Aspiring Investment Banking Interns - Ask These 4 Questions On Networking Calls If You Want To Be Invited To Interview

When I recruited for IB, I racked up networking calls faster than a frat dude’s body count freshman year. As a non-target kid, I played the #’s game and knew I HAD to stand out by networking.

Did 70 calls in under 3 months. Led to ~10 CLOSE relationships that pushed resume for 1st rd.

Here are 3 “Go-To” questions I used to land 5 Super Days & placement at an elite boutique in NYC.

Question #1 - Foreplay

Your GF doesn’t want to hop right in to “doing the deed”. Gotta start with some foreplay…

Goal = build comfort. If they are throwing F-bombs by the end of the call…probably did it right.

Your resume passed already passed their screen - they’re now focused on personality.

Like poker - play with cards they give you. Be curious & ask follow ups on what they’ve been up to last few days / specific personal element of their background / weekend plans without being weird.

Question #2 - How They Picked Bank Over Others

Like a brain surgeon - take out your scalpel & cut open the skull to dig in on their thought process.

I would always phrase it: “…curious to know what your recruitment process was like and what stood out to you about bank over all the other ones you were looking at…”

They’ll let you in on what they prioritized when making a choice. I’d develop “same team” mindset by saying how I’m prioritizing same things.

Getting juicy info from this one makes prepping interview answer for “Why bank” 10x easier.

Question #3 - How They Out-Competed Other Candidates

For this one - get into hype man mode. Boost their ego without sounding fake.

I’d always start by mentioning their success in making it out the competitive interview process (& how I want to learn from it…)

Humans are wired to love getting complimented, so their mood will instantly skyrocket.

Ask what tactics they used to stand out during their internship recruitment & what they’d recommend prioritizing.

Whatever they did obviously worked. Figure that out and just do the same thing…

Takeaway: Use these ?’s to get em’ comfortable, put em’ in a good mood & learn what you need to