While a resume provides a general overview of the positions you have held in the past, a cover letter gives you the opportunity to elaborate on a few key competencies that the hiring manager seeks to see in qualified candidates. You can get ideas from this professional personal banker cover letter sample if you’re struggling to decide what to write. Make sure to read the tips section that is included with the sample.
The job outlook for banking
“Banking” is a blanket term for a wide variety of finance-related occupations, everything from investment banking to starting out as a bank teller, but in general bankers are well-paid and in demand. For example, loan officers earned a median annual salary of $63,960 in 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job growth of 1% was anticipated for this profession from 2020 through 2030, much slower than the occupational average.
Every year, as new financial products are created and new technologies to manage and move money around the world are developed, the banking industry becomes a little bit more complicated. Additionally, banks need to be on the lookout for the increasingly sophisticated cybercrimes that banking activity inevitably draws.
The good news is that all you need to apply for a job as a banker is two pieces of paper. Imagine submitting a loan application for a business with just two questions.
You need two documents: a standout resume and an alluring cover letter. The resume covers your employment history, education and skills. However, the cover letter is where you make your entrance.
View some of the other cover letter writing instructions and illustrations in our accounting section for more inspiration.
Why a banker needs a cover letter
Assume you want to be considered for promotion to a new position after six years of employment at a bank. Would you just place your resume on the desk of your boss and wait for a response?
Ideally, you would go up to your boss in person, ask if s/he had a moment to talk, and then deliver a succinct but compelling pitch, highlighting your prior professional accomplishments and outlining why you’re eager to take on a new challenge. Then you can hand the boss your resume. Which of these approaches—the resume stuffed under the door or the personal approach—do you think would be more effective?
The entire purpose of a cover letter is to introduce yourself personally to a potential employer. While various electronic filters may be applied to your job application, a person must ultimately make you an employment offer. This is your chance to introduce yourself to that person. Expert tip.
There may be debate about whether or not to write a cover letter, but according to LinkedIn, you’re always better off making the extra effort.
According to surveys of hiring managers, the absence of a cover letter is one of the primary reasons resumes are turned down. Similar to a flyer stuck under a windshield wiper, a resume without a cover letter is something that most employers will discard.
Getting the tone right for your banker cover letter
Banking is among the most traditional and buttoned-down professions. Tank tops are not worn by investment bankers when they report to work on Wall Street. The way letters are written reflects the formality that permeates the industry. Unless you’re a member of an Amazonian tribe that hasn’t been reached, you’ve probably received correspondence from a bank. Bank letters typically have a friendly but professional tone, are brief and informative, and end with an invitation to contact the bank with any questions or needs.
Your cover letter should hit all the same notes. Use this opportunity to make an irresistible pitch while keeping it brief, cordial, and professional. End with a call to action. The goal of a cover letter is to develop a personal relationship with a hiring manager. Therefore, even though it is a formal business letter, it should have a personal touch.
Keep your cover letter to one page and no more than 400 words, and give it some thought before you submit it. Finding the appropriate voice will help you emphasize your experience, education, and other qualifications for the position.
Always submit a cover letter along with your resume unless otherwise requested. Some employers prefer that you send them just your resume, and you must of course abide by their requests. But it’s their loss because a cover letter serves as a more effective means of expressing a candidate’s character, zeal, friendliness, and professionalism than a resume.
Best format for a banking cover letter
The tone and content of your bank cover letter can be very flexible, but most cover letters should have the same basic format:
- The cover letter header
- The greeting
- The introduction
- The letter body
- The conclusion
- The signature.
Here is a sample cover letter for a banker that you can modify for the job and employer. Adaptable cover letter example.
The analyst position at Borton would represent an exciting next step in my international investment banking career as a fluent Arabic speaker with four years of experience in the US/MEA markets.
