorter, say, three or four sentences in all.

If you’re applying on the website of companies, and there’s provision for “Optional cover letter,” you could still write a short letter.  

Investment banking cover letter for experienced candidates

For most positions for which experience is required, most recruiters may see only your resume. But for graduate positions, some recruiters do like to see cover letters.

In fact, some banks, such as Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, insist that candidates send their resumes along with cover letters. Goldman Sachs, for example, required a personal-statement-type cover letter in 300 words or less.

The best cover letter for positions that require experience uses a narrative structure, giving your story and your life choices, and numbers that show your achievements.

The worst looks like it has been written with SEO in mind, and contain factual, grammatical, or spelling errors along with irrelevant information.

You should write a cover letter separately for every company or position, but you can have a basic template.

An expert suggests the sequence “Why they should hire you,” “Why you want this job,” “Why this bank,” and Conclusion.  

Sample introduction

  As mentioned, if you can say you came to know about the recruitment through a company program or a presentation made by a company official or the recruiter himself, or an article or interview by the CEO, nothing like it. Names-dropping works.  

Why they should hire you

In the second paragraph, you explain your personality in a nutshell. Keep away from inane phrases such as “I am a motivated, hard-working person.”

Use words or ideas from the job description for the post without making this obvious. Say why you feel you have these attributes.

Provide factual figures from your current job/s to support your achievements, such as, “ensured 20 percent return for a $50-million investor and revamped her investment portfolio”).

Among the crucial words to use are, of course, the names of well-known companies that you may have worked for (Fortune 500 companies, bulge bracket banks, large PE firms).

If you can mention projects that have had an impact on your company, you should mention those and what role you played.

The other good words to use that bankers like to see are “financial modeling,” “analytical ability,” and “leadership and team-building skills.”

You can also mention any relevant academic achievement. For example, if you studied relationship management but not finance, narrate your success dealing with a client.

Mention an award that you won for an activity relevant to an attribute required for the position.  

Why you want this job

As you are an applicant with experience, you should say why you want to move on to a larger canvas or take on more responsibilities.

Do you feel you have excellent leadership and team-building skills? What about people skills and your power to communicate effectively?

Provide specific instances where the keywords mentioned in the job description resonate in your cover letter. You should also know your sector thoroughly.  

Why this bank

Here, the key is to say good things about the recruiter bank without denigrating other banks. Show that you understand their strategy and plans and why these appeal to you. Mention some of the bank’s recent achievements or a positive analysis about the bank by an expert.

Have you also read an article explaining why this bank is a great place to work? Did you meet some of the bank’s employees at a conference or seminar? Say that and how they came across as a positive team. You need to impress upon the recruiter that you would love to work with this team.  

The basics of writing cover letters

Finally, let’s tackle the typographical aspects. Don’t use a font size less than 10 points or a margin less than three-quarters of an inch.

Stick to a readable font such as Calibri, Times New Roman, Ariel, Verdana, and Cambria, rather than a stylish one. Don’t go for bold; prefer normal.  

How long should your cover letter be? Don’t write multipage cover letters that say in long form all that you are mentioning in your resume. So, limit it to just a single page.

In any case, don’t expect the recruiter to flip the page and go to a second page. If you’re emailing your cover letter and resume, make your letter even shorter.  

Start with your name, contact address, phone number, and email address, which should be at the top, right-aligned or centered. In the next line, below, mention the date, the name, designation, and contact information of the person whom you’re writing to, left-aligned.

Here, try to find out the name of your intended recipient as far as possible, as this would help strike a personal touch at the start.

If you can’t do that, just the designation and the company name and contact address will have to do. If you have the name, start with “Mr. (Name)” or “Ms. (Name),” or else, say “Dear Sir / Madam.”  

Giving it a spin

Applicants with no experience such as an internship may not get a second look.

Those who have done internship at a bank but have no relevant work experience could make any exposure to finance work, such as running a school investment fund or analyzing businesses (for a financial blog), useful, and thereby get noticed.

You could write a great cover letter, but remember to give the same attention to your resume. In the end, people land jobs not for writing a good letter but for what they have done with their lives and for thinking outside the box.  

Investment Banking Cover-letter Writing Tips

  • Limit the letter to just one page
  • Do a spelling and grammar check
  • Get the letter proofread by a friend or family member
  • Be specific to the company/position
  • Touch upon your unique selling points
  • Relate your USPs to investment banking
  • Don’t sound arrogant, but don’t plead with the recruiter
  • Draft the letter keeping your resume in mind

  Also read – Investment Banking from a non-target school   References: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Mini-MBA | Start here | Success stories | Reality check | Knowledgebase | Scholarships | Services Serious about higher ed? Follow us:                

Sameer Kamat

6 thoughts on “Investment banking cover letter tips and samples”

Hi , Sameer

I am a mid level manager, with a private sector bank , having 10 years of experience across different departments of the bank.Though , i don’t have any leadership experience, but have expertise across functionalities in various departments, across Assets and Liabilities.

I am planning to go for an Executive MBA , from IIMs , and i have applied for the same with a GMAT Score of 700.

