A TS CV needs to signal technical credibility, deal awareness, and structured thinking. Here is how to position every section for maximum impact.
Your CV is the first filter in a TS hiring process. Recruiters at Big 4 firms and advisory boutiques read hundreds of applications for a small number of roles. A well-structured, technically credible CV gets you to interview. A generic one does not. Here is how to build one that works.
Keep it to one page if you have fewer than five years of experience; two pages is acceptable for more senior profiles. Use a clean, professional format — no graphics, no unusual fonts, no colour schemes. The reader should reach the content without effort.
TS recruiters are financial professionals. Dense, well-organised text is fine. Excessive white space suggests a thin experience base.
Every bullet point should describe what you did and why it mattered — not just what your job title implied. Compare:
Weak: "Assisted in the preparation of audit workpapers."
Strong: "Prepared detailed analytical review procedures across revenue, cost, and balance sheet lines for a manufacturing client with €85m revenue, identifying three material variances that required management explanation."
The second version signals analytical thinking, quantitative comfort, and relevance to FDD.
Numbers create credibility and context. Include:
TS recruiters look for evidence that you have worked with the concepts they care about. Wherever honest, use language that maps to FDD:
Place education prominently if you are early-career. Include:
If you are part-qualified, note the stage clearly — TS firms hire part-qualified candidates and will often support completion of the qualification.
Keep this focused and honest. For TS, the most relevant technical skills to list are:
Avoid padding with generic skills like "Microsoft Office" or "teamwork."
Most TS applications request a covering letter. Use it to:
Generic covering letters are easily identified and do nothing to differentiate you.
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Hundreds of candidates prepared their interviews with this programme. Those who landed the role have one thing in common: they worked the cases before walking into the room.
