A No-No, or Do It Fo Sho? Fwding an email chain with your application

So, a senior banker emailed an advertisement for an analyst opening at his firm, and two forwards later it was sent to me. Should I forward along said email chain below the body of my email when I apply for the position, or not? It would allow me to reference the opportunity more naturally, and would show that a banker liked me enough to forward me the opportunity. On the other hand, I don't know if it could be considered inappropriate application etiquette.

Thanks.

10 Comments
 

No - if I got that chain I'd think it strange, not necessarily a deal-breaker, but odd none the less. If the banker who sent it to you works at the same bank as the senior banker it'd suffice to simply reference the guy who sent it to you in your email.

 
DaCarezNo - if I got that chain I'd think it strange, not necessarily a deal-breaker, but odd none the less. If the banker who sent it to you works at the same bank as the senior banker it'd suffice to simply reference the guy who sent it to you in your email.

It was sent from the hiring banker --> person 2, who works at a different firm --> person 3, who works at another firm --> me. There is no text in the original email, there is only a large, graphically designed job ad with the firm logo, contact info of multiple MDs, a job description, and context for the reader, all inside the large graphical ad.

Should I at least explain how the email got to me? I.e. ""Bob Smith forwarded the ad to John Doe, who forwarded it to me."

 
Best Response

I want to say that I formally agree with all of the above.

However:

I got my first internship by putting the chain mail at the bottom of an email to the person doing the hiring, so that they could reference WHO sent it, and that is the only thing that made a difference. Keep in mind that if you're going to operate on someone else's network that 1) you are actually welcome on it and 2) that you don't make them look bad. This is probably not the best idea, and I didn't realize how potentially disastrous this was when I first started, so you might want to avoid doing this unless you are 1) very confident it will work or 2) incredibly desperate.

There is another option: contact the people on the chain mail and ask them to talk to the hiring person, and then apply without the chain mail. This way, you get the benefits of the network and also will be 'officially' following protocol.

Get busy living
 

Ok, I'm planning on NOT forwarding, BUT should I say "John forwarded it to Bob, who forwarded it me" or "The job ad was sent to me by a contact in the industry" or indicate another way?

Thanks!

 

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