Finance CV templates and advice

Finance CV templates and advice

Banking & Finance

If you were an employer receiving hundreds of applications for an advertised role in finance, what would you look for to determine who the best applicant was? The answer to sort the good from the great is simple -: achievements. What makes you stand out? What makes you the most suitable person for promotion? What makes you so different to all other applicants?

Are you the person who consistently plans and implements highly profitable strategies for new and existing financial products? Perhaps you are the most proficient actuary in your department at identifying potential risk and introducing significant cost-saving measures. Or maybe it’s you who your manager turns to when he needs a French-speaker to liaise with colleagues based in Paris.

The secret to making your CV stand out from the crowd is to capitalise on your career enhancing moments, the times when the limelight shone on you.

Identify the key requirements of the job you want and think of as many relevant examples of instances when you have outperformed your colleagues and gone beyond what is expected of you in your current job – instances when you gained recognition for doing more than a good job.

  • “I effectively lead a team to achieving my branch’s new product sales target for four consecutive quarters and significantly reduced customer waiting times by 20% over the course of six months.”
  • “I developed a new collection system that reduced outstanding sums due from tenants, and upgraded the existing systems which improved processes and doubled efficiencies within the department.”
  • “In my current role I delivered process and control improvements and successfully implemented an ERP system across a broad range of industry sectors.”

Effective CVs are those that make employers sit up and take notice and recognise that you bring something extra to the table. Just remember to keep your example statements relevant to the job you are applying for, not the job you already have.

Take a look at the following finance cv templates to get an idea of style and structure before beginning your own document.

You might also like to take a look at our more generic CV templates and cover letter samples, as well as some expert CV advice.

Read more advice on career in finance or use Monster job search to browse for finance jobs.