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How I used LinkedIn to get Interviews and Land Offers
 

Count Drachma's picture
IB
(Orangutan, 263
 
Points)
 on 1/27/13 at 3:00pm
Linkedin-Job-Search.png

Hey Guys,

Been using this site for a while now and figured it would be beneficial for me to give back a bit. For starters, I thought I would detail my experiences using linkedin and cold emails to land a summer offer.

Coming from a semi-target undergrad b-school, I had my hands full. Nonetheless, it all worked out for the best and I'll be at a top tier BB (GS/MS/JPM) this summer for IBD.

- I first decided to set aside a huge chunk of time to look up possible contacts.
- Hours upon hours I searched the web/linkedin/google/etc

Where to begin...

Create an excel sheet / access table / word document and start writing down every bank, consulting firm, investment firm you know of or wouldn't mind working for. I wrote down most BB and MM banks since IBD was target. After your list is complete, I went through my list and would type "School Name + Firm Name + LinkedIn" into google. Coming from a semi-target I would only get a handful or so people, which was manageable. I would then change my college to my high school in the search (or hometown, etc). I would open each person's page and figure out if they were relevant to my job search and if we had any "small world" type connections to talk about if we ever spoke. I kept track of everyone and eventually had a list of 200 hundred people at 50 or so banks. If you feel uncomfortable about these individuals seeing that you viewed their profile make yourself invisible in the settings or disable cookies and if you click on the linkedin in google you will not be signed in.

Also, I joined as many relevant groups on linkedin as I could, and would spend the time to go through the entire members list.

With my list complete, I used WSO to find the correct email formats for these people and after finding each individuals email, I began my cold emailing. I created a very generic email that all I needed to do was change the firm's name and the division I was interested in (IBD/S&T/PE/IM/Consulting/etc/). For example...

Dear Mr./Mrs. XXXXXXX (even if they graduated last year - always show respect),

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is XXXXXXX, a junior finance major at XXXXX and have developed an interest in XXXXXXXX. I was wondering if you had some time to speak on the phone within the next few weeks to discuss your experiences in XXXXXXX and any suggestions you may have as I approach this year's recruiting season. I have attached my resume for context and look forward to speaking with you soon.

I would sometimes make it a little more customized if they were some BSD, but also made sure to include my resume to show them that I was worth their time.

I received a 50% response rate by people more than willing to help and they usually commented on my resume, which is why I think that it is important to include. Nevertheless, they know what I want so there is no need to hide it. Also don't be discouraged, I would be emailed by MDs weeks later and they would apologize, saying they were traveling and couldn't reply promptly.

Either way, the networking is up to you but I owe my success to networking. Although these individuals were important and could pull weight, they did not contribute for the most part to OCR, which meant it was all on me.

With hard work comes luck!

Tags:
Count Drachma's picture

Sorry for the length...

IB
(Orangutan, 263
 
Points)
 on 5/21/12 at 4:49pm

Sorry for the length...

GetOnTop's picture

Soooo this led to an offer

AM
(Baboon, 132
 
Points)
 on 5/21/12 at 5:12pm

Soooo this led to an offer how? I get that you got a 50% response rate, that's great, but I'm assuming they didn't just reply saying, "Hi XXXX, I like your initiative, here's a job offer!"

swagon's picture

Count Drachma: my resume,

EN
(Neanderthal, 2,973
 
Points)
 on 5/21/12 at 5:24pm
Count Drachma:

my resume, which is why I think that it is important to include. Nevertheless, they know what I want so there is no need to hide it.

yo mane, this aspect of networking into IB is hotly debated, and I think the issue will never be settled. but most peeps done told me don't attach it, and to take the advice approach and steer clear of hinting at recruiting, at least at first. gucci.

Count Drachma's picture

As I said, networking got me

IB
(Orangutan, 263
 
Points)
 on 5/21/12 at 5:30pm

As I said, networking got me to the next steps in the process... an interview. Not sure if you would like me to go over how to dial the phone and talk to someone. Also not sure if you want me to go over each interview question and my answers.

So to answer your question. This led to an offer by my contacts liking me, seeing my drive, and finding out I'm a sociable smart kid. I then was referred for an interview. Then a superday. Then an offer. Didn't think I needed to walk through the interview process.

