OMFG, I can't BELIEVE IT
So, I sent out a cold-email to a really, really, really, really, really senior person at a bank. I can't emphasize enough how senior this dude is.
This guy is considered like one of, if not the most, influential person on Wall-Street.
Anyway, so I wasn't really expecting a response, but when he responded to set up a time for an informational interview, I nearly f*cking crapped my pants. I was like WTF? I thought they would never respond, and the only reason I sent an e-mail because I thought to myself "YOLO", go big or go home.
So, back to the main point of this post, should I treat this as a regular informational interview? I don't want to sound desperate, although I am.
I want to set myself up for interviews for this upcoming fall and then an internship next summer.
Please me out :)
I'm only a freshman so this is really f*cking mind-blowing.
First off, congrats. This will be a great opportunity not only to network, but also stretch your interpersonal skills. You should not sound desperate, in fact you should feel more relaxed. Just remember, the higher up they are, they more disconnected they are with the younger generation. Also remember, despite their success, they are just people too. Try to avoid any topic that is associated with "Give me a job if possible" as he mostly won't be personally bothering with entry level positions. Just chat about normal life subjects. Perhaps end it off by saying you are quite interested in the industry. Make sure you don't overdo it as I've seen lots of freshmen at networking session saying how they love finance and its their passion since they were young. (Seriously detestable behavior.)
I think the best to hope for is he will find you to be a very amicable individual and might drop name drop to the HR department for future opportunity. This is speaking from personal experience as I was also fortunate enough to grab coffee with a C-level executive at a large bank.
Cheers,
blankfein? dimon?
sweet
Obviously, I'm not going to say who it is, but, yes, someone along those lines.
you should post what you said in the email. copy paste
damn, seriously? how did you even get his email? i dont think many c-level executives have their email listed on the company website...?
Yep. I sent a short email just stating who I am, my interests in banking, and would love to get an opportunity to speak with them. Sent the e-mail at 8:00 this morning, at 2:30, I got a response and proceeded to shit my pants.
I did some stuff at his bank before. (I won't say anymore than that)
So, does anyone else have any informational interview advice with an executive of this dude's level?
OP, you said that you did some "stuff" at his bank before (I'm assuming over the summer). You also mention in your original post that you are currently only a freshman. Buddy, people who just graduated from high school don't get to do "stuff" at investment banks without having some serious connections.
My guess is that Daddy is the head of a private equity firm or hedge fund. In exchange for Daddy promising to give the investment bank in question beaucoup fees in the future, Mr. CEO is going to hook junior up with an internship for the freshman summer. Am I right?
Jealous much?
that's weird op... i sent a short email this morning at 8:00 and also got a response at 2:30...
Haha, that's a nice coincidence
Get some knee pads?
Sounds like it's too late. OP already started
@Going Concern, hahahahaha
Big mistake. You will likely blow the interview. Did this too as a freshman ( emailed someone and did not expect response). Three days later I was in their office for an informational interview. Asked to walk through Dcf and could not... Don't reach out to people unless you are prepared.
On the up side, I reached out 6 years later and got an offer.
Just be relaxed. Don't seem overly eager. Be sure to read up on the news everyday leading up to it. Know what's happening in the industry and at his firm. And most of all, relax. Take it seriously, but relax and be personable.
You'd be surprised at some of the really dick-ish shit people pull. At my previous job I attempted to make a career switch; through networking I wounded up getting an informational interview at a major firm in an international office, and their Regional HR dude called me up. He essentially INTERROGATED me before announcing I was unqualified for the role I wanted (he openly wondered how my firm, a selective one, hired me given my academic background - mind you that my undergrad, while NOT a target, has a healthy Nobel prize roster, and he went to a no-name LAC outside the Top 50). One thing is to have your ass handed to you by a front-office professional during OCR, another is to have HR use you to pretend he's a BSD. Anyhow, I decided to go back to school (to a target) and I got the job I wanted in a much more competitive location.
To the OP, assuming you're not trolling: congrats. Your balls amused the CEO. Now go prepared - the more senior people are, the more they focus on your personality and an intangible assessment of how sharp/curious/motivated you are. Do not be the annoying finance nerd, but have some sense of why this is interesting to you, beyond conformism.
What do you want to get out of this meeting? A summer job offer? Then go in and make sure you don't leave that office without getting it. And if he says something like, "I don't really handle that (which he will probably say).", ask him who does and get a name. Then email that other person and say that you got their name from the head honcho from a meeting the day before (don't wait, the other person may or may not reconfirm with head honcho that said mtg took place and head honcho might forget you in a few days) and that he told you to reach out to the other person for said job. And follow up until you get it. It's hard to put this into words, but I would go about this with the second fellow in such a confident way, like, 'I WILL be a summer analyst at XYZ company next year.'. That's kind of the mind-set you should have. But in a very nice way.