Need your say on the possibility of getting a call from IIMs , with my kind of experience.

Nilanjan Choudhury Nilanjan

Sir I want to do mba with finance after 3 years ,now I want to do accountant job and I have also another option is available which is sales support job in banking sector,so I am confused about which one job is better as a experience for MBA finance. Which one job should do me because I want some experience that is prove better after MBA with Finance?plzzz tell me sir

Greetings! I’m Kunal, and I am currently pursuing Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, University of Delhi. My question for you is, should i sit for placements in my college for companies like Bain, BCG etc (which offer analyst positions), or should i go for a Masters in Finance or Business Analytics abroad to get placed in front end consulting directly? Does it justify the costs? My ultimate aim is to work as a front end consultant in MBB.

Present I’m studying in MBA second year specilization in finance after completing MBA How to develop in my career and job .please help me

I was a bit confused about the whole ‘study abroad’ process. Emphasizing on the education loan and visa process. Which one comes first? There is a requirement of visa application in the education loan-requirement list and on the other hand, visa filing requires my bank statement and if I am capable financially. Can somebody help me with this dilemma?

@Nilanjan: No point in asking others to speculate after you’ve already submitted your applications, right?

@Jlio: Forget about what MBA admission officers will think and choose the role that excites you.

@Kunal: Go for a job, work for a few years, and then apply to a top tier firm where your dream companies recruit.

@Rammurthy: We’ve shared some thoughts here: https://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/2019/02/11/improve-profile-in-college-how-to/

@Kaur: Admission first, followed by education loans, and then visa. The visa officer would want to see where you are going, for how long and whether you have funds to cover you throughout the period.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

StandOut CV

Investment Banking cover letter examples

Andrew Fennell photo

Investment banking is a competitive industry, and your cover letter is your chance to give context to your CV and stand out from the crowd.

But if you want to get noticed, you need to focus on showcasing your biggest achievements in the field, and we can help.

For top tips and writing advice you can bank on, check out our comprehensive guide and investment banking cover letter examples below.

CV templates 

Investment Banking cover letter example 1

Investment Banking cover letter 1

Investment Banking cover letter example 2

Investment Banking cover letter 2

Investment Banking cover letter example 3

Investment Banking cover letter 3

These Investment Banking cover letter examples provide you with some guidance and inspiration for writing a cover letter that gets noticed and ensures your CV will get opened.

But if you really want to master the art of writing a winning cover letter , then follow our step-by-step cove letter writing guide below.

How to write an Investment Banking cover letter

A simple step-by-step guide to writing your very own winning cover letter.

How to write a cover letter

Write your cover letter in the body of an email/message

You should write your cover letter in the body of the email (or messaging system if sending via a job board) and never attach it as a document.

The reason for this?

You want your cover letter to start connecting with the recruiter from the moment they open your application.

If they have to open a document to read it, it will slow things down and they may not even bother to open it.

Write cover letter in body of email

Start with a friendly greeting

Cover letter address

To start building rapport with the recruiter or hiring manager right away, lead with a friendly greeting.

Try to strike a balance between professional and personable.

Go with something like…

  • Hi [insert recruiter name]
  • Hi [insert department/team name]

Stay away from old-fashioned greetings like “Dear sir/madam ” unless applying to very formal companies – they can come across as cold and robotic.

How to find the contact’s name?

Addressing the recruitment contact by name is an excellent way to start building a strong relationship. If it is not listed in the job advert, try to uncover it via these methods.

  • Check out the company website and look at their  About page. If you see a hiring manager, HR person or internal recruiter, use their name. You could also try to figure out who would be your manager in the role and use their name.
  • Head to LinkedIn , search for the company and scan through the list of employees. Most professionals are on LinkedIn these days, so this is a good bet.

Identify the role you are applying for

Once you have opened the cover letter with a warm greeting, you need to explain which role you are interested in.

Sometimes a recruitment consultant could be managing over 10 vacancies, so it’s crucial to pinpoint exactly which one you are interested in.

Highlight the department/area if possible and look for any reference numbers you can quote.

These are some examples you can add..

  • I am interested in applying for the role of *Investment Banking position* with your company.
  • I would like to apply for the role of Sales assistant (Ref: 40f57393)
  • I would like to express my interest in the customer service vacancy within your retail department
  • I saw your advert for an IT project manager on Reed and would like to apply for the role.

See also: CV examples – how to write a CV – CV profiles

Highlight your suitability

The main purpose of your cover letter is to excite recruiters and make them eager to open your CV. And you achieve this by quickly demonstrating your suitability to the job you are applying for.

Take a look at the job adverts you are applying for, and make note of the most important skills being asked for.

Then, when you write your cover letter, make your suitability the focal point.

Explain how you meet the candidate requirements fully, and why you are so well suited to carry out the job.

This will give recruiters all the encouragement they need to open your CV and consider your application.

Cover letter tips

Keep it short and sharp

It is best to keep your cover letter brief if you want to ensure you hold the attention of busy recruiters and hiring managers. A lengthy cover letter will probably not get read in full, so keep yours to around 3-6 sentences and save the real detail for your CV.

