How to change a FAANG CV into a banking CV
There's a lot of former FAANG technologists looking for work right now, which means a lot of FAANG CVs are being flogged to a wide array of recruiters. One headhunter who works with hedge funds and electronic trading firms, tells us she is seeing "a massive shift in people going from technology to finance."
If this is you, you are not alone. If you're looking to get work in banking, there are a few small but vital changes you're gonna need to make to give you an edge in your new industry.
You've gotta give a damn
There's a lot of people working for tech companies that took the job for the perks and not the work. From cushy salaries to deluxe offices, big tech has been a luxury employer. Now that it's not, people are moving to the other industry that offers massive compensation: finance.
A love of reward can't be your only motivation, though. "You need to show at least an interest in finance," says one finance headhunter. "If you've got a cool little project using a pricing algorithm, that will go a long way."
Shorter is better
In our definitive guide to an engineering CV in banking, we said a one-page resume is the gold standard. If you're coming from FAANG, you can maybe flex this a bit. "CVs don't need to be one page but should be no more than two. Most people are keeping them to two," the headhunter says.
While a two-page CV is certainly acceptable, fitting it all into one well-formatted page sends a clear message about your organizational skills and shows you know what your priorities are. Two pages are certainly fine but don't fluff yours up just to reach the second page.
Keep keywords
Struggling to figure out what needs to go? A FAANG interviewer says that neither recruiters nor interviewers care too much about your resume content. Instead, "they are just looking for nice keywords" with "Summa cum laude" or "First class degree" both impactful.
'What' > 'Where'
Working at Meta or Google might pique the interest of Goldman Sachs but convincing finance firms to hire you requires a bit more detail.
"There are a huge amount of resumes floating around from Meta and Twitter, so you need to be clear on the technologies you've used," says one headhunter, who works with hedge funds. Be detailed about the projects you've worked on.
More positively, another headhunter who works with electronic trading firms and hedge funds says that even in this brutal hiring market, "if you've got perfect grades and worked at Amazon, then anyone's going to want to interview you."
Most of all, finance headhunters say banks want developers with passion. "Software engineering isn't a job, it's a lifestyle," says one. "Mentioning you've been coding since you were ten or eleven, and built a computer game on a Raspberry Pi will always make people's ears prick up."
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: alex.mcmurray@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance.
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