I worked in corporate finance for three years after receiving my bachelor’s in finance, but after earning my online MBA from Wharton, I began working as an analyst in the M I have been the lead analyst at Max over the past four years for six deals totaling $1. 8 billion and have collaborated closely on dozens of others. I have a great deal of experience in accounting and risk analysis in global markets, with a focus on the Middle East.
Along with working on the valuations and financial viability analyses, I also created and updated pitch books and honed my executive summary writing skills. I’ve included some of my best writing samples that aren’t confidential because words have an impact on trust-building. Any deal can be closed if the right information is provided to the right person.
I was tasked with increasing Flux Capital’s visibility at conferences and networking events because it was a boutique company, which allowed me to hone my influencing abilities. I’m applying to Borton because your size provides a wider range of opportunities, but I’m confident that my perspective as a “small guy” in business development will still be helpful.
- Director of analysis for $850 million M
- eight start-ups’ IPOs onto the NYSE were supported over a four-year period.
- I updated our internal financial viability tools using my programming expertise.
My uncle is a client of Borton, so I am familiar with the company’s culture and reputation. I have also long wanted to work for you. I only had to put my name in the running for an interview when a position opened up.
Let’s explore what each cover letter component should contain.
Your letter’s header should be a section at the top with a pleasing layout that includes your name, address, phone number, and email. It will frequently also include information about your profession, such as “Investment Banker.”
The header is a design feature that offers some visual relief from what would otherwise be solid paragraphs of black text, aside from informing the company how to contact you. Expert tip.
Your cover letter and resume for a banker should be formatted and written in the same manner. This establishes your “visual brand” and demonstrates your attention to detail and organizational skills.
Your resume and cover letter will appear to be a poorly put-together Frankenstein’s monster if you use a variety of fonts and styles. Strive for a coherent and consistent design.
The purpose of the cover letter header is to set you apart from other job candidates with a distinctive look that makes your letter appealing to read. Your contact information should be prominently displayed to make it simple for interested recruiters to contact you.
Greeting for a banker cover letter
This is the line that says, “Dear Mr. (or Ms. ),” followed by the last name of the hiring manager.
Instead of writing to the entire company, you should almost always try to address your letter to a specific person. People enjoy reading their own names, so letters addressed to a specific person as opposed to the entire company are more likely to receive a response. Additionally, if you took the time to research the name of the correct person to address, it demonstrates your attention to detail.
It might be worthwhile to call the business and ask if the hiring manager is listed if you’re responding to a job posting that doesn’t. However, if the business prefers that letters be addressed in a more general manner, abide by its requests. You may need to start a sentence with “Dear (Employer) Hiring Team” on occasion. ”.
The purpose of the cover letter salutation is to establish a professional tone and establish a direct line of communication with the hiring manager.
Your introduction should be a catchy sentence that states your job objective and briefly summarizes your qualifications for the position. Use vivacious, animated language that conveys enthusiasm and assurance, but watch out for veering into arrogance or excessive familiarity. Set the right tone right away and write an introductory paragraph that will pique your reader’s interest.
The introduction of your cover letter should include a captivating summary of your qualifications that will pique the hiring manager’s interest and encourage further reading.
Here’s an introduction idea from our banking cover letter sample. Adaptable cover letter greeting and introduction example.
The analyst position at Borton would represent an exciting next step in my international investment banking career as a fluent Arabic speaker with four years of experience in the US/MEA markets. Copied!.
Sample of a cover letter body
Make your main argument in the first two or three paragraphs of your letter. Here, you should outline your professional background, previous accomplishments in the banking industry, and any additional skills that make you a strong candidate for the position you’re seeking.
When describing your accomplishments at previous jobs, be specific and use numbers and facts whenever possible (consider numbers, dollar amounts, percentages, etc.). ). Additionally, try to use one or two anecdotes to discuss a particular challenge you faced as a banker in the past and how you overcame it.
You could also use the body of your letter to talk about your education, any unique certifications or credentials, and perhaps the reasons why this particular company interests you. While there will inevitably be some overlap between your cover letter and resume, try to make the most of the valuable space you have there to say something that your resume doesn’t.