Remember the purpose of your cover letter is to quickly get recruiters to notice you and encourage them to open your CV, so it only needs to include the highlights of your experience.

Sign off professionally

To round of your CV, you should sign off with a professional signature.

This will give your cover letter a slick appearance and also give the recruiter all of the necessary contact information they need to get in touch with you.

The information to add should include:

  • A friendly sign off – e.g. “Kindest regards”
  • Your full name
  • Phone number (one you can answer quickly)
  • Email address
  • Profession title
  • Professional social network –  e.g. LinkedIn

Here is an example signature;

Warm regards,

Jill North IT Project Manager 078837437373 [email protected] LinkedIn

Quick tip: To save yourself from having to write your signature every time you send a job application, you can save it within your email drafts, or on a separate documents that you could copy in.

Email signatures

What to include in your Investment Banking cover letter

Here’s what kind of content you should include in your Investment Banking cover letter…

The exact info will obviously depend on your industry and experience level, but these are the essentials.

  • Your relevant experience – Where have you worked and what type of jobs have you held?
  • Your qualifications – Let recruiters know about your highest level of qualification to show them you have the credentials for the job.
  • The impact you have made – Show how your actions have made a positive impact on previous employers; perhaps you’ve saved them money or helped them to acquire new customers?
  • Your reasons for moving – Hiring managers will want to know why you are leaving your current or previous role, so give them a brief explanation.
  • Your availability – When can you start a new job ? Recruiters will want to know how soon they can get you on board.

Don’t forget to tailor these points to the requirements of the job advert for best results.

Investment Banking cover letter templates

Copy and paste these Investment Banking cover letter templates to get a head start on your own.

I am writing to apply for the Investment Analyst position at CitiBank. With over 5 years of experience in financial analysis, valuation, and M&A transactions at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, I have honed my skills in creating financial models and conducting market research to deliver strategic advice and financial solutions to clients.

In my current role at Goldman Sachs, I manage a portfolio of over 50 clients with a total transactional asset value of £800million per annum. My in-depth understanding of the financial services industry has optimised business growth, resulting in a 30% client retention rate, surpassing company KPIs by 10%.

During my time at JPMorgan, I achieved investment returns of over 25% for clients by identifying undervalued commercial companies. Moreover, I improved productivity by 11% through the adaptation of the combined asset management database.

I am eager to bring my expertise in investment strategy, market research, and portfolio optimisation to CitiBank. I am available for an interview at your convenience and look forward to discussing how my skills can add value to your team.

Kind Regards,

Charlotte Froissant

I am writing to apply for the Asset Management Advisor role at JPMorgan. With a successful 20-year career as a Chartered Asset Management Advisor at leading UK banks like Morgan Stanley and Trex Bank, I possess the strategic acumen to manage a client portfolio worth over £40million.

Demonstrating my proficiency in client acquisition and revenue growth, I have grown my client portfolio by 15% in my first year at Trex Bank, generating £750K in profit for the company. In my current position, I have secured referral agreements with three third-party financial services companies, resulting in a remarkable 12% increase in local client interest. My ability to liaise with third-party organisations, combined with extensive professional networks in Madrid and New York, allows me to deliver personalised financial management plans effectively.

I am eager to discuss how my skills and achievements align with the requirements of JPMorgan. I am available for an interview at your convenience.

Stanley Dixon

I am delighted to apply for the Risk Manager position at Deutsche Bank. As a seasoned Risk Officer with 30 years of experience in the financial services sector, I have a proven track record of developing and implementing risk management strategies for leading UK commercial banks.

At Nationwide Building Society, I led the development of a liquidity risk management framework with a 92% success rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, I successfully implemented a stress testing program at HSBC, enhancing the organisation’s ability to assess and manage credit risks during economic downturns. My expertise in enterprise risk management, regulatory compliance, and stakeholder engagement aligns well with the requirements of the role. Moreover, my MBA from LSE and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) qualification further strengthen my ability to effectively navigate complex financial landscapes.

I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to contribute my versatile set of skills to the risk management team at Deutsche Bank. I am available for an interview from next week and look forward to discussing how my experience can add value to your organisation.

Helena Sidmore

Writing an impressive cover letter is a crucial step in landing a job in Investment Banking, so taking the time to perfect it is well worth while.

By following the tips and examples above you will be able to create an eye-catching cover letter that will wow recruiters and ensure your CV gets read – leading to more job interviews for you.

Good luck with your job search!

  • Skip to content

Applying for an investment graduate job? Write a covering letter you can bank on

targetjobs editorial team

Last updated: 25 Jan 2023, 13:38

Applicants for graduate banking and investment positions far outnumber the vacancies available, but a well written covering letter will make you stand out from the crowd.

Feature image Applying for an investment graduate job? Write a covering letter you can bank on

Avoid generic statements such as, ‘I’m applying to you because you are a dynamic, international, leading business.’

