A note to all those going through recruiting/networking

When networking, even though the talks you have with alums/bankers are called 'informational interviews', do your best to not make it a one-sided stream of questions. Do your best to engage the person on the other end and try to treat it as a conversation rather than a Q&A session. You'll find that it becomes much less awkward, and you will be much more likely to make a positive connection with someone who can then pull for you. That's not to say that this is possible with every single chat you're going to have, but it's something to keep in mind. Basically, the way to do this is to pick up where the other person left off, preferably on something you both find interesting or significant. For example, if you're networking with someone who switched careers into banking, and you're from a non-traditional background (for example, a bio major or a CS major), then there's something you can dive into. If the conversation takes a path away from recruiting/finance/business, that's ok too, as long as it's something I don't mind talking about.

Additionally, make sure to double and triple check your resume and cover letter. These are what determines in large part whether or not you get an interview, so make sure that they're absolutely perfect; get a friend or career services to read it over, as oftentimes you won't catch an otherwise obvious mistake when you've already read over a document many, many times.

Hopefully this helps some of you guys out; at the very least, maybe it'll make some of these informational interviews I've been doing a little more enjoyable. Best of luck to all you guys going through full time recruiting.