The point of my post was to provide new monkeys with an idea on how to begin their networking. This worked for me, and I hope it works for others.

GetOnTop's picture

Count Drachma: As I said,

AM
(Baboon, 132
 
Points)
 on 5/21/12 at 5:47pm
Count Drachma:

As I said, networking got me to the next steps in the process... an interview.

No, you didn't say that in your post. You said:

Count Drachma:

Although these individuals were important and could pull weight, they did not contribute for the most part to OCR, which meant it was all on me

Lol, I'm just busting your balls man there's no need to get pissy. Clearly you asked them what kind of skills the company was looking for, how you could optimize your resume for their recruiting, firm-specific stuff that would help you in the interview, etc., but your post makes it sound like simply using Google to send cold emails landed you a good internship.

energyanalyst's picture

Nice post, thanks for sharing

O
(Orangutan, 307
 
Points)
 on 5/21/12 at 6:09pm

Nice post, thanks for sharing this

A

socola2003's picture

ask for advice, get a job ask

IB
(Orangutan, 335
 
Points)
 on 5/21/12 at 6:11pm

ask for advice, get a job
ask for a job, get advice.

Congrats on the offer.

Rambo's picture

One other thing I would

(Baboon, 150
 
Points)
 on 5/21/12 at 8:14pm

One other thing I would mention about LinkedIn: It's a lot easier for the person to take note of your message. When you send it to their work e-mail, it might get lost among the hundreds of others of messages. For LinkedIn, however, your message might be the only one in their inbox.

Good job on the 50% response rate. I noticed it too that my LinkedIn response rate is exponentially higher than me e-mail response rate.

Fanz's picture

Good article. I recently

(Chimp, 1
 
Points)
 on 5/21/12 at 10:05pm

Good article. I recently lost my job and have been struggling in the tough market.

http://www.fightmuseumlv.com

JDimon's picture

nice post

(Orangutan, 252
 
Points)
 on 5/21/12 at 10:43pm

nice post

There is already a book on you. That book is already being written. And if I talked to your friends, your teachers, your professionals, your family, I would know so much about you I wouldn't even have to meet you. You write the book the way you want to be

hot1590's picture

When I cold emailed as a

 
Points)
 on 5/21/12 at 11:45pm

When I cold emailed as a sophomore, I was straight up front and attached my resume. Within 40 emails and 20% response rate I got an internship at a boutique. FYI, I go to a semi target, 3.7 gpa. Now, when I asked people for an advice on cold-emailing, those who haven't done it told me to ask for an informational interview first. On the other hand, those who had success with this told me to just ask for it and send your resume. I guess this wouldn't have worked if my gpa was low/my school name wasn't as reputable, which could mean your cold-emailing content really comes down to how competent you are.
In conclusion, congrats.

KKS's picture

Nice post. I am doing the

IB
(Gorilla, 643
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 12:16am

Nice post. I am doing the same right now. Did you ever find any contacts whose e-mail address does not match the format on WSO? I keep running into this.

Count Drachma's picture

Some firms include middle

IB
(Orangutan, 263
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 12:30am

Some firms include middle initials which kind of screws everything up. Additionally, older employees that were at a bank or firm for a long time might have an old email from a pre-merger. This happened to me for JPM.

If that happens, I would re-search on WSO or simply used Linkedin and ask that they reply to my note to my email address. That would force them to use their email to send me one.

rothyman's picture

Great post & congrats on the

HF
(King Kong, 1,163
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 12:35am

Great post & congrats on the offer.

I find LinkedIn to be great for networking in general.. whether you're looking for advice, a job, or just building your sales funnel. If you're doing any of those things, I recommend upgrading so you can get some INmails as well.

Either way, when you're networking to find a job or whatever have you, you're basically doing sales. You're either selling yourself or a product. And one of the big secrets to selling is that sales=a long series of Yeses. For instance, when someone accepts and Inmail and answers your question, that's a Yes. When this person agrees to give you advice, that's another Yes. When they agree to take a phone call to talk with you, another Yes. They agree to meet up in person, and that's yet another Yes.. and so on until you ultimately reach your goal.