Investment banking and investment management are competitive areas of work, so it’s important that you use every opportunity to give yourself an edge. Covering letters give you a chance to demonstrate your commitment to a career in investment and to show that you’re genuinely interested in the employer, so don’t underestimate their significance. Among the reasons many employers ask for a covering letter is to weed out the blanket applications and give the most enthusiastic and suitable candidates a chance to shine.

How to structure your covering letter

  • Why them? Explain why you are interested in the job and employer
  • Why you? Tell them why they should hire you. Describe how you would fit into their organisation
  • Break your letter down into logical, manageable paragraphs – make it easy for the recruiter to read
  • Some employers will give you a word count limit but if they don’t, one side of A4 should be your limit
  • Make sure you keep it concise – recruiters hate ploughing through waffle. You won’t have space to go in depth about all of your relevant skills, so take care to pick out the most important points

Check out our annotated graduate investment banking covering letter for an idea of how yours should look. To convince the recruiter of your motivation and suitability for the job, you'll need to:

Show your enthusiasm for the employer by doing your research

Before you start writing your covering letter, spend a considerable amount of time reading up on the bank you’re applying to. You should research its business strategy and culture, and familiarise yourself with the list of services it provides.

You can do this by looking at the employer’s website, the graduate profiles in targetjobs Finance and our employer hubs . It would also be a good idea to reflect on relevant work experience (if applicable), presentations you’ve attended, conversations you’ve had with employees on insight days, or to speak with friends or colleagues who have done a placement there.

Keep it specific to the bank or firm

Avoid generic statements such as, ‘I’m applying to you because you are a dynamic, international, leading business’. Sentences like this could apply to most of the large banks and firms in the UK. Try to pick out something unique or unusual that you like about your potential employer. It could be that there’s something about the training scheme, business structure or support for professional qualifications that particularly appeals to you, for example. Things to write about could include:

International outlook

If the employer talks a lot about its international footprint on its website, you could explain that you’d be excited about working for a global firm and finding out how the business operations will differ across different cultures.

Attitude towards client relationships

If the bank or firm stresses the importance of long-term investments, you could show awareness of this point – many clients will be particularly concerned about the stability of their investments following the recession. If you have space, you could briefly describe a time when you’ve demonstrated excellent customer service skills.

Pace of work

If your potential employer emphasises its fast-paced, energetic work environment, you could explain that you thrive under pressure, and talk about your resilience and work ethic. Likewise, if you’ve been balancing numerous extracurricular activities alongside your studies, you can use this to demonstrate your time management skills. These are important points to raise, as investment bankers in particular work long hours and it’s not a profession for the faint hearted.

Why should they hire you? Selling your skills

Different roles will require different qualities; if you’re applying for a maths-based or technical role, for instance, you’ll need to emphasise your relevant technical skills. However, it’s also important to identify the soft skills that the employer wants as well.

It’s not enough to simply state that you have these skills. Don’t just tell the recruiter, ‘I am an enthusiastic and motivated candidate’, for example. Evidence your commitment and experience by mentioning internships, spring insight days and relevant academic projects or extracurricular pursuits.

You should also try to provide examples of a time when you have demonstrated the skills that they’re looking for, but make sure you keep it brief and don’t waste space by repeating points you’ve already made in other parts of your application. You won’t be able to cover everything, so be sure to emphasise the skills and experiences that you know the recruiter will be most interested in.

Why the particular division?

Explain why you have chosen the division you’re applying for and why that area of investment management or banking is most appealing to you. Ask yourself, 'am I more excited about providing international financial analysis to clients, managing risk or overseeing mergers and acquisitions'? 'How does the bank or division meet with my particular interests'? 'Are they particularly strong in my preferred areas'? If you can answer these questions, it will show that you’ve fully considered and understood your career options.

Before you submit your covering letter

When you’ve written your covering letter you should get a friend, family member, or staff member from your careers service to check it for sense, style and grammatical mistakes. Error-strewn covering letters leave a bad impression and will cast doubt over your attention to detail and professionalism.

Follow us on Twitter @TjobsFinance .

targetjobs editorial advice

This describes editorially independent and impartial content, which has been written and edited by the targetjobs content team. Any external contributors featuring in the article are in line with our non-advertorial policy, by which we mean that we do not promote one organisation over another.

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Investment Banking Cover Letter

You’ll read plenty online about how investment banking cover letters are never read, aren’t important and are used by recruiters as bog roll (we might have made that one up). One internet commentator even labelled the investment banking cover letter a “barbaric and sadistic requirement.” Sadistic and barbaric they might be, but if an investment bank asks for a covering letter you probably won’t get the job sending in a letter written in comic sans with just “giss us a job”. Whilst the recruiter won’t spend ages reading your cover letter, they might give it a quick scan through.

So you should put some effort into the cover letter, but doesn’t tear yourself into pieces attempting to create the perfect specimen of investment banking covering letter. Neither is it the time to break out amazingly creative cover letters that defy conventional narrative structures: keep your cover letter relatively conservative and formal. Instead of channelling your inner Shakespeare, you’ll need to put together a concise, businesslike letter than does exactly what it says on the tin, convincing the recruiter that they’d be mad not to interview you.

