I remember when I started working full time in banking and witnessed for the first time how bankers actually look at CVs of potential interns and graduates.At the time, I was a graduate trainee on the corporate bond trading desk at a major UK bank and I was only a few months in. I noticed a colleague a few seats away from me looking at CVs of potential interns he was about to interview and browsing through them at lightspeed while having the occasional giggle. I approached him and we had a look at the CVs together.I remember reading back when I was applying for banking internships that recruiters will look at your CV for 30 seconds, so you have to highlight your strengths clearly because that is all the time you get. Now, the reality is you have a lot less than 30 seconds to convince someone to give you an interview. It is actually more like 10-20 seconds, on a good day.Bankers will look at three things, and I can attest to this, as later on in my career I also screened CVs of interns and graduates and interviewed them.What university you go to and what you are studying.Where you previously interned or what work experience you have.Anything that makes you stand out - often something in the personal interests section.The first is pretty standard. By the time your CV has passed through HR, and landed in the inbox of an actual hiring manager, your CV will most likely state that you are at a top tier university and are studying a relevant subject such as mathematics, finance, economics or another science.The second is an area where you can already differentiate yourself. If you have previous internship experience this will be looked upon highly. If you don’t, it will get tricky, and you need to make sure you have previous work experience that stands out positively. But most CVs that make it to hiring managers will have at least one strong internship experience on them.The third point is the one that matters the most. The third point is really the only area where you can stand out and differentiate yourself. Once, the hiring manager has gone through what university you are at, what you are studying and where you have previously interned he or she will briefly look if there is anything interesting on your CV.Quite frankly, CVs are all pretty much the same. All CVs I have seen, that have been filtered by HR, were from students from a top tier university, studying a relevant subject with at least one strong internship experience. So, the only way to really stand out is to have an interesting personal interest or an exotic language, such as mandarin, that will make you stand out as a candidate.Examples of things I have seen that have made candidates stand out: a non-Chinese person who spoke fluent mandarin, under 18s national kickboxing champion, national youth chess champion and work experience as a dating coach.So, when you are applying for an internship or graduate position be aware that most hiring managers will look at your CV for only a few seconds so make sure you highlight your strong points and have that one thing that makes you stand out from the masses of Oxbridge clones.