Moral of the story, it's vital to not rush the sale. You shouldn't be expecting an offer via Linkedin message. . but you can expect to move along to the next steps. I think the OP said this as well.

To answer the question above, I find a lot of high level execs tend to change the format. For instance, since they may be BSDs they may just change it to [email protected] or something like that.

blindthoht's picture

Great post and

CO
(Monkey, 35
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 2:35am

Great post and congrats!
Thanks for your share of the story. On the other hand, it's amazing what you can get when you combine motivation and Google.

couldn't let go of my pair of aces...

Powa23's picture

Thank you, that was super

(Orangutan, 291
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 2:41am
Mr. Hansen's picture

Nice post. I've also became

(Gorilla, 519
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 6:17am
Anacott_CEO's picture

I don't think this warrants a

CF
(King Kong, 1,259
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 6:24am
Oscar_chow's picture

Thanks that email format is

 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 7:33am
GetOnTop's picture

Anacott_CEO: I don't think

AM
(Baboon, 132
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 9:17am
Count Drachma's picture

FYI - wasn't me GetOnTop.

IB
(Orangutan, 263
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 9:42am
Gunther's picture

Thanks Drachma. This was very

CO
(Chimp, 15
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 10:46am
Ricqles's picture

this was what i did back in

O
(King Kong, 1,270
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 11:07am
j.park12's picture

Nice post. Certainly reminded

ST
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 11:43am

-J. Park.

Johnny Ringo's picture

swagon: Count Drachma: my

HF
 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 11:47am

Eventus stultorum magister.

CoochieMane's picture

Good hustle, mane.

 
Points)
 on 5/22/12 at 3:50pm
SlikRick's picture

Used the same tactics to

CO
 
Points)
 on 5/23/12 at 3:00pm
tyrets's picture

This is a great post and

ST
 
Points)
 on 5/25/12 at 10:18am
Probabilitypossibility's picture

50% response rate? you must

(Monkey, 34
 
Points)
 on 5/25/12 at 2:00pm

I used to be indecisive, now I'm just not sure.

monkey in suit's picture

great post man...Linkedin is

(Monkey, 51
 
Points)
 on 5/27/12 at 11:34am
Chazz Reinhold's picture

Did any of you guys pay to

EN
(Orangutan, 262
 
Points)
 on 5/28/12 at 2:00pm

Damn you Rodger!

My WSO Blog

rothyman's picture

SynergyWeek: Did any of you

HF
(King Kong, 1,163
 
Points)
 on 5/28/12 at 6:37pm
mhurricane's picture

In.

 
Points)
 on 5/29/12 at 10:42am

The difference between successful people and others is largely a habit - a controlled habit of doing every task better, faster and more efficiently.

MonyetProboscis's picture

Thanks for the post and

(Chimp, 8
 
Points)
 on 5/30/12 at 11:32am
hopesanddreams's picture

Sorry to bump an old thread

(Orangutan, 329
 
Points)
 on 6/13/12 at 9:11am
JimmyDnFFX's picture

I've run into mixed results

O
(Baboon, 138
 
Points)
 on 7/24/12 at 3:46pm

80% of life is just showing up

-Woody Allen-

JimmyDnFFX's picture

Thanks to OP btw for the

O
(Baboon, 138
 
Points)
 on 7/24/12 at 3:47pm

80% of life is just showing up

-Woody Allen-

huanleshalemei's picture

weird, my linkedin message

(Gorilla, 518
 
Points)
 on 7/24/12 at 4:18pm

The Auto Show

doublemint's picture

very good suggestions. Thanks

(Chimp, 1
 
Points)
 on 7/24/12 at 9:23pm
BTbanker's picture

For a second there I though

IB
 
Points)
 on 1/27/13 at 4:17pm

"A man generally has two reasons for doing anything. One that sounds good, and the real one." - J.P. Morgan

AnalystMonkey2769's picture

I did the same thing but for

IB
(Gorilla, 505
 
Points)
 on 1/27/13 at 8:16pm

I don't throw darts at a board. I bet on sure things. Read Sun-tzu, The Art of War. Every battle is won before it is ever fought- GG

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