Tailoring your investment banking cover letter…

JP Morgan, Nomura, BarCap, Morgan Stanley… they are all the same right? Wrong. Sending the same cover letter to every investment bank isn’t going to get you anywhere. You should be able convey why you’ve applied for that particular bank and that particular position in your cover letter. Implicit in your letter should be an understanding of what an investment bank does and the realities of the role that you are applying for. You should know more about the bank beyond what they say in the “About Us” section of their website.

You should also scrutinise the literature surrounding the graduate scheme or the opportunity advertised. There’s no point starting a cover letter until you have a clear idea of the competencies they are looking for and the qualities you need for the role. Then you can set about showing these attributes in your investment banking cover letter. Typical competencies they might be looking for include: attention to detail, communication skills, initiative, ability to work under pressure, leadership and team work skills.

Short but sweet…

Recruiters are pressed for time and don’t want to be confronted with great long essays. Keep your investment banking cover letter to a single page, perhaps three or four paragraphs long. Don’t feel like you have to fill the entire page: really it should be somewhere around 300 to 400 words.

Remember that CVs and covering letters have different functions. Everything important should be in your CV, whilst you can use the cover letter to highlight the best parts of your CV. Essentially, your investment banking covering letter is a sales pitch: you want to persuade the recruiter that you’ve got the competencies and experience to do the job.

Hit the right tone…

It’s all too tempting when writing an investment banking cover letter to adopt a brash city boy/girl persona, but try not to brag or be too aggressive in your letter, e.g. “I’m simply the best at everything I do. I’ll be calling you next Wednesday to schedule a meeting.” Equally, don’t undersell yourself. Quiet confidence in your skills and experience is the way to go. Your letter should be formal and professional at all times and try to avoid the temptation to gratuitously litter it with IB jargon.

Structuring your investment banking cover letter…

Here’s a basic structure for putting together a cover letter, but you can play around with it:

Addressing your cover letter

Try and address your cover letter to a named person (find out who you are writing to). Use a formal business letter template: your address and the name and address of recipient should be at the top of the letter. If you are emailing them, put the cover letter in the body of the email and omit the addresses.

Paragraph 1

This is where you tell the investment bank who you are and why you are writing. Mention the role you are applying to and how you heard about the position (particularly if you were referred by a mutual acquaintance). Give a unique reason why you personally would be great for the role.

Paragraph 2

Here you should outline why you want to work for this particular investment bank and you might also want to touch on what attracts you to investment banking in general, citing, perhaps, relevant work experience, academic or extracurricular activities. Try to come up with reasons that sound genuine and unique.

Paragraph 3

Above all, investment banks will want to know that you have the right skills and attributes for the job. In this paragraph, you’ll need to draw parallels between the skills, qualifications and knowledge you’ve picked up during your degree course and/or placement and the role you are applying for.

Make sure you showcase the skills that they ask for in the job or internship brief. This is the paragraph to really hammer home why you’re an excellent candidate for the role. Be confident, but no bragging.

Paragraph 4

This should be very brief. State when you’re available for interview and cover any practical issues they ask about. Be positive: “I’m looking forward to your reply.”

You should end the letter “Yours sincerely” if it’s being sent to a named person; if you haven’t managed to find out a name then use: “Yours faithfully” followed by your name (obviously!).

Go through your investment banking letter and scrutinise it for mistakes. It’s not just spelling and grammatical errors you should be looking out for, check you’ve correctly spelt the names of the companies and people and that your sentences make sense and the letter reads well.

To summarise…

1.  You should personalise and tailor your cover letter to every job application. And we mean every job application.

2.  Your cover letter should be short, sharp and sweet. One page. Two or three paragraphs of snappy sentences.

3 . Your cover letter isn’t your life story; it’s your case for why they should interview you for the role.

4.  Relate your experiences to the role. So you set up your own finance society at university, why does that mean you’d be an excellent candidate for their scheme?

5.  Investment bankers need great attention to detail so formatting errors, dodgy grammar, typos and spelling mistakes won’t wash with the recruiter. Sort it out.

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Impressive Cover Letter for Investment Banking + FREE Template

Investment Banking

Most of the time when you are submitting your resume or CV you will also be required to submit a cover letter. A cover letter is document which is supposed to explain your motives for applying for the role and why you are uniquely qualified for the role. Cover letters were popular back in the 80s before the advent of online recruitment and mass graduate roles, now cover letters have become more of a tradition than anything else, and they rarely help.

However, just because they can not help does not mean they can not hurt you . In fact, cover letters are one of the easiest things but its also where most candidates get wrong and end up getting rejected because of it.

What makes a great cover letter for investment banking, is also great for similar tough requirement standard roles for example; wealth management, junior private Equity roles, big 4 and pretty much any high finance role.

Download the Cover letter Template Here

Click here to download the Cover Letter Template in Word

Click here to download the Cover Letter Template in PDF

As you download the template and start adding in your details just keep in mind that this is where most of the mistake happen, because no one seems to really care about the cover letter like a resume or CV. When you make your resume and CV you double and triple check everything and even get your friends and family to check it so there is little room for errors.