You should do this because getting that name will be harder the second you leave that office and it will be harder to get that summer analyst position as a result. And you REALLY don't want to apply via their corporate website. That's just loltastic after a mtg like that.
But relax. You'll be nervous and scared and that's okay. Who isn't at that age? They will be charmed, and older people like to mentor younger people as well. Especially in this business.
Thank him for taking the time to meet with you as well. Say it when you enter and when you leave.
And be comfortable with yourself. You had a lot of balls to write to this guy and I am sure whatever you wrote was eye-catching, or he wouldn't have taken the time to meet with you.
Maybe think of a few things you'd like to talk about as well. If you're nervous, try talking with another person who pretends to be that guy.
Also, send him a very nice thank you note after the meeting. If the mtg is in the afternoon, you can send it the next morning first thing. Like 7:15am.
Get your shoes polished as well ahead of time.
"This guy is considered like one of, if not the most, influential person on Wall-Street."
Am I honestly the only person that thinks this is obviously bullshit? Based on this description, we can narrow it down to just a few people. Would any of them seriously have time for any informational discussion with some random college freshman? Can't believe how gullible everyone is being.
Idk dude...
I don't know if I could claim "most influential people on wall street" status, but I definitely had a great phone conversation with a well known name and went back and forth via email with a higher up of a major bank. Also I have a standing coffee invite with a higher up at a smaller but well known PE company. It COULD happen.
I 100% believe him. You would be surprised of what you could get from a simple email, it comes down to 85% timing 10% luck and 5% how everything is worded. I've met with various individuals very high up (though not many through cold-emails - mostly introductions) I cold emailed and at one point met with a very very senior individual at an MBB who I still talk to this day, when we met one of the questions I asked was if he gets a lot of requests for "informational meetings"? and he straight up told me that his secretary created a file in his outlook and it has >1000 emails and told me "I wish I had more time for this - some how you got through my gatekeeper (assistant) so I am here with you today" - meeting went amazing FYI.
Anyways OP, speaking from experience they are truly normal people and if he is willing to take time out of his extremely busy day then he wants to because it is a nice break for him to have a "regular" conversation - try to stay away from a lot of work related stuff and also remember that he is very busy so make sure you keep asking if he is good with time before moving on to other questions! best of luck and keep us updated!
I agree it's very abnormal, but you'd be surprised what showing a little initiative can do with these BSDs. I know a guy who went to the same non-target college as me, but grew up in the same town that the CEO of a BB bank has a vacation home. He dropped his resume in the guy's mailbox one morning when he knew the guy was in town, got into the interview pool (but no direct contact from the CEO), and this led to a FT offer.
OP must have some inside information on the guy's email though. Most CEOs at the large banks/funds don't use the generic [email protected] email format, they'll typically have a separate format like "[email protected]" to stop spam.
This. I can't imagine it being so simple. They have assistants filtering this shit out.
Here is a way the OP (and others) can get contact information for very senior people. It would have been the first thought I had if I were back in college.
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/826083/000119312513134621/d50547…
Though, if Dimon does not have a second (more primary) email, I would be shocked, especially after this was made public in disclosure statements (and I am sure he is listed in other presentations out there). But, you never know. I can't even imagine how much more email traffic everyone listed is getting after this was filed.
Higher ups are surprisingly unhelpful, especially at this level. The best people to reach out to, honestly, are managing directors or partners in charge of a particular group.
Kudos though in getting this opportunity - just express your interest in the firm as a whole and don't be afraid to tell the guy about your specific interest in banking. He may be able to refer you to one of the partners.
Honestly, I have no incentive to troll, why would I troll? To impress random people on a forum? I just wanted advice from you guys. Also, I did something at his bank and I ran into him, but I doubt he really remembered me.
On another note, THANK YOU to everybody that responded with advice. It's greatly appreciated.
Be as natural as possible and you'll do great.
I don't really understand why anyone trolls, but people obviously do.
Let's dissect this futher. OP says he's meeting with "one of the most influential people on wall st, if not the most influential." He's also stated that he works for a bank (eliminating all buyside folks). Who does that leave us with? Lloyd Blankfein? Jamie Dimon? James Gorman?
Also, to all of the people providing examples, we're not talking an MD, partner, or even CFO here. OP is supposedly meeting with someone who might be the most influential person on all of wall st.
Wow, this is an awesome opportunity.
