Freshman Seeking Advice: How to Not Look Like a Tool/Douche
Quick background rundown: college freshman, secured a SA role at a small PE shop. Due to a lack of experience and family connections, when it comes to formal attire with regard to high finance, I am quite lost--and it appears that certain items/pieces of clothing designate interns or other juniors as being "tools." Now, I understand that what you achieve during the role is what matters, but could deciding to wear something have consequences in the recruitment process down the line when interviewing at other firms (interested in PE/S&T/IB)? Should this not be worried abt? Is it possible to wear a white double cuff (French cuff) shirt w/o cufflinks? Can your tie be loud but not obnoxiously so? Will my existence for the near future be diminished to that of an Excel monkey with no personalized features as a result of needing to conform? I am aware that there are other message chains discussing attire for newcomers, but they were published 4+ yrs ago, so I wanted to see if anything had changed.
Thanks in advance!
It's good that you want to make a good impression. The best way you can help yourself is to be humble, learn, ask good questions and be enthusiastic about your work.
Keep the clothes simple. And since you probably don't have a lot of money, keep it basic. White shirts with plain cuffs and pants of various colors (avoid black - white shirts with black pants make you look like a waiter or banquet server). These don't have to be fancy, just get what you can afford, forget the french cuffs.
If you're going to invest your money in anything, put it into the best shoes and ties you can afford. You can use those after you graduate while making a good impression now. For ties, think Brooks Brothers or most brands from Neiman Marcus since both of those seem to be having sales every day now. For shoes, think Allen Edmonds and keep an eye on their sales (also fairly frequent). That's all you really need, no need to overthink this.
As a fellow college freshman, curious how you were able to land SA role at PE shop this early? Cold-emailing/alumni connection/prior relationship or something else entirely? Just curious, thanks.
Great question!
Again, the firm is no KKR with regard to AUM, although this should not detract at all from the experience.
Basically, I used LinkedIn's Premium 1-month free trial, found former employees, and messaged them; I had hoped to seem rather personable by doing this (establishing some rapport), but I still kept my message professional and included my resume. I had virtually no connection--be it collegiate, familial, or otherwise--with the several people I spoke to. Given that it is a small firm, I think one important factor to consider is that they chose to "sponsor" me and I had the possibility to talk with senior people after that. They know you are a freshman and while others may say that you do not need to know much because it would not be expected of you, this is your time to shine, as you would be considered a lowerclassman who is superbly knowledgeable. I am very involved within my campus, so that probably also spoke for itself and allowed me, as a freshman, to stand out.
Wow, that's really awesome, good for you! As a freshman, I would say that I have well above average knowledge of the industry, although I couldn't say that I would be labeled "superbly knowledgeable" if I were to reach out like this and get an opportunity. I am currently reading and intensively studying the purple bible, which gives a high-level explanation of different valuation methods (Comparables, Transactions, DCF) as well as LBO practices in laymen's terms. How/where were you able to gain the knowledge that you have, and is there any recommendations you can make as far as resources?
Also, I am curious as to what you are able to show off on a resume given you are a freshman? I am at a semi-target with an IB club but really don't have anything aside from the fairly typical finance-club type endeavor in high school. Thanks again for sharing so much, and congrats on landing that SA gig!
I think there are two areas in which you should become knowledgeable: firm history (recent and/or important transactions, firm structure and who is who, etc) and modeling. I cannot stress enough that the former is possibly more important than the latter when networking, especially when talking semi-informally with others. (Re: Networking) You really do have to let them know that you are someone who should be sponsored, so I think there must be balance with regard to what you are prepared to talk about in case the opportunity arises. At the same time, you should not bore a person who works 90+ hrs/week, so you should have a variety of discussion points, including something that they can relate to. I have never heard of "the purple bible", so I cannot comment as much as I would like to, but based on your description, it sounds like a great and compact way of learning (as opposed to paying for several courses). I personally did something akin to WSO's offerings during the summer, but what you are doing sounds like a less expensive and more efficient way to learn. By "superbly knowledgeable", I meant to show that the unlikelihood of a college freshman knowing this type of stuff is really an elephant in the room (ie, a freshman who can go through with making an LBO model simply trumps over another freshman who only knows the answer to "why PE?"). Something as simple as knowing the valuation methods goes far at this point in time, thereby showing that you are "superbly knowledgeable." Resources: Get news source student subscriptions (Bloomberg and/or WSJ), read books which talk about PE, I frankly did not use as many resources as some may expect.
With regard to the second question, I really want to maintain anonymity and I know people who use this forum, so I will not expand too much on that. What I will say is that I am involved in various finance-related and -unrelated orgs, with leadership positions in some of them. 'Rona has been beneficial in such a sense, because a lack of freshmen becoming members has allowed me through my proactivity to get these positions. Something to consider! I should also make note that I already had previous leadership positions, so I have been able to keep that on my resume for now. Furthermore, back then, I was in a specialized program which allowed me to conduct research and I also received awards. This is by no means something which you have to mirror, so do go ahead and start networking when you feel confident.
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