Keep in mind that your cover letter shouldn’t be about why you deserve the job, but rather how you can assist this organization in resolving its issues, saving money, or boosting efficiency instead. Instead of focusing on how they can assist you, say how you can.
Objective of the body of the cover letter: Convince the employer that your contributions as a banker would be advantageous.
Our sample cover letter for a banker demonstrates what you might put in the middle section. Adaptable cover letter body sample.
I worked in corporate finance for three years after receiving my bachelor’s in finance, but after earning my online MBA from Wharton, I began working as an analyst in the M I have been the lead analyst at Max over the past four years for six deals totaling $1. 8 billion and have collaborated closely on dozens of others. I have a great deal of experience in accounting and risk analysis in global markets, with a focus on the Middle East.
Along with working on the valuations and financial viability analyses, I also created and updated pitch books and honed my executive summary writing skills. I’ve included some of my best writing samples that aren’t confidential because words have an impact on trust-building. Any deal can be closed if the right information is provided to the right person.
I was tasked with increasing Flux Capital’s visibility at conferences and networking events because it was a boutique company, which allowed me to hone my influencing abilities. I’m applying to Borton because your size provides a wider range of opportunities, but I’m confident that my perspective as a “small guy” in business development will still be helpful.
- Director of analysis for $850 million M
- eight start-ups’ IPOs onto the NYSE were supported over a four-year period.
- I updated our internal financial viability tools using my programming expertise.
Copied!
Cover letter conclusion and signature
Your final sentence should include a call to action, such as that you are eagerly awaiting a response or that you would be happy to set up an interview.
You might even want to request permission to call them in a week or so to follow up. This demonstrates your commitment to the position and that you aren’t just sending out letters at random. Put yourself in the recipient’s position. If you knew that the person writing the letter would be contacting you shortly, wouldn’t you pay a little more attention?
However, some employers might consider such a suggestion to be a little pushy. Study your target, and write your pitch accordingly.
Generally, your signature should end with “Sincerely” or something similar, a space, and your typed name. If you’d like, you can also add a real, scanned copy of your signature, but it’s not necessary for electronic correspondence.
Goal of the cover letter closing: Conclude on a confident, upbeat note that conveys your expectation that the hiring manager will contact you.
The conclusion of our sample banker cover letter is provided below. Adaptable cover letter sample closing.
My uncle is a client of Borton, so I am familiar with the company’s culture and reputation. I have also long wanted to work for you. I only had to put my name in the running for an interview when a position opened up.
Layout, design and formatting of your banker cover letter
To ensure that your letter reads as well as it looks, it’s crucial to adhere to some fundamental design and formatting guidelines.
- Fonts: Pick a contemporary, readable font that looks good but doesn’t draw too much attention to itself. Avoid using unfamiliar fonts because they might smear on someone else’s computer.
- Use a font size of between 10 and 12 points. Trim your text before attempting to reduce the font size to solve the problem if you’re having trouble keeping your letter to one page.
- Include one-inch margins to the left, right, bottom, and top of every page.
- Left alignment is preferred for body text rather than justification from margin to margin. Leave a space between paragraphs, and keep the paragraphs short.
- White space: Don’t undervalue the significance of leaving blank space on your page. An appropriate amount of white space is always used in good design to give the eyes a break.
- File format: Save your cover letter as a PDF unless you’re specifically asked for a Word file. The main benefit of a PDF is that it will keep your letter’s formatting so that it appears the same on any computer. With other file types, there’s a chance that some of your text won’t be readable and that it might appear in unexpected places on the page.
- Use a professional template: To avoid all of these potential pitfalls, use a cover letter template from resume that has been expertly designed. io. All you need to do is add your own content because we took care of the formatting for you.
