How to write a Financial CV?

It’s important to get the basics right when writing a Financial CV, but you also need to showcase your best talents and achievements to impress potential employers.

 

Financial knowledge is in high demand, so as good candidates. This means finance professionals are often in a strong position to negotiate the benefits they want; for example, 61% of accountants want to work from home or telecommute, according to the ICAEW.

 

Whether you want to write a CV for a financial analyst, manager, director, or accountant, we have some important tips for you. If you are looking for Financial CV examples, we can help. Later in this blog, we’ll share a sample structure to get you started.

 

Starting a Financial CV

Has it been since your last resume? For a full overview and general advice, check out our comprehensive guide to CV writing. In short, know your audience when writing a Financial CV; keep the layout and design simple and effective.

 

Do:
• Write a strong personal statement: explain who you are, what you can offer, and your career goals. Spend a lot of time fixing this part; otherwise, the reader may not continue.

 

• Focus on your achievements: Be specific about your financial career to date. Whether it’s a full-time job or a summer internship, sell yourself.

 

• Mention your education, qualifications, and any key skills. Some of your skills are more relevant to the role than others, so adapt them to the job description.

 

• Choose a professional tone.

Don’t:

• Pour your CV—always.

 

• Add personal information such as marital status or age.

 

• Mention salary expectations.

 

• Include references; provide these later in the application if requested.

 

• Include a photo of yourself on your CV (but if you’re applying overseas, check local requirements, as hiring managers in some countries expect this). Do not use clichés or generalizations in your financial CV. In the next section, we’ll explore how you can detail your successes so far.

 

Financial Resume Skills

The jobs you are responding to are likely to include a variety of soft and hard skills, both required and desired.

A quick way to show employers that you have this information is to include a skills section or include your skills in the personal statement and work experience sections.

 

Financial knowledge is very broad. The requirement varies depending on whether you are applying for positions in accounting, analysis, auditing, accounting, management, etc.

 

For example, a financial analyst’s job description may require experience in:

• UK Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
• Financial Planning, Modelling, and Reporting
• Quantitative Data Analysis
• Knowledge of Software, e.g., SAP, QuickBooks
• Tax Preparation
• Budget Management
• Mediation

Some of your soft skills will be more useful in finance roles than others, so think about which ones are most important. Requirements may include:

• Working independently and in a group
• Business focus
• Prioritize tasks
• Strong communication skills
• Proactive approach or taking the initiative
• Perfect attention to detail
• Working under pressure

For your strongest skills, you need to back them up with evidence. Let’s see how to do it.

 

Show your influence.

Sometimes it is not easy to find statistics for your resume that show how much you have contributed in your previous roles or during your studies.

But the financial tools you’ve used in the past can help with that—for example, by showing impressive metrics about the activities you’re involved in.

 

Include any relevant and compelling facts, figures, or statistics you can use to demonstrate your impact. These numbers have more impact in the right context.

If you are struggling to do your best, use the STAR method.

With that in mind, here are a few extracts from one of our finance CV examples to get you started.

 

A Financial CV example:

Brilliant Resumes
[Address] [Phone Number] [Email Address]

Personal Communication

Tell us in a few lines who you are, what you can offer, and your career goals. Customize it—show how you stand out and what makes you unique. Here is an example of the first sentence:
Commercially astute and multi-lingual financial analyst with five years of experience and a proven track record of good ROI.

 

Key Skills

If your skills section seems strong, add it here; otherwise, put it after the work history section. Match your skills to the job description and use bullet points, for example:

• Statistical analysis
• Risk analysis
• Solving the problem
• C-level reporting
• Speaks French fluently
• Fluent German

Work History
List your previous positions or jobs you’ve worked in in reverse chronological order, starting with your current or most recent position; include dates. Then add bullet points to describe your most important achievements or responsibilities, e.g.

[Role, Company] [Dates]

• Helped the business unit grow by 15% by developing robust modelling using quantitative statistical analysis.
• Identified cost savings of INR 75,000 through renegotiation of supplier contracts and outsourced operations in-house
• Managed a one-line report and successfully created an ad

Qualification and Training
Start by adding any relevant qualifications, e.g., AAT, ACA, ACCA, CIMA, etc. Then enter your educational information:

• [Finance Grade] [Dates]
• [University Name, Degree Subject, Degree] [Dates]
• [Name of School, A-Levels, Grades] [Dates]
• [Name of School, GCSEs, Grades] [Dates]

Interests

This section is optional if you have limited space on your Financial CV. All hobbies must support your application in an appropriate manner, where possible.

 

For example:
We write a personal blog where we analyze the state of the UK economy, researching stories, crunching the numbers, and adding our own analysis.

 

References are available upon request.

One last tip
You have written all about your achievements and your passion for this job. Now don’t undo this hard work by making a basic mistake.

 

It goes without saying, but a career in finance requires an extremely high level of attention to detail.

Remember to tailor each resume to the company you are applying to. Use their job postings, website, social media channels, and any other relevant information you can use to promote your application.

 

With this information, you may want to adjust your personal statement or change the way you describe certain aspects of your work history.

 

Summary: How to write a Financial CV

Remember: Highlight your unique skills, what makes you an impressive candidate, and so on, then build your resume around those points.

 

We hope this guide has given you some ideas for your next great Financial Resume!

We’ve also previously written about how to create perfect resume headlines and how to end your resume properly. These small details can make a big difference when your resume is pressed for time in front of a hiring manager. If you need help, we are CV-writing experts. We know how to write a great Financial CV, so don’t hesitate to get in touch for more information.