How to Write a Venture Capital Resume (With an Example)

Venture capitalists are professionals that are responsible for providing capital to companies with high growth potential in exchange for equity stakes. Hiring managers analyse whether you possess these relevant experiences and skills by reading your resume. Understanding how to write a venture capital resume is essential in helping you pass the resume selection process and eventually receive the job. In this article, we explore how to write one, provide tips on writing a resume and share a resume example you can use as a reference.

What is a venture capital resume?

A venture capital resume is a document that many hiring managers require before qualifying a venture capitalist candidate for an interview. The goal of a resume is to provide a hiring manager with relevant information about yourself and encourage them to accept you as a venture capitalist. You can utilise your resume to show how you can grow a company financially through your abilities.

Related: What Is a Resume? (Plus How to Write and Format a Resume)

How to write a venture capital resume

Here are a few steps that you can take to create a resume:

1. Choose a resume style

There are three common resume styles that you can choose from. They're chronological resumes, functional resumes and hybrid resumes. A chronological resume is a type of resume that lists working experiences in order. This type of resume is usually appealing to older hiring managers. Functional resumes list working experiences according to the skills they obtain in every job, which emphasises and highlights the skills that a candidate possesses. The last resume style you can choose is a hybrid resume, which is a combination of chronological and functional resumes.

If you're a venture capitalist with previous experiences in the field, utilising a chronological resume may be beneficial for you as it showcases the relevant experience you have for the position. If you're a fresh graduate searching to start your career as a venture capitalist, using a functional resume can help a hiring manager in recognising the important skills you have. If you're looking into using a hybrid resume, make sure to keep your resume brief and concise.

2. Write a professional summary

A professional summary or objective is a set of statements that summarises the abilities and experiences of a candidate. The goal of a professional summary is to encourage hiring managers to read your resume thoroughly. A summary typically includes your career goals along with your relevant skills and experiences that can help you in accomplishing the tasks of a venture capitalist.

For a venture capitalist position, you can mention the possession of relevant skills such as being able to create financial analysis and reports along with relevant experience in the venture capital field. You may also include your specialisation as a venture capitalist in your summary. Many summaries usually consist of one or two sentences.

3. Include your contact information

Contact information is an essential component of resumes. This section contains your full name, phone number and e-mail address. The goal of this section is to provide a clear guide on how your hiring managers can contact you for further enquiries after reviewing your resume. Place this section at the top of your resume, making it noticeable for your hiring manager.

4. Write your working experience

A venture capitalist is a profession that requires practice and experience. Showcasing your past working experiences is essential in creating a resume. In this section, you can detail the position you've worked in, the company names for every position, your year of employment and the responsibilities that you fulfilled in every position.

If you have a large number of working experiences, ensure to select several that are relevant for the venture capitalist position. Choosing a few relevant experiences allows hiring managers to focus on determining if you're able to fulfil your responsibilities as a venture capitalist. Many venture capitalists usually have previous working experience as venture capital analysts, venture associates and investment analysts.

Related: How To Write Work Experience in a Resume (With Tips and Examples)

5. Write a list of skills

Working as a venture capitalist requires both hard and soft skills. Inserting a list of skills that are relevant to the job is essential to show your suitability for the job. Several skills that many venture capitalists insert on their resumes include persuasion, negotiation, networking and communication.

To keep your resume brief and concise, highlight the skills that are most relevant to the position. Common skills that a hiring manager seeks in a venture capitalist include networking, communication and analysis of trends. You can highlight these skills by placing them at the beginning of your list. Venture capitalists also typically show expertise in investment screening and creating spreadsheets to summarise data.

Related: Common Examples of Skills and Steps To Identify Them

6. Include your education history

A common section in resumes is education history. This section provides information regarding the degree you have, along with the institution where you obtain your degree and your year of graduation. Hiring managers typically search for venture capitalists with an undergraduate degree in business.

7. Insert additional qualifications

Including certifications or licences that you obtain in the financial field increases your credibility as a venture capitalist candidate. Other than certifications, you can also provide descriptions of previous experiences that are relevant to the job. For instance, you may want to include information regarding your past experiences volunteering for non-profits.

Related: How to Create a List of Accomplishments for Your Resume (With Tips)

8. Proofread

Proofreading is an important step in the process of drafting a document. This process refers to reviewing your document and revising accordingly. Several aspects that you may pay attention to during this process include grammar, formatting, spelling and the clarity of your information.

Tips for writing a venture capital resume

Here are a few tips that you can consider:

Be concise

Resumes are usually concise and brief, typically lasting one to two pages. To create a brief capital venture resume, eliminate unnecessary and redundant information. Eliminating unnecessary information allows hiring managers to notice relevant information about you.

Related: Common Examples of Skills and Steps to Identify Them

Format your resume according to the ATS

Many hiring managers utilise the applicant tracking system (ATS) in the recruitment and selection process. ATS is software that collects, scans and filters through job applications. You can adjust your resume to the ATS by inserting keywords that a hiring manager may include in their job description. Common keywords that hiring managers search for in a venture capitalist resume include analysing trends, communicating, data trending and reviewing performance.

Related: What Are Resume Keywords? (Definition and How to Use Them)

Resume template for venture capital professionals

Here's a resume template that you can refer to while crafting your resume:

[First name] [Last name]
[Phone Number] | [E-mail Address]

Professional Summary

[Insert one to two sentences of why you're suitable for the position. Include the most relevant skills and experiences you have in the field, along with how they can help you in fulfilling the needs and goals of your company. You can also mention your career goals, providing a hiring manager with information on why you're applying for the job.]

Skills

• Skill

• Skill

• Skill

Work Experience

[Job title]
[Name of employer], [Dates of employment]

• [Job duty]

• [Job duty]

• [Job duty]

[Job title]
[Name of employer], [Dates of employment]

• [Job duty]

• [Job duty]

• [Job duty]

Education
[Name of degree]
[Name of institution], [Year of graduation]

Example of a venture capital professional's resume

Below is a sample resume that you can use as a reference:

Deepa Suppiah
+65 9102 8888 | deepasuppiah@email.com

Professional Summary

A professional venture capitalist with five years of experience in the field seeking career advancement. Expert in developing spreadsheets, writing financial reports on various financial trends and creating financial plans according to the current revenue numbers and business projections. Specialises in presenting financial plans to investors and mergers that occur on a large scale.

Skills

• data mining

• communicating

• public speaking

• creating useful spreadsheets

• reading bank statements and financial reports

• analysing finances

• data trending

• reviewing performance

Work Experience
Venture capital analyst
AMC Corporation, June 2019–Current

• evaluate investments and design risk analysis reports

• audit bank statements for clients and companies

• monitor and supervise investment deals until their completion

Finance manager
Acme Corporation, December 2015–May 2019

• determine budget and plans for daily processes

• identify strategies to improve accounting processes

• develop tools to analyse revenue and financial trends

Education
Master of Science in finance
Singapore University of Business, 2019

Bachelor of Science in finance
Singapore University of Business

Related: 37 Venture Capital Interview Questions (With Sample Answers)

The model shown is for illustration purposes only, and may require additional formatting to meet accepted standards.