Applications:
Applications for graduate and internship positions are always processed online. Please see the links in the section ‘Industry’ to get an overview of the major employers.
An online application normally consists of your personal details including A-level and University grades, CV, Cover Letter and competency based questions.
CV:
Your résumé should be on 1-2 pages. There are various examples on the Web.
Emphasise your academic achievements, have a separate work experience section, and have a section called “Achievements”. Ignore the advice of anyone who tells you that this is not the way to do it. List your top 5 or 6 achievements, and ask yourself whether 20 LUMS students that you have never met before would find these achievements impressive if they read them for the first time. Have an “Other Data” section which makes you sound like a cool, fun person to meet, and then your résumé should look pretty good.
Cover Letter:
Do not have a “one size fits all” cover letter. It will not work. A cover letter should be in bullet point format. It absolutely must demonstrate technical knowledge of the business area you are applying to. If you do not do this, you will significantly disadvantage yourself compared to other candidates. Do not ever use human resources-speak like “strong analytical skills with a developed sense of teamwork, a capacity to lead where necessary, and a proven ability to cope under pressure”. That is just meaningless waffle. Be succinct. Do not talk much about the company because that will not convince them to hire you, although do spend 1 bullet point at the end of the cover letter showing that you know something about the company's business and that you have done your homework. All the points above that should be about you and explaining what you know about the business area.
Competency Questions:
The top 10 banks get around 15,000 applications for between 50 and 200 vacancies. The application form is one way of getting rid of a great amount of applicants. As for the competency questions, all the usual advice applies – be succinct, demonstrate technical knowledge, name drop the names of the people you have met at the company presentation, write stuff that sounds genuinely impressive.
Important Hint
One more very, very important thing – many companies and the banks especially, operate a first come first served process for selecting people for interview. There is a very significant advantage to applying early. That means mid October for full time applications, and mid November for internship applications.