Investment Banking Analyst resume example

• Entry level

  Finance senior with a summer analyst internship in a middle-market industrials group and a valuation internship at an advisory firm. Built trading comps and a DCF for two live sell-side pitches and drafted CIM sections for a packaging client. Passed the SIE, leads valuation training for the student investment fund and graduates in May.

• Mid level

  Second-year investment banking analyst in a healthcare coverage group with four closed transactions, including two sell-side sales and a debt refinancing. Builds operating models, DCF and LBO analyses and buyer lists, drafts CIMs and manages data rooms through diligence. Holds the SIE, Series 79 and Series 63 and has passed CFA Level I.

• Senior

  Third-year analyst promoted early to associate after seven closed M&A and capital markets transactions in technology and business services. Runs models end to end, leads the analyst team on process work, and handles day-to-day contact with company management and sponsor buyers. Trained twelve incoming analysts on modeling standards and formatting conventions.

• Listing modeling skills with no deal behind them

  Fix: "Proficient in DCF and LBO models" could sit on any applicant's page. Tie each model to a situation: "built the LBO for a sponsor buyer reviewing a $250M software deal, testing debt from 4x to 6x EBITDA." Students can do the same with a pitch from a fund or a case competition.

• Overstating your role on a transaction

  Fix: Interviewers will ask you to walk through any deal on your resume, and they can tell when the analyst only formatted slides. Write what you built and owned, and nothing more. "Ran the comps and drafted the industry section of the CIM" is credible and gives the interviewer something to discuss.

• Leaving out deal size, type and status

  Fix: A deal line without context cannot be weighed. Include the sector, whether it was sell-side, buy-side, financing or restructuring, a size or size range and the status: closed, signed, announced or live. A short list with full context beats a long list of vague engagements.

• Writing finance club lines with no analysis

  Fix: "Member, investment club" adds nothing. Say what you did: the company you pitched, the valuation method, your price target and whether the fund acted on it. One specific student fund bullet can carry a candidate who has no banking internship yet.

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• Built the operating model and DCF for the sell-side sale of a $320M industrial services company, closed with a strategic buyer after 2 bid rounds.
• Drafted 4 sections of a 70-page CIM for a specialty food maker, including the industry overview and the management case.
• Ran trading comps on 22 public peers and 35 precedent deals for a fairness opinion delivered to a target company's board.
• Modeled debt levels from 4.5x to 6.0x EBITDA in an LBO for a sponsor client evaluating a $180M software target.
• Assembled and screened a buyer list of 140 strategic and financial parties, sending 85 teasers and receiving 11 indications of interest.
• Managed a virtual data room with 1,900 documents for a healthcare services sale, answering 260 diligence questions over 7 weeks.
• Built an accretion/dilution analysis for a $1.1B stock-and-cash merger, testing synergy and financing cases for the client's board.
• Prepared 30 pitch books in one year for business services and technology clients, 4 of which turned into mandates.
• Created a debt capacity model for a $250M refinancing, comparing term loan and high-yield options across 3 rate cases.
• Trained 9 summer analysts on comps, model formatting and PowerPoint standards during a 2-week bootcamp.

• Order deals by what the group covers

  A healthcare group, a technology group and a restructuring team read for different experience. Before applying, move the most relevant transaction or internship to the top of each role, and use the group's own terms, such as sponsor coverage or capital markets. Leave sector claims out unless a bullet backs them. Tailor your banking resume to the group

• Keep the cover letter short and specific

  If a firm asks for a cover letter, use three short paragraphs: why this bank and group, one deal or analysis that shows you can do the work, and your availability. Mention people you have spoken with only if they agreed. Generic praise of a firm's reputation is easy to spot. Draft an investment banking cover letter

• Practice the technicals and your deals

  Expect technical questions on the three statements, how a change moves through them, DCF steps, why a deal would be accretive and when to use each valuation method. Then expect a walk through of each deal on your resume. Practice explaining one model you built in under two minutes. Practice banking interview questions

• Use a traditional one-page layout

  Banking resumes follow a conservative format: serif or clean sans type, no photo, no color blocks, tight margins and consistent date alignment. Choose a classic template, keep everything on one page, and check that each line still reads well when printed in black and white. Browse traditional resume templates