Cover letters on the other hand seems to get completely ignored, many students apply to different companies or bank in the same industry will just reuse the same cove letter, and I have seen cover letters addressed to Morgan Stanley being sent to BNP Paribas with more mistakes then you can possibly count. So, be careful!

The very first thing your going to realise when you open the cover letter template is that its very short, it will be around 2 short paragraphs long. No way near a full-page article like most people. This may not be what you have been told by your professors, friends, or even career councillors but this is what works best for investment banking and high finance role.

To be honest, all you really need is one sentence stating the job you are applying for or how you heard about the role. Then mentioned you have enclosed or if via email you have attached your resume or CV.

If you want, you can add another two or three sentences describing some relevant facts about yourself indicating your interest in the position. Then sign off by thanking them and state how they can contact you or you will follow up.

Common cover letter mistakes which 90% of candidates make

  • Do not restate your resume or CV – You do not need to repeat where you worked or state the skills you have or how you have always dreamt of working in finance.
  • Why this firm or bank – If you have a real reason for why you want to work for this bank or firm then state it. But do not say something generic or vague like “I want to work at this bank because it has great deal flow and I will be surrounded by some of the smartest people.”
  • Emphasising your strengths – A lot of candidates will say how hardworking, enthusiastic about the role and smart. It’s best to let the reviewer judge this by your resume and CV which will list all of your grades, institutions and experience. You do not want to say you are super smart when your resume says otherwise.
  • Arrogance – If you are applying for a junior investment banking role, a graduate role or any junior role in finance and you do not have at least 1 to 2 years of experience in that role, then do not say how the firm or bank is going to benefit from your presence on day 1. As far the bank or firm is concerned you just a generic analyst or associate, and no junior staff member is going to be able to contribute significantly for months. You can easily come across as arrogance or inexperience about the industry without even knowing it and these are the things which hurts a great resume or great candidate.

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Investment Banking: 2025 Summer Internship Overview

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Employers hiring for investment banking internships recruit based on their own individual timelines. Recruiting for junior year internships begins early; some students may start the recruiting process in the spring semester of their sophomore year – others will find themselves applying during the summer after sophomore year.

Build your list of firms to target:

  • Use resources such as the  Firsthand Guide to Investment Banking Employers .  This guide can be helpful to research and learn more about the numerous firms providing investment banking internships. Additional resources can be found here .
  • Attend events organized by employers to build connections and gain tips on the application and interview process. View upcoming employer events .
  • Sign up to receive job alerts on the websites of the firms on your target list.
  • Create a spreadsheet to stay organized, track application deadlines and your progress.

Connect with alumni at the firms on your target list:

  • Use the  Yale Alumni  LinkedIn  page  to search Yale Alums who have a LinkedIn Account. Search ‘Yale University’ in the LinkedIn search bar to find Yale’s LinkedIn page. On the left, you will see an option for Alumni.
  • Search the  OCS Peer Networking Lists .
  • Log into  Cross Campus , a database of Yale alum interested in networking with students.
  • Check out our resources on how to connect with alumni.

Apply directly through the organization’s website:

  • Employers may also post in Yale Career Link. From this posting you will be sent to the organizations website to apply.
  • Consider checking weekly for new listings as not all internships are posted well in advance of the application period and employers may post them at any time.

Anticipate how quickly the process can move:  

  • Applications are typically on a rolling basis . This means that applications can be reviewed at any time during the process – not only after the application deadline.  You may be asked to interview shortly after your application has been received.
  • Before starting the application process, think about how prepared you feel for interviews and your ability to commit to a position prior to exploring other internships.
  • Check out our  interviewing resources .

Keep a positive mindset:

  • Stay focused on your own individual applications and progress. Students may move through the application and interview process at different times.

Connect with the  Office of Career Strategy  for advice and encouragement along the way!

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Skyscrapers

Financial Services Recruiting

Finance employers (particularly the Wall Street banks) begin summer 2025­­­ internship recruiting this semester. Below is some of the information we currently have available, and we recommend reviewing our  Summer 2025 Internships in Finance Webinar  for additional details.

Application Timelines

Several employers are already, or will soon be, accepting applications. For example, Goldman Sachs is planning to open applications on March 1, Bank of America Merrill Lynch applications opened on February 1, and Morgan Stanley opened applications on January 15. Also note that a few private equity and smaller firms are also recruiting now for summer 2025, including Blackstone, Insight Partners, and Lazard. Although many firms continue to accept applications on a rolling basis, we recommend submitting your applications as soon as possible for the more competitive programs. If you are interested in a summer internship with any of these organizations, we recommend that you:

  • Check employer websites for up-to-date deadline information.
  • Subscribe to employer email lists and/or “register” on their websites
  • Attend  Networking and Information Sessions  to get insider information directly from the employer
  • Reach out to recruiters for the most accurate information (including those listed on the attachment)
  • Prepare your application materials so you are ready to submit your materials in a timely manner.

