A finance recruiter spends a few seconds on a CV before deciding whether to read it in detail. In that very short time, the order of sections determines what they see first. Education first or experience first? Where do skills, languages and interests go? The right answer depends on your profile. Here are the rules, structure templates by situation and a pre-send checklist.
The mandatory sections of a finance CV
Whatever the profile, a finance CV has a core set of sections. Career guides, such as Apec's advice, agree on the essentials: header, education, experience, skills and languages.
The core:
- Header: first name, last name, phone, email, city, LinkedIn link. No photo or date of birth is needed in most cases, and certainly no full address.
- Education: degrees, institutions, years, honours, relevant rankings.
- Work experience: internships, work-study, jobs, with dates, employer, role and achievements.
- Skills: tools (Excel, Bloomberg, Python…), technical skills and certifications.
- Languages: with verifiable levels.
Optional sections, depending on the profile:
- Headline or summary: useful for an experienced profile or a career change (see our guide to the finance CV profile summary).
- Projects: an asset for a student with little experience.
- Associations and commitments: useful when they show leadership or interest in finance.
- Interests: keep them short and sincere.
Anything that does not help the recruiter decide should go, or the CV gets heavy. For an overview of writing, see our guide How to write a CV for finance and investment banking.
Education or experience first?
The general rule: put first whatever is your best argument for the target role.
Education first when...
- You are a student or recent graduate with little or no experience. Your academic path is then your best asset, especially if your school or master's is recognised in finance.
- You are applying to a master's, a school or a selective programme, where the academic file counts more.
- You have a recent, relevant degree (for example after a career change).
Experience first when...
- You have more than two or three years of experience in finance. The recruiter wants to see first what you have done.
- Your internships speak louder than your degree, for example if you interned at a recognised firm.
- You are moving up in your career: recent experience becomes the main criterion.
Within each section, order is reverse-chronological: most recent first.
💡 A special case: career change. If you are changing careers, finance training (master's, certification) can come before experience from another sector. Our article on moving into finance details the approach.
Where to place skills, languages and interests
Skills. Two possible positions:
- At the bottom, after experience, for a classic profile: recruiters look there for confirmation, not discovery.
- At the top or in a column, for a highly technical role (quant, data) where tools are a selection criterion. See for example Python on a finance CV and SQL on a finance CV.
Wherever you put them, avoid level bars or stars, which screening software reads badly and recruiters find uninformative. Write levels in words, with context.
Languages. One line per language, with a verifiable level: "English: fluent (TOEIC 950)", "German: intermediate (B1)". Avoid "bilingual" without proof.
Interests. Short, concrete and sincere. A team sport, an association, a personal portfolio-management project say something about you. A list of ten generic hobbies says nothing.
📊 Go further: if you hold certifications or have training in progress, they belong in education or in a dedicated, clearly visible "Certifications" section.
Structure templates by profile
Student or recent graduate (0 to 2 years)
- Header
- Education (with honours and key subjects)
- Experience (internships, work-study)
- Projects and associations
- Skills and languages
- Interests (short)
Length: one page, no exception.
Experienced profile (3 to 10 years)
- Header
- Headline (2 to 3 lines)
- Experience (the most detailed)
- Education
- Skills, certifications and languages
Length: one page, sometimes two for very dense experience. In investment banking, the single page remains the norm.
Career change
- Header
- Headline explaining the project
- Finance education or certification (at the top if recent)
- Previous experience, reworded around transferable skills
- Skills, languages
Technical profile (quant, data, risk)
- Header
- Technical skills (at the top or in a column)
- Experience and projects
- Education
- Languages
Pre-send checklist
Structure and readability:
- [ ] The CV fits on one page (unless justified).
- [ ] The order highlights your best argument for this role.
- [ ] Each section is in reverse-chronological order.
- [ ] Section titles are classic ("Education", "Work experience", "Skills") to be recognised by screening software.
Content:
- [ ] Each experience contains at least one quantified result, without inventing figures.
- [ ] The keywords of the job ad appear naturally (see our guide to optimising your CV for ATS).
- [ ] Language and tool levels are honest.
- [ ] Zero spelling mistakes: one is enough to eliminate a candidate at a bank.
Format:
- [ ] Classic, readable font, no images in place of text, no complex tables or decorative icons.
- [ ] PDF file clearly named (for example "First-Last-CV-Finance.pdf").
The points in the last group cause the most trouble: a CV with misaligned columns or badly rendered icons is poorly read by screening software, and the recruiter may never see your profile. FinanceCV takes care of this: you fill in the content, and the tool places the sections in a clean, ATS-compatible layout, without you having to rework the form.
To go further, see also our article on mistakes to avoid on a finance CV.
Ready to build your finance CV? Use our free generator to get a professional document in a few minutes.