Trending Content
Career Resources
WSO Free Modeling Series - Now Open Through
April 30, 2024
9 Free Financial Modeling Lessons
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
Factoring in all levels of the hierarchy, I'd suggest late at night so they see it first thing the next morning. During the day is hit or miss workload wise, late in the day we are grumpy and Monday mornings are everyone's least favorite time. Try like a Tuesday night at midnight or something like that. You most likely won't get a response especially if it's someone higher up.
As a general rule of thumb, analysts are usually willing to help if they are not incredibly busy. MDs are usually not willing to help unless you grab their attention somehow.
Between 2 and 5 AM.
Something to note: If you email them late at night while they are sleeping, and they wake up to their BB going off at 3am, they might not be in the happiest mood at you the next morning.
How inappropriate is emailing on the weekend? I read in another thread to "let them have their weekends."
I think the moral of the story is there is really no good time and you need a combination of a fantastic attention grabber and a bit of luck catching them when they aren't busy. With MDs it is nearly hopeless but I would bet a large amount of current analysts would be willing to lend a helping hand in the right scenario.
During their lunch break?
lol you think bankers take lunch breaks? And DO NOT email in the middle of the night. I keep my phone on vibrate or even ring sometimes if I know something may come up early morning or when I am staffed on international deals. Nothing would piss me off more than to wake up to my BB at 4 am to a kid trying to network. In all honesty, there is no "good" time because a banker could always be in the midst of a firedrill, doing a million things at once, etc etc and just completely skip over your email. Focus your energy on finding more people to reach out to and have solid conversations when you do get the chance to talk to someone on the phone. Also, if you don't get a response from an alum or someone you were referred to after a few weeks or so, don't be afraid to send a follow up email, just be sure to not be annoying.
Do it during the day. If they read it on their blackberry they will move on and never read it again. Even if they want to respond, they will be less likely cause of working on a mobile phone. By the time they get to a computer, you'll be a distant memory. That's where luck comes into things....
So avoid the weekends, even for analysts/associates? I really need to get a hold of some bankers this coming week before my NYC trip the week after this one - should I email them (initial outreach) Saturday OR Monday? I'll need to call/followup in less than a week to avoid following up DURING my trip. Emailing ASAP (Saturday) creates more time before the follow-up...
something so simple, yet so complex lol
Idk what the best time is, but I just emailed a random MD last night who was located in NYC. I sent the cold email around 10:45pm, and he responded within 10min. Then I responded at around 11:45, and he responded about 20min later. I immediately replied.
When I woke up this morning, he had responded yet again at around 8am.
Also, of note, this is my first cold email I've sent since being employed FT
Lol, you're making it way too complex. You sound like the guy at the bar unsure of how to approach the hot chick. You just have to pull the trigger. I would avoid weekends, anytime during the week is fair game. I used the cold emailing route, and landed a ton of interviews that way. It's a numbers game, and you would be surprised at how many people are willing to lend a helping hand to an eager college kid trying to break in the business.
Yea, what Wasser said.
I used to fret about all the details back before I had fulltime employment. Now I realize it was completely unfounded.
Just sound intelligent, and blast away. Thats it.
i'm an IB analyst, and similar to what some other posters said - my advice for someone cold-emailing me would be on a weekday, sometime between 12pm and 9pm. the length of time it takes me to respond is completely variable based on how busy i am, but within that window is your best bet for getting my attention and not annoying me. and yes, assuming you haven't woken me up at 4am on a sunday, i'm pretty likely to try and help you if i can.
Oh shit, I just sent 3 emails to bankers without thinking about how it's 3 AM on a Sunday in New York. Hope they don't wake up...
its ok I just sent an email to people on wso hopefully they have email alerts on
those fkers woke me up at 3 am a few weeks was like a door bell so i answered the door and stubed my toe :(
paybacks a bitch!
Best Time to Email (Originally Posted: 10/07/2011)
Hi,
Friday is no good, Monday is busy, so Tuesday+Wednesday work the best, AFAIK. But then again, I don't think it really matters. Daytime is definitely better than night in my opinion, but I've gotten rejection letters past midnight so I don't even know.
I emailed many bankers already while networking, and it didn't really seem there was the right time to do it. From my experience, it's more about how you present yourself. Some bankers replied, some didn't, but in the end, I don't think it had to do with the timing.
Here's a pretty good article on networking I found:
http://www.wallstreetwannabe.com/?page_id=121
Hope this helps.
Don't do Monday, it's too busy. Don't do it after 9:00 pm; especially don't do it after midnight. I'm either cranking or I'm at home and not wanting to see an email. I had a candidate who emailed me two days back-to-back after 1:00 am (i try not to sleep with my blackberry on buzz or loud, but had to those nights) and he pretty much spoiled my original positive impressions of him as he clearly had no common sense. Obviously don't do it on the weekend (no banker likes seeing their blackberry light up on the weekend). I'd probably be most likely to respond on Friday pre-4:00 pm.
