When is it appropriate to ask for help during an internship?

Hi Everyone,

Currently in my freshman year doing an internship at a 5 man private equity shop. I will be starting week 3 on Monday. The partners have lots of contacts in the industry. They have offered to help me in recruitment and stuff.

When would it be appropriate for me to ask them to put me in touch with people they know? Also, is asking straight up the appropriate thing to do? My goal is to get as many contacts in the industry as soon as I can to line up something good next summer.

Thanks in advance.

 

I'd suggest you find one partner who appears to be the guy who is most willing to help. Then ask him if you can sit down with him for a bit, have a coffee and tell him where you want to go. Once you have set out your goals, ask how he would go about achieving these goals (which internships to do, which guy you should call, etc). That way you are straight forward and if you ask nicely I am sure he will put you in touch with some of his contacts.

 

Definitely agree with this approach. I also think it's important to be specific when asking to be put in touch with someone's contacts. This has worked well for me in the past. It should be easy to figure out which firms the partners have strong connections in. Figure out which of these firms you are most interested in. If you give a partner some specific place/places to reach out to on your behalf, I think they would be much more likely to do so then if you don't give them any direction on who to reach out to.

 

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