Do you need to write a cover letter if you’re applying for a job in banking? That depends. – Are you going for a graduate job, or are you an experienced hire? “For experienced roles, we rarely look at cover letters,” says Logan Naidu, CEO of London-based financial services recruitment firm Dartmouth Partners. “For graduate hires, however, cover letters are very important.”
Just how important cover letters are for landing a first job in an investment bank is reflected by the fact that some banks specify them as a must have in their analyst recruitment process. Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Macquarie all demand that their would-be analysts in Europe write cover letters or something very similar, says Victoria McLean at banking CV specialists City CV.
Goldman is particularly demanding – it requests that applicants write a personal statement in 300 words or less. Barclays requests that applicants produce a similar quantity of text explaining their motivation for applying to the role. – These aren’t cover letters exactly, but in structure and content they often amount to the same thing.
If you’re an experienced banker writing a letter to accompany an application through a recruitment firm, the cover letter will be less important than the CV. But in an industry where the top banks receive tens of thousands of applications for their graduate jobs, cover letters are a crucial differentiator. “For me, the cover letter is the important part,” says Malcom Horton, head of recruitment at Nomura International. “It’s the only opportunity you have to express yourself beyond the list achievements on your CV.”
What makes a cover letter good? Naidu says the best ones show spark and personality: “Which are the personal characteristics that make you particularly suited to this position? You need to show you’re engaged and engaging.” McLean, a former recruiter for Goldman Sachs, says your letter needs to be banking specific – if you’re a student, you can’t just adapt a covering letter from another sector and send that off to a bank. Peter Harrison, managing director of Harrison Careers, a finance-focused careers consultancy, says you need a different cover letter for every single job you apply to.
However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t write a cover letter that follows a template, as long as you adapt the details time. This template should follow 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.
Banking cover letter template – the easy introductory paragraph
The first paragraph is all about explaining why you’re writing It needs to be short: no more than 35 words in length, says Harrison.
McLean agrees: “The first paragraph is just to say who you are and why you’re writing the letter.”
This might read something like. “I am an X with X year history of X at global banking giants including X as well as X. I have been working for X for the past X years.”
When you’re writing a cover letter that’s 300 words or less, you can ditch this paragraph. – There’s just no space for it.
Banking cover letter template – the selling yourself second paragraph. ‘Why me?’
The second paragraph is harder. This is where you need to start selling yourself and explaining why you’re such a hot catch for the bank you’re applying to. Don’t use empty phrases like, “I am a determined, motivated individual.” Look at the key words and skills used to describe the job you’re applying for and explain how you match them. Focus on results and on outcomes. Be specific. Talk about what you’ve studied and how it’s relevant, says McLean. 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 in M&A (a relationship-focused business), mention them here. Provide EVIDENCE for the skills you’re claiming to have. Don’t just make empty statements.
If you’re a student, Harrisons says you should use this paragraph to reference your excellent academics and any awards you’ve won.
Banking cover letter template – the motivational third paragraph. ‘Why this job in this sector?’
If you’re a student trying to get a first job in banking, this is a crucial paragraph. Having set yourself up as a great hire with the skills necessary to do the job in question, you need to explain why you want to do that job. – Why financial services? Why that sector? Why that job? Why M&A? Why sales and trading? Why compliance? “Link your skills back to your motivation for working in the sector,” says McLean. – If you want to work in operations, explain how you have a passion for building systems and improving efficiency, as evidenced by your system for serving customers in your weekend job…
Banking cover letter template – the flattering fourth 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. She says 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.
Instead, you need to cite some reasons 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. Harrison agrees: “Mention the names of two employees you have read about or ideally have met,” he advises. Explain what it was that they said or did which persuaded you that the bank is a good fit for you. Think about the bank’s culture, ethos and vision.- But don’t copy and paste from its list of business principles!
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 its won, and to cite any conversations you’ve had 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.
Banking cover letter template – the call to action
Finally, you need to end 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.
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