Application Prep

  • See the  MCS resume & cover letter page  for resources, including MCS resume templates.
  • Have your resume or cover letter reviewed by an MCS advisor during drop-ins Monday-Friday from 1-4pm. See the  “Talk to an Advisor” portion of our website  for more information.
  • Utilize  MCS Firsthand Advisors  to request a resume review from an alum with related experience.

Pre-Recorded Video Interviews

Pre-recorded video interviews are a common first-round process for finance / Wall Street employers. In addition to planning for the application timeline, interested students should prepare for video interviews.

  • Interview Prep : MCS has several tools to help you prepare including access to the  Vault Guides  available through the Firsthand Advisors Platform,  Big Interview  (especially good practice for HireVue/pre-recorded interviews), and the  MCS Firsthand Advisors Platform . See more resources on the  MCS interview page .

It is typical for employers to ask candidates to reply to an offer in a 2-week decision window. MCS encourages employers to extend additional flexibility for summer 2025 offers. If you receive an offer and would like more time than is initially extended to you to decide, we recommend reaching out to request a phone conversation to ask for more time. MCS is happy to advise on this process and advocate on students’ behalf on a case by case basis. Note that offer requests usually take time to resolve, so make sure you reach out to us and/or your employer as soon as possible.

  • Offer Help : Students can email ( [email protected] ) for assistance in scheduling an appointment for a time-sensitive offer issue.
  • 2023 Managing Offers Webinar

Upcoming Event

  • Investment Banking 101: Interview Prep and What Every Future Intern Needs to Know NEXT WEEK: Monday, February 12, 5-6:30pm @ Fong Auditorium What do investment bankers really do and what do you need to do to succeed in the recruiting process? Josh Rosenbaum, HC ’94, HBS ’01, Managing Director at RBC Capital Markets in the Industrials & Diversified Services Group and author of Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Initial Public Offerings will demystify the investment banking industry, current trends, the analyst position and keys to success, including interviewing tips and key technical valuation pointers for recruiting and beyond. Don’t miss this informative event. Book signing to follow event. Arrive on time to enter a raffle to win one of five copies of Josh’s book! Register Here

For updates as well as tips to prepare for the recruiting process, be sure to update your Email Preferences . Under “Build Career Skills”, select “Engage with Employers” to join the Recruiting and Employer email list.

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Piper Sandler

2025 investment banking summer analyst.

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At Piper Sandler, we connect capital with opportunity to build a better future.

We believe diverse teams with unique backgrounds, skills and experiences yield more innovative solutions. Our mission is to recruit, develop, retain and engage a diverse, high-performing team. Our business enables bright, committed people working in partnership within an environment that allows each person to achieve at a high level. We commit to encouraging and valuing inclusivity because every partner brings unique perspectives that help us better serve our clients.

The Summer Analyst Program

Piper Sandler is currently seeking undergraduate students for our 2025 Investment Banking Summer Analyst Internship Program. Summer Analysts generally work 10 weeks within an industry or product group in Investment Banking and have the opportunity to learn financial modeling and basic analysis of companies and industries, as well as gain an understanding of the dynamics of the capital markets.

The Internship Program includes one week of formal training held near Piper Sandler’s Minneapolis, MN headquarters. Interns will also have the opportunity to attend networking events during the program. Our Investment Banking internships are a direct pipeline to our full time Analyst positions for the following year.

In our Burlingame, CA office, summer analysts are placed within the following sector: Technology.

Qualifications:

  • The Internship Program is open to students who anticipate graduating from an undergraduate institution in December 2025 or May/June 2026
  • Seeking a bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or Economics or another business-related field
  • Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint skills
  • Leadership and teamwork skills
  • Willingness and desire to learn
  • Prior to the start of the internship, it is beneficial for interns to have taken finance and accounting courses or self-study. Training will be provided prior to the start of the internship.

As a leading investment bank, we enable growth and success for our clients through deep sector expertise, candid advice and a differentiated, highly productive culture.

Our investment banking clients have access to unparalleled guidance through our deep product and sector expertise and ready access to global capital. We take pride in providing our clients with thoughtful advice and diligent execution, no matter the economic environment. Our investment banking group partners with corporate clients and financial sponsors to provide advisory and financing services related to mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt capital markets, private placements, restructuring and corporate & venture services. We offer in-depth knowledge and industry relationships in our core sectors of chemicals, consumer, diversified industrials & services, energy & power, financial services, healthcare and technology. Learn more about our investment banking team here .

Piper Sandler values a strong culture dedicated to the emotional and physical well-being of our employees. Learn more about our commitment to our employee’s health and well-being. Learn more about our benefits program and how we are here for our employees and their families today, tomorrow, and beyond.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran or status with regard to public assistance.

The anticipated starting salary for California-based individuals expressing interest in this position is based off an annualized salary of $110,000 per year.

COMMENTS

  1. Investment Banking Cover Letter Template & Tutorial

    Download Template - Word Download Template - PDF And here's the video that explains everything: Investment Banking Cover Letter Tutorial (with FREE Word template) Watch on (For more free training and financial modeling videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel .) And if you'd rather read, here's the text version: Do Cover Letters Actually Matter?