I feel I should contribute a bit more since most people here just seem jealous and are trying to bring you down. To the person that said meetings with higher ups are useless, completely untrue... they have been the most useful (anywhere from Directors to CEOs)... if you give him/her a good impression and he/she refers you to the staffer (who probably hasnt even met him/her themselves - you are 100% guaranteed an interview) Also when questions in an interview come up with regards to who you have met with or why this bank, you throw their name in there and the interviewers faces go 0.o. Since I've been through this il offer some more points, dont ask stupid questions, by that I mean dont ask "how can I best position myself for a role at this bank" he doesn't know and also doesn't care - leave that for a meeting with an associate. Dont ask shit you can research online "what would I do on an everyday basis"... etc... ask him about his life, himself, his accomplishments (they love talking about themselves) from there you can stem random questions (sports, travelling, etc...). If you want to talk work related stuff just remember this is the one time in the day he gets to have a "normal" conversation where he doesn't have to think about what is going to come out of his mouth so ask things that he wont expect in the sense of you thinking out of the box. For example, when I met with the person at one of MBB there had been some shit that was going on with KPMG (cant remember what exactly) but I asked him about the relationships between the big 4 and MBB, the current rankings in his opinion, among other questions and he ended up telling me alot of neat stuff. Our meeting was scheduled for 15 minutes (at the beginning he made it known that was all he had) we ended up talking for almost an hour... good questions will take you a long way since he will probably rather sit there with you and have a relaxed conversation than talk business on the phone and send 100s emails for the rest of the day. Also he may not decide who gets an interview, who gets a job, and all of the above but he ultimately decides how many people they will hire, where they will recruit, what they will be working on etc... the person at MBB told me "my recruiting team is focused on HYPW, and top 2% of the class - too many people applying and we want to try and build the best team possible" I do not go to HYP - a nontarget in fact but hey the meeting got me the interview so the whole "HYP and top 2%" is only a barrier - find a way around it - this is a great opportunity!
If you look on the right hand side of your keyboard, just above the arrow keys, there's a big ENTER button. You should familiarise yourself with it, it can be quite handy.
I won't give you a specific tip since I haven't experienced that myself. I cant predict how the meeting will be either. The only think I can tell you is :don't think small or short term, dont go only after a job or internship try to make him your friend.
Ask him, how he views "YOLO" as a part of the bank's risk management program.
Awesome.
ha yeah whatever you do OP don't say "yolo" in your meeting
They might run shit like Canadian banks...
Here is the thing, assuming it is not a troll this is a legitimate thread as I half believe it. People send biographies and 15 page long pitches to guys on why they should get hired. That is guaranteeing that no one will respond to you. Keep it short.
" hi I am xxx interested in xxx because of (list 3 reasons). I noticed xxx about your company/group and think my experience in (list a few reasons) makes me a good fit for the firm. If possible I would like to set up an informational interview with anyone working within xxx group"
Name
So again assuming this is not a troll. Talking to a high level guy is always the same. They don't care at all about your technical skills (you will be getting those questions from low end employees if they interview you). They want the following
People underestimate what can be achieved by simply sending a clean email and catching a high level person at the right time. They have no reason not to help you. If you come off as professional they will be impressed and likely help you if your email catches them in a good mood.
Getting the CEO is the only reason this looks weird, they get too many emails, if this simply said "a managing director/vice president" I would not be surprised at all. You ping them on a Friday and send in the afternoon. Otherwise your email gets clogged into the 2000+ emails am MD receives daily.
o em gee, i just msg'd paul tudor jones on bloomberg IM and he has agreed to have lunch with me tomorrow...wow
Bring him a box of Cubans
Congrats OP! This does happen if done correctly... Got a reply from a partner at GS within 24 hours. All it took was being very specific and targeting the right person (Head of XXX group in EQD in London). Now looking to discuss opportunities for next summer... The best way to get shit done is to be pretty frank and say that you want to gain more experience in that particular part of finance etc. How to avoid getting turned down? -> Ask them to refer you to a related group if not... Internal referrals are worth gold even if you don't know person A well.
For me its all about cold emailing. Make sure to check out Culcet's Cold Emailing Guide http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/cold-emailing-guide
Not sure if troll but you'd be surprised who you can get to respond to you. I emailed a COO of a major bank one time and he was one of my best contacts at responding lol...
Jamie Dimon ?
The most influential person on Wall Street. You son of a bitch, I've been trying to break into Lumina Investments for months now
Hard to crack that BA group
LOL I remember these guys - guy on the right is the definition of tool
I died. Tears. People in the library are giving me weird looks.
Haha, checked out the site, the owner, Elliot, his quote is "Right now, macro events are driving the market. We believe this is the new normal." LOL you have to be kidding me.... Since when haven't macro events driven the market??
P.S. Whoever the ass clown is throwing monkey shit, go fuck yourself. Good on this kid.
Send his email to me please. I'm doing this.
Pics or it didn't happen OP. notsrs
If you aren't fraudin'...gjdm.
The headline of this post screams troll and I'm alarmed no one else has noticed that. There's a fuck-ton of info on wso about how to behave in an info interview - none of the posts in this thread give any more info that you can't already find using the search function. I hope you've enjoyed the hand-job everyone has just given you.
Still not sure whether I actually believe this.
OMFG, I don't BELIEVE IT
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