But agree with the above that it's all about how you present yourself.
best time 10-11 AM always worked for me, friday is no good. best time to cold call anytime between 9-11 AM earlier the better since you wont get the assistant and they wont be as busy..
What's wrong with Friday?
chances are they'll forget about you over the weekend
^^
or rushing to finish their work and take off, pushing all other tasks aside
Best time to email (Originally Posted: 11/10/2013)
What is the best time and day to email a banker?
Tuesday 10am or after
Care to explain please?
Sunday 4 AM.
Lol. Would get slaughtered for that. Having said that I got an email from a banker at 9pm Sunday evening.
They're always at work, so any time is fine
Early evenings... bankers still working and their emails are less spammed
Best Time and Email Address to Network? (Originally Posted: 06/08/2012)
What is the ideal day/time to email a banker? Also is it preferable to email at a work email or their personal email (e.g. gmail account listed on alum database/linkedin)?
Call them
depends.. did they give you their info? if its cold, email them at work/LinkedIn anytime between 9am - 5pm
For bankers, early in the day is best, I usually send my shit out at around 8:30. You can send it out in the middle of the day but in my experience it tends to get lost in the pile. Anything after 5 is probably not a good idea, and anything at like 4:30 am isn't either. The goal is to get the person to see it and make a snap judgement on whether or not they want to talk to you.
I usually send my emails at 6:30am, I have had a pretty good response rate with that (usually get back to me in the same day, sometimes even before lunch)
Well I guess I'm on my own here, lol. I send mine at like 10 at night so that they see it first thing when they get in in the morning. I'm 4 of 5 so I suppose it's working. As far as what e-mail, I'm not even sure. The directory hides them so all it says is "send e-mail' and it goes to whatever they listed
Any email you send at 10 is being read that night, not the next morning.
Someone threw monkey shit at me for telling someone to call someone?
Best Day/Time to email? (Originally Posted: 06/10/2008)
I need to email some guys (Associates and MD's) in the group that I want to be placed into for FT.... when is the best time to email them?
Early in the day? A little after lunch? During lunch?
Thanks
Early in the AM - think 6am. You want your message to be the first one they have to read. If you wait until 9am you'll get lost in the shuffle (although you might anyways).
Last thing I'd want to do at 6am is wake up to some kid's email about group placement. Email them at a decent hour - usually early afternoon is when you'll most likely get a response. Just too much going on in the AM.
And from my personal experience, there is no such thing as "lunch time." Lunch is whenever you can make it happen, so there is no "a little after lunch" or "during lunch."
Usually when I wake up there's 15 emails on my blackberry. If yours came at 6AM, guess what, there's 14 emails already on my blackberry that I've already placed in priority ahead of you.
I would say there's no best time to email. If the guys are really busy, you're never going to be top priority, no matter when you send it Keep it short and simple, this will vastly increase your chances of getting a reply
call them around 13.00 and keep it quick like joefish said. That has gone down well in my experience. Or email in the afternoon they will get back to you when they have the chance.
Early afternoon. Most MDs that I know spend their morning on scheduled conference calls and calling clients. After lunch they'll have a little bit more downtime to give you some attention.
Quo aut voluptatem id id. Earum libero corporis adipisci minus quia. Sit molestiae non voluptatem quia omnis veritatis.
Qui reprehenderit culpa et omnis at asperiores consequuntur. Dolor aut excepturi libero dolorem veniam. Tenetur aut et ut occaecati in. Voluptas ut quis aut voluptatem.
Quos dicta accusamus ad. Labore non omnis quasi et aspernatur officiis vel. Voluptas consequatur ipsum nisi animi eaque suscipit non.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Qui qui aut neque. Voluptatem aut nisi qui et soluta nostrum. Recusandae numquam accusantium ipsum ducimus ut corrupti ea enim.
Est aut et quasi blanditiis nulla quidem fuga laborum. Magni debitis voluptates omnis temporibus fuga ea totam sit. Consequatur quidem numquam qui sed quidem molestiae.
Omnis sed qui laborum dolorem ut non quae. Quidem consequuntur commodi vitae eaque laborum quibusdam consectetur. Nam sed velit laborum non deleniti dolore quia.
Id voluptatem doloremque quas perspiciatis nesciunt at et repudiandae. Doloremque numquam et natus earum ipsam cumque. Omnis praesentium rem consequatur ullam. Dolor excepturi molestiae possimus enim sed. Neque praesentium blanditiis reiciendis cum. Aut pariatur qui maiores aut eligendi rerum.
Cupiditate est voluptatem sunt accusamus quia. Fugit animi enim alias necessitatibus doloremque fugit aut. Quam autem deserunt in aut consequatur. Doloremque repellat non quia quam numquam non. Ut cum molestiae eos deserunt.