# Private Credit CV Template

**Prepared for an Ares Management application.**
The guidance below is the same for every firm. What changes is what you put in it, and the
Ares Management guide at https://privatedebtinterview.com/ares.svg-interview is where to work that out.

One page. ATS-readable. Built for a lending seat, which is not the same document as a deal seat.

The difference matters more than people expect. A buyout CV argues that you can find and win a
company. A credit CV argues that you can size a risk, structure around it, and be right about
whether the money comes back. Same transactions, different claim.

---

## The layout

Plain text, single column, no tables, no columns, no text boxes, no headshot, no logos, no icons.
Every one of those breaks a parser, and the first reader is a parser. Save as PDF unless the posting
asks for Word. Name the file `Surname_Firstname_CV.pdf`.

```
FIRSTNAME SURNAME
City · +country phone · email · linkedin.com/in/handle
Work authorisation, one clause, only if it is not obvious from the above

EDUCATION
Institution — Degree, subject                                        Month Year – Month Year
  Grade in the local convention, plus the equivalent if you are applying across a border
  Two lines maximum: a relevant thesis, a scholarship, a quantitative module that earns its place

EXPERIENCE
Firm — Team, Title                                       City        Month Year – Month Year
  Four to six bullets. See the bullet rule below.
  Most recent role gets the most bullets. Earlier roles compress to two.

Firm — Team, Title                                       City        Month Year – Month Year
  Two to three bullets.

SKILLS AND INTERESTS
  Modelling and data: what you can actually build, unhedged
  Languages: language (level, using a named framework, not "fluent")
  Interests: three, specific, true, and answerable for two minutes
```

---

## The bullet rule

**Every bullet names a transaction, your role in it, and what your work changed.**

The structure that survives scrutiny:

> [Action verb] [the analytical object] on a [size] [instrument] to a [sector] borrower, [what it
> revealed], [what happened as a result].

Worked examples:

- **Weak:** "Assisted with due diligence on leveraged finance transactions."
- **Better:** "Built the debt schedule and covenant model on a €180m unitranche to a European
  facilities-services borrower; identified that the sponsor's synergy add-backs carried no
  time limit, which moved opening leverage from 4.8x to 5.4x on a like-for-like basis."

- **Weak:** "Supported portfolio monitoring across 12 credits."
- **Better:** "Ran quarterly covenant compliance across 12 sponsor-backed credits; flagged an
  interest cover trending toward its 2.0x test two quarters ahead of breach, which gave the deal
  team time to negotiate rather than react."

**What earns a bullet in credit specifically.** Interviewers are reading for these, so name them
where they are true:

- A **structure** you worked on, by instrument: unitranche, senior, second lien, mezzanine, PIK,
  a delayed-draw facility, a revolver.
- A **document** you actually read: a credit agreement, an intercreditor deed, a term sheet.
  "Reviewed the EBITDA definition and the restricted payments basket" is a stronger line than any
  adjective.
- A **downside case** you built, with the stress named. Not "performed sensitivity analysis".
- A **covenant** you set, tested or renegotiated, with the ratio and the level.
- A **recovery or workout** you touched, and what the outcome was.
- A **credit committee paper** you drafted or presented, and whether the deal went ahead.

---

## What to cut

- Adjectives about yourself. "Highly motivated", "detail-oriented", "team player". A reader
  discounts all of them and they cost you two lines.
- A summary or objective paragraph at the top. It says nothing the rest of the page does not.
- Deal lists with no role attached. "Exposure to €4bn of transactions" is not a claim about you.
- Software you have opened once. Naming a tool invites a question about it.
- References available on request. Assumed.
- Anything you cannot talk about for three minutes under pressure. Every line is a licence to ask.

---

## The screen this document has to pass

Before you send it, check each of these honestly:

1. **Does every bullet contain a number?** Size, leverage, coverage, spread, count, or time.
   A credit CV without numbers is arguing the wrong case.
2. **Would a reader know which side of the table you sat on?** Arranging debt, advising on it,
   rating it and holding it are four different jobs. Say which.
3. **Is the most credit-relevant thing you have ever done in the top third of the page?** If it is
   in the third bullet of the second role, move it.
4. **Can you defend every instrument you name?** If you write "intercreditor", expect to be asked
   what the standstill period was.
5. **Is it one page?** Two pages at analyst or associate level reads as an inability to prioritise,
   which is the job.
6. **Does it parse?** Copy the whole PDF, paste it into a plain text editor. If the order scrambles
   or characters drop, the parser saw what you just saw.

---

## Coming from a background that is not leveraged finance

The gap is different depending on where you sit, and the CV should close yours explicitly.

| Coming from | What already transfers | What the CV has to prove |
|---|---|---|
| Leveraged finance | The debt schedule, the documents, the sponsor dialogue | That you can hold a credit for five years, not distribute it in five weeks |
| Restructuring | Capital structure, recoveries, negotiation under stress | That you can underwrite a performing business, not only fix a broken one |
| Bank credit or corporate banking | Credit discipline, covenant monitoring, committee process | Speed, sponsor fluency, and comfort with leverage above bank levels |
| Debt advisory or transaction services | Diligence, quality of earnings, add-back scrutiny | That you can take a view and commit capital, not only advise |
| Buyout or growth equity | Diligence depth, sponsor economics, modelling | That you think about downside first and are content with a capped return |

Pick the row that is yours and make sure at least two bullets on the page answer the right-hand
column directly. That is the single highest-return edit on this document.

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*Free from Private Credit Interview Prep. No sign-up, no email required.*
*The firm guides at privatedebtinterview.com are where you work out what to put in it.*