Ummm... most of your ideas are not very good, especially the 'just walk onto the floor' and annoy people who don't know you or give a rats ass about you.

You're better off trying use the firms social networks. Many BB harp on 'internal mobility', see if they have a network/mentoring program setup. Also, scour the internal firm wide directory for people (senior people) to contact. Even better if you can search for specific terms (i.e. someone from your school, or someone's who lists their pasts experience in the back office).

99% of people will probably ignore you... so e-mailing the most effective means of communication since you can boil down the few that will actually give you the time of day.

No random calls or emails. Luckily I fly under the radar since I haven't made it rain at the Bank but even if I did, if some college kid looked me up, I would forward the email to HR and ask to have my email alias changed lol

^ true story. A friend of mine worked in PWM at a BB and emailed his HR contact & BUM letting them know that he was interested in speaking with a few bankers at the bank. She hooked him up with several contacts and meetings. Never underestimate HR, especially since they all know one another

Thats why you don't e-mail junior guys and stick to the MDs. Cuz the junior guys are all shit stains. And they can't do shit for you.

Although thats not limited to junior guys. I know someone who e-mailed someone else in the firm in another division looking for a job and the MD looked up the guy's MD, FWD'ed the email to him with something along the lines of "you might want to keep your people in check, they don't seem to be too happy and I don't appreciate being solicited for a job by your people. There are appropriate channels for hiring and the company directory is not one of them."

Obviously the guy was a major dick, but just a word of caution.

F*ck that guy.

This is great.

When reaching out to people, try to bring something to the table. I work in an area that is quite hot at the moment, and a few times a month I get requests on linked in asking if I can talk to them and give them advice, etc. The first few times I was flattered and took them up on it and even spoke with them for about a half hour each, but it quickly got annoying, especially since it seems that some of these guys are just wannabes with dollar signs in their eyes and no skills that are applicable whatsoever.

So what to bring to the table if you don't really have anything to offer professionally? Offer to meet them after work and buy them a beer or maybe even breakfast/lunch (control costs by you picking the place). I will be a lot more likely to talk to you if I am getting something out of it as well (in case you were wondering, I always enjoy beer, especially free beer, and I think everyone except the prickiest nose-in-the-air MD that will only drink veuve cliquot dripping off some fake tatas at 1Oak does too).

I hear you saying "but I am a college student/recent grad, I don't have any money!" It takes money to make money, and while I don't recommend you get in credit card debt to do this, a few beers shouldn't bust your budget and the upside potential is well worth it. Keep in mind that time is money, and even if the guy in question is only pulling 45-50 hour weeks, he would rather be home hanging out w/ his signifcant other, dog, friends or xbox than you.

@Beastly. I think this user is asking if it's good to read the news for the latest rainmakers, figure out their bank's email aliases and email them directly. IE Figuring out Andrew Halls Citi email and contacting him. Personally I don't find that a good idea. Now if it's looking someone up internally, that is completely different because it's much less invasive.

Question to the OP:

How are you a junior at a non-target all the while working in back-office at a BB??

You know I like where your coming from. I'd be a little more conservative with your approach. Don't straight cold call / email people. Instead make connections/network your way in. Find your target person (the MD). Ask one of his associate to lunch. Let them know you are interested. Ask about the MD. Ask if it's ok if you talk to the MD.

Ask the MD to lunch or a quick coffee. Tell him that he came up in a conversation with his associate. Do this w/ a few different MDs and if you hit it off w/ one or two you are in. Also, this method assumes that you know your shit and can talk banking enough to not embarrass yourself during the coffee run.

This is a ridiculous example. I cannot think of anyone who would ever do this.

I "crashed" target school cocktail parties of nearby schools, when I was at non-target. (went to UMASS, got my job via Smith College--all girls school, i'm not a girl). Then again, this was 10 years ago but ended up in SSB (pre Citi name change) Telecom banking, #1 on wall street at the time.

Also, make friends with people who run other school's career centers, that was key in my case as well.

+1. Another good approach.

There's nothing wrong with using the official lines you have open to you. Maybe you are nervous your manager will find out and there will be an awkward conversation. If that is the case, you might not be able to come off as aggressive enough in a front-office interview, yet. When you're willing to take a moderate but calculated risk to try and get into the front office, you can probably at least check off the "aggressiveness" box on the requirements for the job.

FWIW, I went for an internal transfer from middle-office to front-office. My manager wasn't always one of the open and straightforward types- he held his cards very close to his vest and I was terrified of him finding out. He figured out what was going on while I was in the middle of interviews, but didn't make a big deal of it- he actually offered to bump my pay if I didn't get the transfer and wanted to stay! And yes, I did finally get the offer- though I've got two years of experience on you and had a lot of friends at the VP and SVP level in the middle-office pulling for me. :D

If it doesn't work out now, that's OK- it doesn't mean you'll never be cut out for trading, research, or IBD- it just means you're not ready at this very moment. When I was 21, I was barely cut out to be an analytics guy let alone a trading strategies guy. As you grow older, wiser, and more confident in your abilities, you'll interview a lot better. And having a cash cushion built up makes it a lot easier to be brave.

Definitely agree on not underestimating HR. Last year, I was able to get a one week informal program shadowing different desks on a BB trading floor simply because a woman in HR liked me and hooked me up when I couldn't attend their formal spring program. You'd be surprised how much power some people in HR have, especially when some of them came from IBD/S&T but moved to HR for a better lifestyle.

People say I'm a nice guy to work with. But if I were always getting calls from people at random private schools asking for a job, it would get annoying fast. And frankly, people who are TOO ambitious sometimes make me a little nervous. Sometimes I wonder if they've also bought into the whole mess about "If you're not cheating, you're not trying hard enough."

There's a very fine line between showing some initiative and irritating people or making them nervous. Two years of living in NYC and dealing with panhandlers on a daily basis has made a lot of us more jaded than we should be, so just be careful about your approach. It's best if you try and go through the regular channels-that way, the person on the other end of the line will be a lot more likely to want to help you.

There's smart people everywhere, but Smith isn't necessarily considered a target school by many banks. (Frankly, I think the school targeting system is a huge waste, but I am still in the small but growing minority.)

Finding alumni from your university is a significantly more productive approach - if you're from a non-target, the alumns are much more sympathetic to your situation & willing to talk to you or point you in the right direction. You can get their names through the career center... along with their place of employment, title, etc. They're pretty much setting themselves up to be stalked. It doesn't matter if you've left school already -- career centers are there to help alumni too.