Tips for writing an investment banking cover letter that reads
I’ve written numerous articles and reports on resume writing that both grab and hold the attention of the interviewers who need to read them. A resume alone may be sufficient when following up on an application for a job opportunity. However, what do you do when you are cold feet with several financial organizations or banks? It is always advisable to include a cover letter with your resume.
How do you go about writing an investment banking cover letter that reads?
From my own experience consulting large blue chip organizations on recruitment and selection, I know that these top companies receive many CVs and cover letters on a daily basis. The financial sector is no different in this respect. The problem is that department heads and HR don’t have time to read every word on every page of every CV and cover letter that is sent. So what can you do to make sure you have at least a chance of yours being one of those that gets read?
Be brief, relevant and logical.
If busy recruiters are put off by the sheer length of your cover letter or begin to lose interest, it is highly unlikely that they will continue reading it or even look at your CV.
Remember, the person opening your app doesn’t know you and can’t connect to you or the hundreds of other apps. Your goal is simply to tell the recruiter who you are, what you’ve accomplished, and why he or she would benefit from speaking with you, in a concise manner. You encourage them to take the time to read your resume or CV, where you can expand on the important and salient points you made in your investment banking cover letter.
Stay focused when writing your cover letter. Only include information that is relevant to the investment bank and your application. Anything else will be considered a distraction, irrelevant and, again, may discourage the reader from reading anything else you have to say.
Likewise, the flow of your investment banking cover letter should be logical. The reader will not want to go back and re-read part of it. Follow my proposed flow of who, what and why. As I said earlier, these are busy people and they won’t be impatient, especially when faced with a stack of investment banking CVs and cover letters.
So keep it short and to the point. And remember – Who, What and Why.
#Tips #writing #investment #banking #cover #letter #reads