First, don’t stress out over the cover letter. Most candidates clearly overestimate the importance of this document.
The truth is: recruiters probably won’t read their cover letter. And in the rare cases they do read it, it likely won’t make a difference on the way they perceive your value as a candidate.
They will mostly evaluate you based on your CV. That being said, many large investment banks do ask for a cover letter, in which case you have to write one to comply with their application guidelines. Now, before I tell you how to write a great cover letter for investment banking, let me share with you a couple of key pieces of advice…
Now, to help you write a great cover letter, I’ll share with you an example of structure which I’ve personally used to land interviews at top-tier investment banks.
Here is a personal structure that I personally recommend (I’ll give more detail on each of these sections below):
1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Third paragraph
4. Fourth paragraph
The first paragraph should be dedicated to 1) presenting yourself, 2) demonstrating your interest in the firm and 3) formally announce your intention to apply for the program (internship/full-time offer) or, if there are no such programs (spontaneous application), simply explain what you’re looking for.
In the first sentence, mention your name, and then your school and major, if you’re a student. If you’re a working professional, mention the school you’re graduated from, followed by your current job.
Examples:
In the second sentence, you should ideally introduce and demonstrate your interest in the firm.
To do that, forget the “I like your firm for your values of integrity and excellence with which I resonate” or “I am really impressed by your rankings in the Extel survey and the Institutional Investor”. Cut the BS. No one cares about any of that.
The truth, no matter how hard banks are pretending to be special, they are not. Culture is broadly the same across these institutions, and claiming cultural uniqueness is just a marketing tactic employed along with many others.
Same thing for big institutional funds. Smaller hedge funds with truly differentiated strategies might be the exception.
So what’s the best way to convey your interest?
Well, nothing is more powerful than social proof. The most efficient way to demonstrate your interest in the firm is to show that you’re sufficiently interested in spending some time speaking to some company’s insiders. So use name-dropping.
Not only should you name-drop someone who works for the firm, but you should also say something that you learned from this person about the firm that makes you particularly interested.
If you met this person during an official networking event organized by the firm, mention it.
I’ve read hundreds of cover letters, and I interact on a daily basis with people who’ve read thousands, and I can guarantee you that there is nothing more powerful than using name-dropping intelligently to demonstrate your interest in the firm.
This obviously implies that you must have spoken to at least one person working for the firm, but if you’ve followed and applied my advice so far, you should have hopefully spoken to a lot of them already.
Example:
In a third sentence, just express your interest in Investment Banking, and articulate your interest in the particular position you’re applying to.
Example:
The second paragraph should be used to display your former experiences and demonstrate that you gained some relevant skills during these experiences.
If you are a student and you have no professional experience, don’t worry: you can talk about non-professional experiences that lead to you to develop skills that could be relevant for the job.
For example, if you run a student investment club, that’s not a professional experience per se, but yet, the analytical skills and interest in the financial markets that you gained doing so are relevant and hence valuable for the job you’re targeting.
Naturally, the more professional experience you had, the better. But my point is that not having any is not an issue if you’re looking for an internship/junior role.
I would recommend the following structure:
First, mention one or two professional experiences that you had very briefly, just mentioning your roles and the name of the firms. Ideally, choose experiences that led you to develop different/complementary skill sets.
Example:
Second, I would highlight the type of missions that I achieved during each of these experiences, and I would explain the specific skills that I’ve developed through these missions, for each experience.
For each mission, be precise and quantify your accomplishments to the extent possible. We need to know 1) what you did and 2) what outcomes you produced.
For the skills that you mention, make sure to select skills that you genuinely developed AND that are relevant for the job.
Obviously, there must be a logical flow between the first sentence and the second.
Example:
Third, I would mention one experience that is non-professional and unique if possible.
The goal of this sentence is to show that you have an “interesting life” or at least that you’re passionate about certain projects.
It can be a personal project that you launched and in which you were highly involved (e.g. humanitarian mission, student investment club, networking club, etc.). Again, be precise and quantify, and show that you’ve developed relevant skills.
Example:
The third paragraph should be designed to explain to what extent the skills that you’ve previously developed would be relevant for the role you’re applying to. You basically need to show that you’re a good fit.
In this paragraph, I would also suggest showing your expectations for the role i.e. what you will do to contribute and what you expect to receive from this position.
In the first sentence, I would simply explain that I am a good fit for the role, by linking the skills that I have gained previously to the requirements of the job.
Example:
In a second sentence, I would explain how I plan to contribute to the firm through this role, and I would reveal what I expect to receive from the firm. This helps build confidence by showing an alignment of interests.
Example:
Finally, in the last sentence, I would just show my enthusiasm to join the firm, by drawing upon what I’ve said previously.
Example:
This fourth and last paragraph should be used to close the letter politely and facilitate potential future contact. The value-added of this section is not huge, it’s in fact very boring. Don’t try original things, be boring but do it well and effectively.
Just say that you enclosed relevant pieces to support your application, and that you would appreciate an opportunity to discuss with them. Make sure to use the name of the firm somewhere. Then highlight your contact details.
After that, you just have to thank them for their time, and sign with your name. Pretty standard.
Overall, the fourth paragraph could look like this:
“I have enclosed a copy of my resume for your reference. I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss my qualifications with you and learn more about XYZ Bank at your earliest convenience. You can reach me at [Phone Number] or via email at [Email Address].
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
John
Signature”
Follow these guidelines rigorously and your cover letter will be of good quality. To make your life easier, you can download our full cover letter template here.
With this template, you just have to fill in the blanks, make sure to include relevant experiences, and send the CL to banks.
This is the template that I’ve used for 4 years, and it works. It’s simple, concise, and effective.
Aurelian Tran is the founder of Alpha Lane and an ex-Goldman Sachs analyst who has spent 4+ years working in the investment banking industry.
He founded Alpha Lane to help students and young professionals achieve their highest professional ambitions, by securing offers at top-tier financial institutions.
@2022 Alpha-Lane. All rights reserved.
