Case Competition Experience on Resume
Hi everyone,
I’m updating my resume for upcoming recruiting and have a quick question about formatting. My team recently placed in the finals of a major university stock pitch/case competition, and I’m trying to figure out the best way to list it without taking up too much real estate.
Does this usually go under a dedicated "Projects/Competitions" section, or should I just put it under my university in the "Education" section?
Also, how many bullet points are standard for something like this? I want to highlight the specific valuation and modeling work we did since it's relevant to the roles I'm targeting, but I also know reviewers don't want to read a novel about a short-term competition.
Any advice on the cleanest way to structure this would be appreciated. Thanks!
To effectively showcase your case competition experience on your resume, here’s the best approach based on the most helpful WSO content:
Section Placement:
Bullet Points:
Active Language:
Formatting:
By structuring it this way, you’ll highlight the competition’s relevance to finance roles while keeping your resume clean and impactful.
Sources: Case Competition on Resume, Investment Banking Resume Template - Official WSO CV Example, Filtering resumes - what I looked for when screening 200+ resumes
I’ve screened CVs for consulting and banking, and a competition final is worth putting on, so don’t undersell it.
Where it goes: it depends on what else you have:
I wouldn’t create a separate “Projects/Competitions” section for one entry. A section with a single item looks like padding.
How many bullets: one, two at most. The placement and the size of the field do most of the work, so put them first. “Finalist” means a lot more with “top 5 of 80 teams” next to it. After that, one bullet on the actual work, as specific as you can make it:
Name the method, the company and your call. “DCF and comps arguing 25% upside” tells them you can do the work, and gives the interviewer something to ask you about. Expect them to ask, so know your numbers.
If you were the one who built the model rather than the slides, make the bullet say so. Screeners read “we” bullets as “someone on the team did this”.
If you want a second pair of eyes on the rest of it, I put together a tool that checks CVs against what bank and consulting screeners look for: eightsecondcv.com. Full disclosure, it’s mine. Happy to answer anything here too.
I have all competitions even if I didn’t place at the top of my resume and it produces a positive comment at almost every interview a couple years out of undergrad
How do you speak about them, especially if you did not place?
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