The semi-official Goldman Sachs resumé template

If you're trying to put together a CV or resumé with an eye to getting a job at Goldman Sachs, you might be wondering what to include. Clearly you need to include your educational attainments. Clearly you need to include your work history. But do you really need to include some kind of opening summary? And how should you describe what you've been up to?

Fortunately, Goldman Sachs has offered a few pointers. The firm's recruiters don't provide an official Goldman Sachs resumé template, but the bank's recent annual report offers the closest thing to it.

In its annual report, Goldman introduces its board of directors and outlines the key achievements of its senior executives. In the process, it provides an effective template for anyone looking to put together an introductory statement or to explain what they've achieved in their recent role.

The Goldman Sachs guide to writing an introductory statement:

Of all the elements of a CV, the introductory statement is the most challenging. Done badly, it can be awful. Done well, it can provide an appealing entry point to anyone at Goldman (or elsewhere) who's thinking of hiring you. Even so, recruiters and banking resumé writing professionals tend to wince at the thought of the intro paragraph. All too often it's loaded with vague clichés about how "dynamic" and "innovative" people are. "Please don’t say you’re self-motivated or dynamic or a self-starter in one of those personality profiles,” Tom Stoddart at London recruitment firm Eximius implored last month.

This is how Goldman introduces Lloyd Blankfein, its chairman and CEO in its corporate governance report. Note, there's no waffle about Blankfein's personality or his "team ethos" - just three clean bullet points summarizing and expanding upon what he brings to the role:

Source: Goldman Sachs Annual Report 2016 

Goldman does something similar for David Viniar, its former CFO and a key member of its risk committee. Again, it's three bullet points explaining and then expounding upon what makes Viniar special:

Source: Goldman Sachs Annual Report 2016 

The Goldman Sachs guide to summarizing your achievements:

Once you've laid out your shop in the introductory statement, you don't want to drop in vagaries about the work you've done. You need to add precise and preferably quantifiable achievements.

When you're talking about these, CV specialists advocate using bullet points that detail what you personally achieved. Preferably, you need to add some data that quantifies the impact you had.

Goldman exemplifies this approach in the compensation section of its annual report. This is where it outlines why its most senior people deserve to get paid (or not).

For example, this is what Goldman says about Lloyd Blankfein's achievements over the past year:

Source: Goldman Sachs Annual Report 2016 

And this is what Goldman has to say about the performance of Harvey Schwartz, its current CFO and soon to be COO.

Source: Goldman Sachs Annual Report 2016 

These excerpts don't come from Goldman's recruiters and they don't constitute part of the firm's official advice on how to assemble your resumé. Even so, they're informative. They're how Goldman Sachs itself introduces its senior staff and how Goldman itself summarizes what they've achieved in their jobs. If you're looking for advice on assembling your own resumé in application for a job at the firm, this is probably as close as you'll get to a template from Goldman's inner sanctum.

Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com