The psychology of writing a cover letter for a banker job
Never forget that you are writing a letter to a person, and you should consider how they will respond to it. Write in a human voice that is professional but approachable, and imagine yourself in the position of your correspondent.
We all respond to various stimuli with a combination of emotional and logical reactions, according to psychologists Emotional reactions are more immediate and automatic but also more intense. Rational responses are slower and more deliberative. An ideal cover letter should inspire both.
Therefore, even though this is a formal business letter, don’t be afraid to use language that speaks to both the heart and the head. While “rational language” might be a more factual recitation of your employment history and banking career accomplishments, “emotional language” might refer to some of your passions and desires. Expert tip.
To add emotional appeal to your letter, try using the AIDA model:
- Get the reader’s attention by sharing a personal story that is connected to the job.
- Increase interest level by appealing to the hiring manager’s needs
- By describing how you meet the job requirements, you can inspire employers to want to hire you.
- Close with a call to action.
It’s crucial to thoroughly research each employer to decide the best course of action. If there are any particular requirements or issues the company has, and if you have a plan to address them, let them know. Include a statement in your cover letter that demonstrates you are writing to a specific employer and aren’t sending the same letter to everyone.
Additionally, pay attention to how the business addresses the public. In their customer communications and on their websites, the majority of banks adopt a polite but formal tone. You should try to adopt the tone and style of your potential employer.
You should also think about how the employer views your position as a banker. You would probably write in a more authoritative voice than a college student looking for her first internship if a bank was looking for a new CEO and you were the ideal candidate.
Mistakes to avoid in a banking cover letter
The following are some typical errors people make when writing cover letters:
- Typos, misspellings, and mistakes with grammar, punctuation, and capitalization are all examples of writing errors. Simple writing errors are the most frequent grounds for rejecting job applications, according to surveys.
- Clichés: “I am writing to…. We already know you’re writing because we are reading your letter, so stop there. “Please consider this letter my application for…. Likewise, describing yourself as a “self-starter” or a “team player” who “thinks outside the box” are other clichés. Instead of using clichés that every recruiter has already read a thousand times, try to use new, creative language.
- Non-customized letters: If your letter makes no mention of the company you are writing to specifically, the majority of hiring managers will assume that you are sending the same copy-and-paste letter to all of their competitors. Make every cover letter unique, targeted to a specific employer.
- Irrelevant information: Stay away from talking about your interests or other parts of your life that have nothing to do with the job you’re applying for.
- Strange fonts, small margins, large blocks of text, no white space, and other formatting errors can instantly disqualify your letter from consideration.
Banking cover letter sample with no experience
You might feel as though you are caught in a vicious cycle where you can’t get experience without a banking job and vice versa. Every worker has experienced that frustration, yet they have all managed to land their first job.
Start with the abilities you already possess. Explain in your banker cover letter why you want to move into banking if you are a new employee but not new to the banking industry. Then, emphasize your prior work experience’s transferable skills to banking.
Any project management or business experience ranks highly, so review your resume. io cover letter examples for those fields, too. Highlight your organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills, which will be useful in any career. Expert tip.
Consider mentioning your emotional intelligence, also known as emotional quotient or EQ, because, according to Forbes, hiring managers know that a vast majority of their high performers also rank high in this area.
Key takeaways for a banking cover letter
- Bankers looking for work should have a strong resume and a compelling cover letter, the latter of which should make a personal appeal to the hiring manager.
- Your opportunity to personally introduce yourself to a potential employer is through a cover letter. Unless otherwise requested, a cover letter should always be submitted with a job application.
- Each section of your letter should perform a specific task in accordance with the formal structure that cover letters are expected to follow.
- You must make sure that your letter complies with fundamental guidelines regarding fonts, formatting, and overall appearance because design can be just as important as content.
- Each cover letter needs to be distinctive and tailored to the particular employer.
- A professionally created template can help you avoid a variety of mistakes. The quickest and safest way to write a cover letter is to begin with a tried-and-true format, to which you can simply add your own details.
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