Resume Annex
Finance & Banking

How to Format Your Resume for FIS

FIS runs Workday, iCIMS, or Avature as its applicant tracking system and processes extremely high — campus and lateral pipelines run year round. That means the same rules apply here as at every high-volume employer — but with a few specifics worth knowing before you submit. This guide covers what FIS recruiters actually look for, what they screen out automatically, and how to format your resume so it makes it past the first cut.

Typical ATS
Workday, iCIMS, or Avature
Hiring volume
extremely high — campus and lateral pipelines run year round
Sector
Finance & Banking

What FIS recruiters scan for

Across FIS job postings, three signals show up consistently: credentials and licenses, transaction sheets and quantified P&L impact, and technical specializations. Your resume should make each of these obvious within five seconds of skimming — that is the budget you have at this stage.

  • credentials and licenses
  • transaction sheets and quantified P&L impact
  • technical specializations

How to format your resume

FIS resumes that perform well share four format properties. They are reverse-chronological, single-column, in a parseable font (Calibri, Arial, or Helvetica), and saved as a text-based PDF (not an image PDF and not a Word document). Keep the layout boring. Save the personality for the cover letter and the interview loop.

Do
  • Open with a 2-3 sentence summary that explicitly positions you for the role at FIS, including the title.
  • Use single-column layout. Most Workday parsers misread two-column resumes.
  • Lead each bullet with a strong action verb and end with a measurable result.
  • Spell out acronyms once, then use the acronym. FIS recruiters scan against both forms.
  • Keep the file size under 1 MB and avoid embedded images.
Don't
  • Do not use a graphic header, photo, or icons. They are stripped and may break field parsing.
  • Do not use tables or text boxes for the experience section.
  • Do not list every job since college. Last 10-15 years is the bar at FIS.
  • Do not mass-apply with the same resume. FIS recruiters can see (and discount) duplicate-pattern submissions.
  • Do not pad the summary with adjectives — recruiters at FIS are scanning for facts.

Sample summary opener

A summary that performs at FIS reads like the one below — title-first, outcome-loaded, and free of filler adjectives.

FIS-ready financial analyst with 6+ years of experience driving measurable outcomes in finance & banking environments. Track record of [insert your strongest 2-bullet outcomes here]. Comfortable owning ambiguous problems end-to-end and partnering with cross-functional stakeholders.

Frequently asked questions

What ATS does FIS use?

FIS runs Workday, iCIMS, or Avature. The exact configuration varies by team, but the core parsing rules are the same: machine-readable, single-column, text-based PDF.

How long should my resume be for a role at FIS?

One page if you have under 10 years of experience, two pages if senior. FIS recruiters report that resumes longer than two pages are skimmed less, not more.

Does FIS require a cover letter?

Most FIS postings make the cover letter optional. Strong applicants write one anyway because it tilts the qualitative review.

Should I name-drop a FIS employee in my resume?

If the employee will refer you, ask them to do it through the official referral system. Putting their name on the resume itself does not help and can read as overreach.

How do I know if my resume is ATS-friendly for FIS?

Run it through a free ATS scoring tool. Aim for a score of 80 or higher before submitting to FIS.

Ready to apply to FIS?

Run your resume through our free ATS checker first. We score it in 10 seconds with no signup, then show you exactly what to fix.