Credit Analyst Resume Sample
John B. Watson
Address: 8795 Keystone Avenue, Indianapolis, IN
Phone: (463) 748 9642
Email: [email protected]
Current Job: Credit Analyst; Myrtle and Franck Financial, Indianapolis, IN
Objective Statement
Credit Analyst with 2 years of work experience seeks to become the new Credit Analyst of First National Bank of Indianapolis. It is my goal to become an Investment Banker for your highly respected company.
Strengths/Special Skills
- Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting
- Knowledgeable in various computer programs – MS Office, FreshBooks, and QuickBooks
- Meticulous, detail-oriented approach to work
- Excellent communication skills
- Keenly aware of timelines and deadlines
Work Experience
Credit Analyst – 2018 to Present
Myrtle and Franck Financial; Indianapolis, IN
Responsibilities:
- Review the documents submitted by the applicants including the project feasibility studies, market overview, financial statements, and company profile for corporate loans.
- Conduct further research to validate the information presented by the applicants in the documents.
- Contact the applicant or the representative of the company to confirm the figures stated in the documents.
- Perform due diligence; investigate the credit and financial history of the applicant.
- Track the progress of the application with reference to the timeline.
- Prepare a report and a formal recommendation to the stakeholders of Myrtle and Franck Financial.
Loan Officer – 2015 to 2018
Metro Indiana Savings and Loan Bank; Indianapolis, IN
Responsibilities
- Meet with loan applicants and conduct a preliminary interview.
- Provide loan applicants with the list of loan requirements.
- Receive the documents from the loan applicants; assess if these are acceptable and complete.
- Submit the completed and approved documents to the Credit Analyst for a thorough review.
- Liaise with the applicants to keep them informed of the status of their loan application.
Education
College
Bachelor’s Degree
Accounting
Butler University
Indianapolis, IN
2011 to 2015
High School
Herron High School
Indianapolis, IN
2007 to 2011
How To Write A Good Credit Analyst Resume
Banks review and process loan applications every day. These could be loans from businesses or individuals. The bank takes a risk every time it approves a loan. Thus, it’s important that all applications are thoroughly analyzed. The same can be said for your resume. A good Credit Analyst resume is one that tells the recruiter you are qualified for the position.
Highlight Your Academic Qualifications
Along with adequate work experience as a Credit Analyst, banks and other financial institutions will prefer candidates with a college degree in a related field such as Economics, Business Management, or Accounting.
Even if you don’t have work experience, having a degree in a 4-year course will get your application considered.
Use the Reverse-Chronological Format
If you have at least one year of work experience as a Credit Analyst, use the reverse-chronological format for your resume.
Recruiters prefer the reverse-chronological format because it makes resumes easier to review.
Simply present the information in the work experience and education sections in reverse-chronological order – starting from your most recent experience before moving back to the earliest but relevant period.
The standard format for the reverse-chronological is as follows:
- Contact Information
- Objective Statement
- Strengths
- Work Experience
- Education
- Certifications, if any
Write a Comprehensive Work Experience Section
In a later section of this article, we will teach you how to write a work experience section that will move your application ahead of the pack.
It’s worth mentioning at this point the importance of writing a comprehensive work experience section – with details that tell the recruiter, “This applicant knows the job of a Credit Analyst very well.”
Present a Professional-Looking Resume
What do we mean by a “professional-looking resume”?
A professional-looking resume is one that makes the reader focus on the content and not be distracted by the peripherals. To be professional is to emphasize substance over image.
Here are 5 tips on how to write a professional-looking resume:
- Use simple but proven effective font styles such as Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Cambria, and Times New Roman.
- Keep your resume organized by using bullet-points to summarize information.
- Use headers to identify the sections of your resume.
- Highlight the headers in Bold Face.
- Keep your sentences short and descriptions concise.
Credit Analyst Skills List
Banks receive applications from businesses that need money for expansion purposes. Extending a loan is not only about giving financial assistance. If the expansion plan becomes successful, the bank generates income from the interest it charges the business. A good Credit Analyst can help the bank generate regular streams of revenue if he has the right skills for the job.
What should be on the Credit Analyst skills list?
Good With Numbers
For a Credit Analyst, numbers are a second language. The best ones are very comfortable working with numbers. It’s very important for a Credit Analyst to have a solid understanding of basic Accounting principles specifically:
- Ratio Analysis
- Financial Statements
- Statistics
Proficient with Technology
MS Excel will be a tool-of-the-trade. It will be a good idea to learn more than just the basics of Excel. Knowing how to sort and plotting financial models is great. But learning the program’s advanced features such as Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and pivot tables will certainly raise a lot of recruiters’ eyebrows.
Detail Oriented
With thousands or even millions of dollars on the table, you can’t afford to become sloppy on the job. To arrive at the best decision, you have to take a detail-oriented approach to your work as a Credit Analyst.
Before preparing a report, review the numbers again with a fine-toothed comb. Of course, mistakes can still happen. But you mitigate the risks if you are meticulous in going over the information.
Business Acumen
It’s highly unlikely that you will come across a pessimistic feasibility study. Yes, the company applying for the business loan will include risk factors but chances are these will be understated.
Having good business acumen will help you navigate through the “marketing stuff” and see the real story.
