We have gotten a lot of emails about this, before we begin here are the reasons why your cover letter does not matter. We will give you a template below if you don’t want to believe us but lets begin.
1) We receive thousands of resumes every recruiting season. That alone is 1,000+ pages to review.
2) We have automated computers to search for key words and GPA’s (3.5+ GPA, Top Schools, Investment Banking, Research, Trading, Private Equity, Venture Capital, Hedge Fund, etc…)
3) We have no time to read 1,000+ three paragraph essays
4) We don’t know your name until you walk in the door, if you have friends who received jobs on Wall Street they will tell you every interviewer will ask you to “walk you through your resume” (hint we did not even bother reading your entire resume either)
5) We know that people who are hired just out of college are bottom barrel on the importance scale, as a reminder no one cares about you.
The above is harsh truth but really think about it. If you were trying to generate millions of dollars for your firm, the last thing on your mind is an introductory cover letter from a 20 year old college graduate. With that said, your resume is extremely important as it outlines what you can actually bring to the firm. This compares to your cover letter should be coherent, error free and to the point.
Think of your cover letter as your “elevator pitch” on why they should hire you and why you would like to work for the firm. Along with everything else you do on Wall Street, keep it short to the point and valuable.
Cover Letter
