Contents:

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👋 Intro

Arguably, improving your CV is the most important thing you can do to ensure a higher application success rate. For a lot of people, the issue isn't necessarily their experiences, but the formatting of the CV itself. 75% of qualified job applications are rejected by online recruitment software due to this.

Your CV needs to show 2 things:

1. That you've solved similar (enough) problems before → relevant experience
2. That you quickly learn to solve new problems → strong track record

The following content advice is applicable to all roles and industries. However, some of the examples and details are related to banking and consulting, and particularly for earlier opportunities such as spring weeks, summer internships and graduate roles. Moreover, if you are applying to a more creative industry, such as marketing or design, then your CV should indicate your design skills rather than a standard layout.

Here is an example of a strong CV with a clear format. The link is attached here so that you can use this formatting yourself.

📰 Layout

Consistency and clarity are key. A lot of people try to reinvent the wheel with their CV layout. The design of your CV is NOT about standing out. It's about communicating as much information as possible as quickly as possible. The average recruiter spends 8 seconds per CV. If every CV had the same layout, it would be far easier for them to scan and find the information they needed. If they come across a CV that doesn't follow this standard pattern it's likely that they'll get frustrated trying to find key information and dismiss it. Your ability to be professional and display attention to detail comes across in your CV. While it may seem ridiculous that a recruiter will immediately dismiss your CV if they see a typo, inconsistent fonts, or poor alignment, remember that a client would do the same with your pitch book. Your CV should be checked by multiple people, so there is no excuse.

Your CV should usually only be one page. Be selective - if you have enough to fit 2 pages, then you can ensure that the things you include are the most impressive. The only real exception to this is if you're writing an academic CV, for which you would include all previous research positions and publications. If you've had 10+ years of work experience, this may also call for 2 pages. Banks are pretty strict on 1 page; some consulting firms are happy with 2 pages e.g. McKinsey, and there are more details on their requirements within this guide. Be concise but not incomplete.

• Use bullet points.
• Each bullet point shouldn't be longer than 1-2 sentences/ lines.
• Use bold, italics, and underlining to make it easy to find information.
• Use one/two fonts across the CV - I would suggest Arial or Avenir.
• Put the position on the left, and dates on the right.
• Separate out your CV into sections including education, work experience and leadership/ extracurriculars.