Job networking stories for your first job out of college

I am interested to hear how all of you obtained your first job out of college. I think a lot of people would benefit to hear your story of how you networked to get your first job in finance out of college. Was it through alumni connections? family? fraternity? events? etc. How did the process go and what do think you did that was resulted in your success? Generally any interesting networking stories, do's, dont's...

 

So my first internship was in the summer after my sophomore year, as an intern at a no-name boutique investment bank. I had no personal connections to the finance industry, and it was already March by the time I started looking for a job, so I literally just cold-emailed 70 random firms in New York, Boston, and Los Angeles, asking for work. Almost none of the firms I emailed had any alumni from my school. Out of the 70 emails I sent, I think I ended up with 3 interviews. Which wasn't great, but given my rather extenuating circumstances at that point, it was better than nothing.

Looking back, the emails I sent weren't especially good, but they were coherent enough to get me the initial interview. I've pasted the actual email that I sent to my future boss below:

My name is ______-- I am writing to see if ______ would be interested in taking a summer intern for its investment banking team.

I’m currently a sophomore at ______, double-majoring in ______ with a ______ GPA. I already have basic knowledge of financial accounting and analysis thanks to my participation in ______ investment club, where I regularly assemble research and present stock pitches primarily on the TMT sector; however, I'm now seeking a more diversified and structured experience within finance.

I understand that this would be outside of any regular recruitment process, but if your team is currently experiencing high deal flow, I could readily be of assistance. My resume is attached, and I'd be willing to work without a salary.

Thanks,

______

My future boss responded to my email the next day, and told me he'd like to chat with me over the phone. After two phone calls, I got the job the following week.

 

Generally speaking, personal connections were the most effective tool that I had during my recruiting process. To be honest, I think I can credit a major factor to my current SA gig to a good friend's dad, who is a higher-up who passed my resume around and helped me meet more people at the office. In this respect, I was extremely lucky.

With that said, people from my school were extremely helpful too. Coming from a NESCAC school, most of the alums I reached out to were more than willing to hop on the phone and talk with me, pass my resume to HR, and help me through the process - as well as alums of other Liberal Arts Colleges/NESCACs. Similar to Fantastic I probably sent over 100 "cold" emails to people who I had any sort of connection with. Honestly, I still communicate with some the people who responded and made themselves available at other banks, and update them as to what is going on in my life if they seemed to genuinely take an interest in my life and career - always good to keep those bridges intact.

 

OCR at Wharton, then rejoined MS after Stanford GSB

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

Read my biography. I lived the hard life back in Philly.

GoldenCinderblock: "I keep spending all my money on exotic fish so my armor sucks. Is it possible to romance multiple females? I got with the blue chick so far but I am also interested in the electronic chick and the face mask chick."
 

Best bet? Get into the best grad program you can and fix all those three points. Sorry but hard fact is that there are too many people with at least two if not three of those aforementioned points.

"I am not sure who this 'Anonymous' person is - one thing is for certain, they have been one hell of a prolific writer" - Anonymous
 

Agree with GoHuskies. Do whatever you can to make yourself an appealing candidate for a top 20 MBA. Even then, getting to the buyside will be pretty difficult. I suppose it's still possible to try to remedy your weaknesses.

1) Make some contacts in the industry. Few people are born with contacts in the industry, you have to make them yourself. Reach out to alumni, people with similar backgrounds, or even random people.

2) If you're near a decent school with night classes or something (NYU or Columbia in NYC, for example) take some classes and get A's.

3) Find a passion and get some leadership experience with it. This will probably be less helpful for trying to break in now, but it's crucial for an MBA.

 
stvr2013:

2) If you're near a decent school with night classes or something (NYU or Columbia in NYC, for example) take some classes and get A's.

How would you go about doing this? Looking at NYU and Columbia, would it be through their executive education programs?

 
ksh206:
stvr2013:

2) If you're near a decent school with night classes or something (NYU or Columbia in NYC, for example) take some classes and get A's.

How would you go about doing this? Looking at NYU and Columbia, would it be through their executive education programs?