You will have an idea of how the industry is performing and see if the figures provided by the applicant are realistic or optimistic. You will know if the stated purposes of the loan are above-board or purely semantics.
Excellent Communication Skills
As a Credit Analyst, you should have the ability to translate numbers into words and come up with a recommendation the stakeholders can understand. The bank wants to know if it should issue the loan and why.
Although the stakeholders are experienced bankers themselves, your recommendations are best received when they are articulated clearly. Likewise, you must be a good listener and have the ability to respond clearly to questions regarding your recommendation.
Ability to Manage Stress
The job of a Credit Analyst can be very stressful. You may have a good number of applications to study and tight deadlines to deal with.
If you can manage stress, you will be able to maintain focus and remain diligent in reviewing and studying the numbers.
Credit Analyst Duties And Responsibilities For The Work Experience Section
For your work experience section, you have to take the recruiter to a day in your life as a Credit Analyst. What’s the best way to present your Credit Analyst duties and responsibilities?
Be Specific – Identify Each Task
A Credit Analyst’s list of duties and responsibilities can exceed a laundry list. Recruiters are well aware of this because it takes quite a bit of work to thoroughly review a loan application.
When writing down your duties and responsibilities, touch on every task. Don’t leave anything out. Be as specific as possible. As mentioned, being detail-oriented is an important skill. Your work experience section will be proof of that.
Consider the Chronological Approach
To create that “day-in-the-life” feel, you can consider applying the chronological approach. This will be effective if your typical day is tightly structured.
For example:
- Review the timelines of the loan applications on the pipeline.
- Prioritize the loan applications that have upcoming deadlines.
- Review the figures and studies that were submitted by the applicants.
- Analyze the information and perform studies to verify the figures.
- Conduct phone calls or send out emails to relevant third parties that could shed light on the veracity of the figures sent by the applicant.
- Contact the applicant to verify or clarify some information.
- Prepare a report or a recommendation based on the results of the analysis.
Keep Your Job Descriptions Short But To The Point
As you noticed from the previous section, the job descriptions are short but to the point. They are very easy to understand. When writing your resume, keep the recruiter in mind.
HR Officers and recruiters don’t spend a lot of time on a resume. They prefer to scan its contents – looking for keywords and phrases that are associated with the nature of the job. Don’t give them a migraine by coming up with complicated job descriptions.
Give an Idea of Your Methodology
Another approach that may generate interest in your Credit Analyst resume is to give the recruiter an idea of your methodology. This will give the recruiter an insight into how you might perform on the job.
For example:
- Conduct research on the industry of the applicant; take note of trends, developments, and the pain points the industry is facing.
- Study the figures submitted by the applicant; analyze if the numbers are representative of the state of the industry, determine where the business is in relation to its main competitors.
- Research on the viability of the proposed business expansion plan; contact the company’s representative if necessary.
- Review the financial projections; run an independent study to see if the figures submitted are realistic.
- Assess the ability of the applicant to pay the amortization; review the financials particularly cash flow and projected income statements.
- Study the history of the company’s performance over the last 2 years.
Again, keep the job descriptions short but to the point.
Entry Level Credit Analyst Resume
As we mentioned in the section, “How to Write a Good Credit Analyst Resume”, banks and other financial institutions will almost certainly prefer those with a 4-year college degree and with experience.
This is not a rule that’s written in stone. For sure there have been applicants with an entry-level Credit Analyst resume that got the job. If you’re one of the applicants without experience, you can still be considered for the position. All you have to do is to follow our tips outlined below.
Be Thoughtful and Strategic About Your Work Experience
If you worked in another industry that is not related to finance, don’t lose hope. The job of a Credit Analyst involves finance, yes, but there are aspects to it that you may have had experience with in your current or previous employment.
For example:
- Conducting research
- Performing data analysis
- Handling, organizing, and storing data
- Discussing your analysis with others
- Providing recommendations or courses of action
- Preparing reports
You can highlight these aspects of your current/previous employment in your work experience. The recruiter may acknowledge the similarities in experiences and still consider your application for the position.
No Work Experience? Shift to the Functional Format
If you don’t have work experience, shift to the functional format. What makes the functional format different from the reverse-chronological is that it focuses on your technical skills.
When using the functional format, the sections of your resume will be rearranged as follows:
- Contact Information
- Objective Statement
- Strengths
- Education
- Certifications, if any
- Work Experience
Include Information About Relevant Training/Learning Experiences
Did you have an internship experience at a bank assisting credit analysts? Did you take up courses in banking that covered the process of analyzing loan applications?
If so, it would be a good idea to include these experiences in your resume under the heading “Internship Programs” or “Additional Training”.
Stake Your Claim in the Objective Statement
“So why do you want to become a Credit Analyst?”
That is the question you should answer in the objective statement. There are a multitude of jobs available at a bank, why Credit Analyst?
Are you using the opportunity to launch a career in investment banking?
Do you want to follow the footsteps of your father or mother who is a Credit Analyst?
Is this a job you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time?
There is only one rule when using the objective statement to stake your claim to the position – be honest. A recruiter loves a good story but he can tell if you’re sincere or not.
If the job market for Credit Analysts remains tight, don’t worry. Put off the job search. Review your qualifications. You can use the time to sign up for courses that may increase the viability of your resume.
