The key to making this resume rise to the top is understanding that everyone with a resume in this pile already has experience in the field. In other words, this resume must be free from fluff. Forget about all of the other resumes you have written so far. This resume is not all inclusive. This resume will focus entirely on your experience in investment banking.

First, focus on the deal. Or deals!

Include the number and type of deals that you have worked on—M&A (sellside and buyside), IPO’s, debt, etc. What did you contribute? What skills did you gain? Does anything special stand out about any particular deal?

Which deals should you choose to focus on? This is a case in which size probably does not matter. Rather than focus larger standard deals on which you gained little in new skills or contributed little personally, choose those that added to your personal skill set or that present something unique. Did your analysis lead to something special happening that affected the deal?

Second, avoid the generic

This is not the time is not the time to leave ‘em wanting more. If you didn’t add anything in particular to the deal or if you didn’t come away from the deal with something new in your repertoire, this is not the one to be discussing in the limited space of your resume. Avoid weak words like “managed,” “analyzed,” “developed,” tracked.” What specifically did you do? What were the outcomes? What did you come away with? How did you contribute to the deal?

Third, choose your details with care.

Some name dropping can be helpful if you were an integral part of well-known, intricate deals and no confidentiality will be breached with your mentioning them on your resume. That said, be careful about sharing specific dollar amounts or details that should not be made public. And you certainly never want to mention names for unannounced or dead deals. Use your best judgment here. Loose lips can lose you a position and land you flat on a blacklist.

What else?

Yes, you still need to include the perfunctory information, like your education, but that will now move to the bottom. That great degree was only the promise of what you could do. Your work experience shows the fulfillment of that promise. That’s what employers want to see now.

Need resume help? Let our Private Equity team build you the perfect Private Equity Resume!