NYU has the School for Continuing Professional Studies (SCPS) that a few users here have used to show a higher GPA after graduating. You pay per class. I don't know which courses they offer, but I'm sure there's some relevant ones.

I'm not as familiar with Columbia.

 

I worked for a very small firm during college that shared a floor (and all communal space) with an investment bank. I got to know all the guys there and then after I graduated, I asked them for a job. They said sure. Easiest desk move ever. This was also in 07.

********"Babies don't cost money, they MAKE money." - Jerri Blank********
 

Your answer is in your question, my friend.

You missed out on profile building during BComm. Now, you do have to start from internships. They will be counted in your 4 years of work experience. Therefore, focus on getting internships rather than worrying about competing against experienced candidates for a long term contract.

Give it your best and it will happen. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the comment.

Is the best place to begin looking just on the job postings of companies, or will I find better luck through headhunting or networking? Most of the internships I come across are open only to current students and thus the difficult situation I have put myself into. I am attempting to build a network at the moment in hopes that some opportunities will arise.

Again appreciate you taking the time to reply, Thanks so much

 
tonydaboiii:
Have you thought about what you did wrong during the job search? Attitude? Resume?

^this. you sound like you expect to be given a job. if you want it, you NEED to network. I am somewhat introvert, and my first few cold calls were awkward, but overtime I have gotten much better and can hold conversations much easier with professionals.

 

I was in a similar position when I graduated. I wouldn't settle for unpaid internships during college (the biggest mistake of my life) and I had to work in non finance jobs to pay for my tuition. I couldn't find a job by graduation and went for a master's degree. It was still hard to get the internship I wanted but I had 2 internships during my grad school studies and now I'm looking for a full time job. It's looking much better than 2 years ago because I'm actually getting interviews so I believe I'm close to my goal.

I think you have a few options: 1) Go to grad school and hope to do better then... however, loading your resume with education won't solve the problem that you don't have any experience... 2) Get a temporary internship in finance (even unpaid) to gain some kind of experience 3) Start cold calling small shops and ask if they are hiring. 4) Nobody likes networking and nobody is actually good at it in the beginning... you must start networking and connecting with your alumni... this is the best way to get an interview, trust me...

Those online applications are pretty much useless...

 
dabianchi:
I am not great with networking or socializing with the professionals.

Does this translate into bad interviews? If so, you're gonna have problems. I get a little nervous in interviews, so I prepared and practiced seriously.

 

Two fold approach of reaching out to the principals myself and getting my older fraternity brother from college to introduce me to the VPs for coffee dates. By the time I started I knew 90% of the people in the office on a first name basis. Definitely helped during the interview process.

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Best Response

Sophomore Year Internship: Local tech consulting firm through local connections/friends of family. They weren't even going to take an intern, but I cold emailed them and they found a spot for me. Paid me $10/hour too which I was pumped about.

Junior Year: Hustled hard for finance internships, used the alumni network to talk to as many people as possible. Send hundreds of emails, made trips to NYC for networking, had some final rounds for IBD, didn't get them, but randomly came across a family friend at a party who was an MD at a BB in their PE group. Didn't really even realize what he did when I was speaking to him, but I told him all about how I was trying to get into Finance and then held a somewhat exclusive superday for me and a few other folks. I had prepped hard for IBD and had everything down pat. That's how I got that job, I was definitely well prepared, but also had a great contact pull hard for me.

Senior year, coming out of a NESCAC school there wasn't much OCR, still hit up the few places that did recruit on campus, but again it was mainly a reaching out to alums as well as alums of other NESCAC schools. Had a few interviews this way and landed a great gig in a F500 rotational program.

After you get the first job, it usually only gets easier, especially coming out of a LAC.

My advice is you take whatever advantages you can find and then you hustle hard. Some people might have frat or family connections, others might go to a target school, some might be underrepresented minorities, etc. When I was recruiting I was aways envious of friends or classmates that had a parent who worked in banking or some ridiculous frat connection, until I realized that I had my own set of advantages as well. Figure out your angle and network hard.

 

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