When to start IB Networking?
Hi everyone,
College freshman here looking into IB.
Approximately when is a good time to start sending emails to bankers to set up informational interviews? I’m getting mixed answers on this, from 6-12 months before recruiting begins (which would mean from as early as February the year before recruiting to July at the latest) to the fall term before recruiting begins around Jan through March.
A candidate who succeeded last year mentioned that 6-12 months might be too early, since bankers are so busy in the first place, and at that time they would be dealing with applicants for that year. Hence an email from a candidate for the next year may seem out of place.
Any help would be appreciated!
Soft networking for now, ace your classes, get involved with on campus clubs. Enjoy your first year then hit it hard in summer/leading into fall/winter semester to secure a sophomore internship
Great, thanks!
As for securing the sophomore internship through networking, would the best way be to reach out to people working at potential firms and ask around for opportunities there?
Yes, the idea is to reach out to lower middle market banks (can easily find a list online) and send an email to someone there - try and find a banker you have some commonalities with and attach your resume too. These internships tend to be unstructured and unpaid, but they are really good for interview material. I'd also look at LinkedIn and find out what the incoming SAs/ analysts/ first year analysts from your school did during their sophomore summer for additional ideas on places to reach out to. Good luck!
No harm in starting early. Just start with lower value target companies as practice networking. Its also easier to network when you don't need them to do anything for you so you come off as more genuine and less cynical. Better to send an email to catch up fully polished come recruiting when everyone else is asking for intros and a referral.
That was what I thought would be one of the benefits of starting early as well. Thanks for the help!
When it comes to catching up as recruiting nears, is sending an email enough or should I schedule another call then? Just considering the fact that with an email I might not know if it was read/ignored if they don’t respond and especially so because it’d be a time when they get countless emails from college students.
Just ask them for advice. If they want to call they will ask you to schedule one. Some of them would just forward your resume. Some just refer you to others. If you had good calls you are not a random anymore and they will try their best to help you.
Will give my two cents.
Sophomore here from a non target big 10 school.
started networking freshman year (probably too early) - like october. By the end of freshman year i spoke to about 30-40 ppl which i think was reasonable.
- now a soph recruiting for SA positions, already secured IB at a very small bank for sophomore year.
- spoke to about 215 ppl thus far (no not lying, i would say 60-75% of these calls were absolute shite)
start as early as possible, but i would start with upperclassmen first. start with ur school alumni when u start networking then once u exhaust that list reach out to ppl as same hobbies (sports, extracurriculars).
try to get on the e board of a club before recruiting and be in ur schools IB club, if they haev one.
Thanks for your advice! Super helpful.
How did you go about securing the sophomore internship so soon? Was it through networking as well? If so, did you just email bankers at firms you might be interested in, talk to them on the phone, then ask around for opportunities afterwards?
I reached out to bankers at very small local boutique banks. They dont really do formal internships so taking an intern is something on their radar. Some do formal interview. The place I am interning at this summer had a very small intern class (less than 5 people for the IBD)
How did you get in contact with 215 people? How many emails did you send out?
Would you maybe be open to sharing your email template <3
PM me, but it was a lot of cold emails. To speak with 215 people I would say around 30-50 were refferals from other people. So around 170 responded from my cold emails. I think in total i sent out 1500+ emails lol.
Also any tips on guessing emails correctly? Would appreciate any suggestions! I’m struggling a bit with finding emails.
Hunter.io or rocket reach
Unless youre like super non target this is overkill and prob a waste of time
be strategic and smart with networking and outreach
I would say this is semi-accurate. If you go to Wharton or HBS, sure you are super target. But you need to remember that the entire intern class cannot be Wharton/HBS kids. They only have a certain amount of students they can take from those schools. Back then, sure the whole intern class would be all Ivy League Students
Assuming this is for the main summer internship (IE summer between junior and senior year), I think it's appropriate to start reaching out in the winter of your sophomore year to actual bankers in the groups / firms you want to be in. Earlier than that and it's just not very impactful for when recruiting actually begins. Because it's not top of mind, I probably won't remember you from before or what you're actually looking for. Also keep in mind at most firms, analysts and associates typically make the decisions on who to interview for first rounds, so it's more useful to be connected to them. They're also more likely to respond
For now, as others have mentioned, network within your school - join clubs / find seniors who have jobs lined up in IB. That'll actually give you the best prep when you finally head into recruiting season
Note the above advice is for the current recruiting cycle, which seems to primarily start in the spring of sophomore year, for the junior/senior internship. As an aside it's crazy to see how early it is these days.
Thank you for the help! And yes, I agree with your point on recruiting beginning early. Such is the nature of the job I guess!
The bankers forgetting about me and not knowing what I’m looking for was actually my main concern with contacting them too early.
However, someone above mentioned that networking early to learn more about the industry, then sending follow-up emails as recruiting approaches (around sophomore winter) could be a solution, with the added benefit that I would’ve actually had a previous conversation with that banker while most others would be going straight for introductions/referrals. What are your thoughts on this follow-up idea?
I think that is fine, would mostly limit it to just those 2 calls though
Even winter might be too late at this point with so many firms opening applications in Jan. Most people that gave me referrals for this cycle I had to network with them back in Sept-Oct.
Will take that into account. Thanks!
Absolutely don't start networking for junior roles ~2.5 years in advance. Everyone is swamped dealing with 2024 internship recruiting and I'd either be weirded out if a freshman reached out or accidentally take the call then be annoyed I wasted my time.Wait for this summer when recruiting is wrapped up for 2024 and then do initial calls. This still gives you plenty of lead time (can do an intro call in the summer / fall and then reconnect when recruiting comes around).
Thank you for the response!
Bro just read the message lmao. Anyways yeah unless you are diversity there is no point in networking now since you won't be able to intern at any good banks your sophomore year anyways.
When it comes to reconnecting as recruiting nears, is sending one catch-up email enough or should I schedule another call then? Just considering the fact that with an email I might not know if it was read/ignored if they don’t respond and especially so because it’d be a time when they get countless emails from college students.
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