Cover Letter Tips for Finance Professionals

By Kim Isaacs, Monster Resume Expert
Caroline Chwojka, Monster Contributing Writer

Massive layoffs across the financial services sector have left many industry professionals unexpectedly looking for work. If you’re searching for a job in finance or want to be prepared just in case, you will need a dynamic cover letter to grab the hiring managers’ attention. Follow the advice of these career experts to make sure your letter measures up.

Quickly State Your Case

It is highly recommended amongst specialist in career marketing for finance professionals to open cover letters with a summary of your experience and expertise. The summary should identify your core competencies and level of experience in the field of finance.

For example: “I am a buy-side financial analyst with 8 years of experience within a boutique asset management firm with the proven ability to increase portfolio returns while minimizing financial risk through the use of financial analytics.”

Standard openings such as “With reference to your ad” or “I am responding to your ad,” are redundant and offer the impression of limited forethought. Grab the hiring manager’s attention in the first sentence by identifying what you can do and how it will benefit the employer. Incorporate a high-impact opener, such as: “Shortening month-end procedures, improving revenue projections, reducing variances against budget and increasing team morale are what I do best.”

Follow with bulleted accomplishments that relate to the position you are applying for and illustrate your value. Although it may be difficult to generalize, some key areas of concern are relevant across the financial services arena. Identify how you have addressed concerns such as minimizing costs product delivery and risk reduction versus reward.

Speak to the Employer’s Needs

Address the specific needs outlined by the employer in the job posting. If you know the employer has just opened a new firm and needs an investment executive, then emphasize how your skills and experience would benefit the employer and what you would accomplish if you got the job. Focusing on the employer’s needs helps to identify you as the candidate that can transition into the position with the least disruption and greatest benefit.

Job seekers are advised to provide concrete, quantifiable examples of accomplishments and past achievements. Instead of noting a hollow statement such as “I stream-lined the closing cycle procedures resulting in increased savings for the company” a more detailed and poignant approach could be; ‘I reduced the company closing cycle from 8 days to five days, freeing 140 hours in our department and saving $35,000 per month,”.

By providing concrete examples of your impact on prior organizations, potential employers can immediately realize your value and identify how you may fit into the position posted. Speaking to the employer’s needs will increase your odds of landing an interview.

Add Industry Keywords

When cover letters and resumes are entered into a database, a search filter often ranks applicants based on keyword density. Providing more relevant keywords will help to bring your resume and cover letter to the top of the pile. However, sentences should not be contorted just to increase the amount of key-words per paragraph. Keywords are also significant for human reviewers to see as they identify you as being fluent in industry terminology.

You can cull important keywords from job ads. Review job descriptions for your desired position, and look for skills, certifications, education and other commonly requested qualifications. For example, a tax accountant might incorporate keywords such as CPA, GAAP compliance and tax audits, whereas a financial analyst might incorporate business modeling, financial analysis and forecasting. Incorporate keywords into a description of your skills experiences and accomplishments. Don’t list them in bullet-point form as they would be on a resume.

Avoid the Dreaded Trash Bin

Resume writing firms and career marketing professionals stress the importance of proofreading your cover letter and resume before submitting them. Your candidacy could automatically be rejected due to a simple spelling error. Having a friend or a third party review your cover letter helps correct spelling and grammatical mistakes before a hiring manager would.

Avoid saying anything negative about previous employers and don’t reveal personal information that’s irrelevant to the job. The cover letter and resume are meant to get you an interview not to discuss your golf handicap.

Brevity is also important -- the days of lengthy cover letters (even for finance executives) are long gone. One page is enough to identify the most salient skills and accomplishments you have achieved. Other pages will not be given any attention.

Although cover letters are not always read and may take a backseat to the resume, they are read often enough that it’s wise to put some serious effort into them. Perfect your cover letter and you could be shopping for an outfit to wear to your next job interview.