I'm a rising sophomore at a target school and I've been networking pretty heavily over the last summer with my various contacts. I want to email them asking for a referral to those investment banking sophomore programs but don't want to come off as too forward. Should I ask straightforward for a referral or is there another way to approach this?
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If you have to directly ask for a referral, you didn’t actually make the connection you thought you did.
Bankers know exactly why you are reaching out to them, so you don’t have to remind them to push your resume through— if they actually liked you and saw enough potential in you, then they will do that on their own.
What you’re looking for is come confirmation that the connection went well enough and that your resume won’t be lost in the abyss of online applications. You want to ensure that you AT LEAST get that first round interview. The unfortunate truth is that you can’t have that confirmation. Asking for it outright is a gamble because you can rub the banker the wrong way. He/She may have already been planning on pushing you through bc you seem like a genuinely hungry kid that they would enjoy working with. Now you asking for a direct referral makes you sound entitled to the resume push or as if you are using them as a stepping stone to the interview. (You are, but you seem like a douche when you do it outright).
So what do you do? You maintain contact through the process and periodically update them on your progress. After you’ve had your networking calls and said that you’d keep in touch, send another email when you apply letting them know that you did— and that you look forward to updating them as you go through the process.
Best case scenario, they like you a lot and do the work internally to get you that interview. You crush it and make it to the superday. You then contact them again to share the good news and perhaps set up another small meeting to prep. From there I imagine you get the point. I think directly asking for a referral is tacky and shows a lack of confidence in the connection. If it’s genuine, they will pull for you.
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