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    Keep your cover letter to a maximum of one page in length or around 200 to 300 words. Use standard formatting. Keep your margins between three-fourths to 1 inch and your font size between 10 and 12 points. Provide contact info. Ensure you include your name, email address and phone number at the top of the cover letter.

  8. Sample Investment Banking Cover Letter

    555 Maple Ave. Chicago, IL 55555 Re: Investment Banking Analyst Dear Ms. Maxwell: As a recent graduate of University One with a BS in finance, I am eager to launch my career in investment banking.

  9. Investment Banking Cover Letter Example & Writing Tips

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    Free cover letter template to help you break into Investment Banking (IB) Author: Rohan Arora Reviewed By: Christopher Haynes Last Updated: October 6, 2023 Attached at the bottom of this post is the FREE investment banking cover letter template that is sometimes used for WSO cover letter review clients.

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    Here's a sample investment banking cover letter outline to use as a guide: Investment Banking Cover Letter Template—Format Sample. Your personal contact details; The date of writing; The investment bank's details in a business letter format; An opening salutation (e.g., Dear Blythe,) An introductory statement that grabs their attention; A ...

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    Do you really need to write a cover letter when you're applying for a job in an investment bank? These days, it's surely all about the skills in your CV - who's got the time to read that extra blurb saying how perfect you are for the role? Recruiters working with experienced hires certaintly don't have the time.

  15. Investment banking cover letter tips and samples

    Investment banking cover letter for experienced candidates. For most positions for which experience is required, most recruiters may see only your resume. But for graduate positions, some recruiters do like to see cover letters. In fact, some banks, such as Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, insist that candidates send their resumes along ...

  16. Investment Banking Cover Letter

    Tailor your investment banking cover letter's opening paragraph to the job advert. 3. Quantify your investment banking experience. Your investment banking cover letter is an important opportunity to demonstrate your quantitative skills. Hard numbers are the language of investment banking, and your cover letter is a chance to show that you can ...

  17. Investment banking cover letter in 7 steps

    Updated 1 March 2023 Cover letters are an opportunity to give context to your CV as part of your application. Most recruiters expect to receive a cover letter that explains how your experience is a good fit for the company. A well-written investment banking cover letter can help your application stand out.

  18. 3 Investment Banking cover letter examples [Get the job]

    CV templates These Investment Banking cover letter examples provide you with some guidance and inspiration for writing a cover letter that gets noticed and ensures your CV will get opened. But if you really want to master the art of writing a winning cover letter, then follow our step-by-step cove letter writing guide below.

  19. Investment Banking Cover Letter—Sample & Templates

    Here's how to format an investment banking cover letter: Use the 3-paragraph layout—with bullet points or without. Set your margins at one inch. Left-align all parts of your cover letter and single-space your lines. Write a 1-page cover letter. Use the same cover letter font in your CV.

  20. Applying for an investment graduate job? Write a covering letter you

    Applicants for graduate banking and investment positions far outnumber the vacancies available, but a well written covering letter will make you stand out from the crowd. Save Avoid generic statements such as, 'I'm applying to you because you are a dynamic, international, leading business.'

  21. Top Investment Banking Cover Letter Examples for 2024

    Before you write your cover letter, you'll want to know how these cover letters look. Here's a great example that you can start with. Dear Mr. Smith, When I completed my investment banking internship, I was ranked No. 2 in a group of 50, placing me in the perfect position to immediately move into an investment banking analyst position at ...

  22. Investment Banking Cover Letter

    Keep your investment banking cover letter to a single page, perhaps three or four paragraphs long. Don't feel like you have to fill the entire page: really it should be somewhere around 300 to 400 words. Remember that CVs and covering letters have different functions.

  23. How To Become An Investment Banker

    Investment bankers can pursue a graduate degree after earning their bachelor's. These professionals can earn an M.B.A. is common, which can lead to higher-level positions and increased salaries.

  24. Impressive Cover Letter for Investment Banking + FREE Template

    In fact, cover letters are one of the easiest things but its also where most candidates get wrong and end up getting rejected because of it. What makes a great cover letter for investment banking, is also great for similar tough requirement standard roles for example; wealth management, junior private Equity roles, big 4 and pretty much any ...

  25. Investment Banking: 2025 Summer Internship Overview

    Use resources such as the Firsthand Guide to Investment Banking Employers. This guide can be helpful to research and learn more about the numerous firms providing investment banking internships. Additional resources can be found here. Attend events organized by employers to build connections and gain tips on the application and interview process.

  26. Summer 2025 Internships in Finance

    Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts & Sciences; Harvard Extension School ... Have your resume or cover letter reviewed by an MCS advisor during drop-ins Monday-Friday from 1-4pm. ... 94, HBS '01, Managing Director at RBC Capital Markets in the Industrials & Diversified Services Group and author of Investment Banking: Valuation ...

  27. 2025 Investment Banking Summer Analyst

    The Internship Program includes one week of formal training held near Piper Sandler's Minneapolis, MN headquarters. Interns will also have the opportunity to attend networking events during the program. Our Investment Banking internships are a direct pipeline to our full time Analyst positions for the following year.