The honest answer first: at the largest banks, in the structured London and Asia processes, many cover letters are never read. The CV decides the screen, the tests decide the cut and the letter sits in the file. I know because I sat on that side of the file.
So why write one properly? Because of when they are read. And the moments they are read are precisely the moments your application is hanging by a thread.
When the letter actually matters
- Borderline candidates. When a screener cannot decide from the CV, the letter is the tie-breaker. By definition, if the letter is being read, you are on the edge. That is the worst possible moment for a lazy template.
- Boutiques and mid-market firms. Smaller teams, fewer applications, real reading. At a 20-person M&A boutique the partner may read every letter personally and it functions as a writing sample for a job that is substantially about writing.
- Paris and continental Europe. The lettre de motivation is a genuine part of French application culture and stage applications frequently require one that gets read. The Paris article covers the wider process.
- Off-cycle and direct approaches. When you email a team directly, your email is the cover letter and it is always read.
The operating rule that follows: write every letter as if it is the tie-breaker, because the only time it counts, it is.
The four-paragraph structure
One page, around 300 words, four paragraphs. Anything longer signals that you cannot prioritise, which is a screening answer in itself, the same one a two-page CV gives.
- 1 · Who and what. Name, school, year, the exact programme you are applying to. Two sentences. No 'I am writing to express my interest': the letter's existence expresses your interest.
- 2 · Why this bank. One platform-specific fact and one deal, sector or theme, connected to you. 'Your franchise in mid-cap software, including the recent sale processes in Nordic infrastructure software, sits exactly where my coursework and stock research have focused.' That sentence cannot be sent to any other bank, which is the test.
- 3 · Why you. Two proof points mapped to the job: one analytical, one showing stamina or teamwork under load. Do not re-narrate your CV; select from it. The CV mistakes article explains what those proof points need to look like.
- 4 · Close. Availability, start dates if relevant, thank you. Two lines. No begging, no 'I would welcome the opportunity to discuss', just clean logistics.
The instant kills
Every screening season produces the same casualties. The wrong bank name in paragraph two, which ends the read at any firm on earth. Visible template seams, where the font changes around a swapped-in name. The word 'passionate' doing the work that evidence should do. A letter that restates the CV line by line. And length: a full page of dense text for a role that will require you to summarise a company in three bullets.
One more, specific to non-native English speakers applying to London: over-formal, antique phrasing ('I humbly submit my candidature') reads as unfamiliarity with the professional register. Plain, direct sentences are the register.
Why banking still asks for letters at all
Because the job is client writing. A pitch book paragraph, a process update email, a board summary: all cover letters of a kind, all judged on whether they are specific, short and organised around the reader. A great cover letter does not prove you want the job. It proves you can already do a piece of it. Write it once at that standard, keep the bank-specific paragraph modular and the marginal letter costs you fifteen minutes.
If you want your letter and CV screened together the way a bank would read them, one pass through the IBD Recruiting Review will tell you exactly where you stand.
FAQ
Do banks actually read cover letters?
At large banks, often not at first screen. They get read for borderline candidates, at boutiques, in Paris and in off-cycle applications, which is exactly why every letter should be written as the tie-breaker.
How long should an investment banking cover letter be?
One page and roughly 300 words across four paragraphs: who you are, why this bank, why you and a two-line close. Anything longer signals you cannot prioritise.
What instantly kills a cover letter?
The wrong bank name, visible template seams, the word passionate doing the work of evidence, restating the CV line by line and antique over-formal phrasing.
Former Executive Director in TMT Investment Banking at Nomura and M&A banker at BNP Paribas. Top-rated mentor with 300+ sessions. About
