Best Networking Strategy?

I just went through the recruiting process and was lucky enough to land a BB IB offer in nyc for the coming summer. That being said, I networked everywhere: MM, EB, BB, regional boutique, Los Angeles, SF, NYC, Chicago, even had some calls in North carolina lol. By the time I got my offer I had done about 70 networking calls (I kept track in a spreadsheet) with all types of people all over the country.

All that is to say, I was very comfortable with networking calls and I think I became quite good at them. I go to a target school but don't have the best gpa (~3.7) and had very little relevant experience, yet was able to secure 1st rounds at 4 EBs, 3 BBs, 2 MM, and 2 regional boutiques. 

Here are the things I learned and how I approached each call (my last tip is probably the most important):

1. The Call Starts When You Email Them - the email is your first impression. Make sure it's clear and concise with no typos and always attach your resume. I only networked with school alumni (I go to a big school UMich/UVA/NYU) but would always look the person up on linkedin and see if they were in any of the organizations I'm in on campus. If we happened to share affiliations, I would be sure to include that in the email to show common interest before the call even started

2. Do Your Research - along the lines of my last point, I always looked people up on Linkedin before the call. If they had anything (and I mean anything) that I could bring up in a cold call, I would write it down in my notes sheet on my computer. If they got their MBA at the school that one of my friends or a family member of mine went to, I would write it down. If they started in consulting I would write that down because my brother is in consulting. Maybe in undergrad they studied something other than finance, I would always write that down so I can ask them about the transition from that to banking. Look at where they are from originally, sometimes I knew people from their hometown (happened more times than you would think). I could go on and on about the different things that you can find on someone's linkedin. People put so much shit on there it's up to you to find out what makes them unique before you call them. Of course there will always be the super generic person, but more often than not, these people have something interesting about them. 

3. Make A Note Sheet in Preparation for the call - my number 1 weapon when going into a call, my safety blanket, if I was drawing dead I knew I could fall back on my note sheet. I had a note sheet for every bank I had calls with. On this note sheet it had every person I called at the bank. When preparing for a call I would write the person's name on my note sheet and underneath their name I would have bullet points of their information and fun facts that I had researched about them, and under that I had a list of prepared questions. This is where it gets interesting and might get confusing. These questions were tailored to the specific person I was calling and they were written in the order which I believed I would ask them. Before even calling the person, I would look at the research I had done and play out the call in my mind and try to guess what their answers to my questions would be. Based on the answers I projected they would say, I would write follow up questions so that I was prepared with a question that could dig deeper into their background/interests. My questions always started high level (how did you get to where you are? what was your recruitment process like?) but I always had follow up questions that would allow them to elaborate on their points, and thus further grow our connection.

4. Know exactly what you're gunna say when they answer - This cannot be stressed enough. The first things you say will set the tone for the call and if you stumble your words or blank, before you even ask them a question it'll be hard to recover. For example, if you call them, you know they are the one that will pick up and speak first and will say something like "hi this is john". Now you gotta be ready, it's your turn and you gotta lead the call. So you gotta know your response. For me it was something like "hey john, this is malcom. How's it going". To which they will likely respond "going good" or something like that. Again, it may be a quick response or it may be a long response and they might actually start talking. You gotta be ready for both scenarios here and have a game plan for a quick response so that there's no awkward silence. Basically, just have the first few lines of the call already planned out so that it's smooth sailing. 

5. Have Your Story/ resume walk through ready - in pretty much all my calls I had to recite "my story" and give a brief summary of my background, why IB, and why the bank. For each bank I had about a 60 sec memorized response that I would use during my phone calls (in interviews it was about 90 sec). Just have this ready, it's probably one of the only questions they'll ask you and you don't wanna stumble your words or not be prepared.

6. Energy - understand who these people are and what they are doing when they take your call. They are bankers working long hours, currently working from home, maybe haven't slept for too long, and are maybe kind of busy. Yet they responded to YOUR email (out of the hundreds they get) and were willing to take YOUR call. That's pretty awesome. You gotta be excited on the call and you gotta bring some enthusiasm in how you speak to them over the phone. If you're bland and monotone how do you think they will feel? They're just gunna think they're wasting their time on another boring kid who they shouldn't have responded to. No, prove them right and show them you're enthusiastic. Don't be crazy, but just sound interested, engaged, and upbeat.

7. Have your exit planned - the end of the call can be super awkward even if everything up until that point went well. Basically on your note pad you see your list of questions, now you have to plan how you're going to transition out of conversation mode and end the call. If you need to, write a script, but just have your lines for the end of your call planned out. 

8. Know that you can't "connect" with everyone - everyone is different. Some people you'll be able to have really great 1 hour conversations with, some will end in 15 min. By the time I was getting good at it my calls were about 25-35 minutes. That's really all you need to make a good impression and show someone you're worth taking seriously and passing on to the hiring person. But you can't and won't connect with everyone. There were a couple calls where the person answered my questions super briefly and didn't help drive the call at all. It's ok and it will happen. But when you do get someone that's responsive and happy to talk more, go all out on them and take advantage of the time they're giving you. Can't win them all but you gotta try.

I could really write a whole novel on cold calls and how to approach them but this is the best I have for now. Just do your research, be as prepared as possible, and be grateful you're getting their time of day. Most kids don't even get the chance to hop on these phone calls cuz they go to non target schools and have 0 connections. Make the most of your opportunities and best of luck!

*bonus tip: listen to what they're saying. My best questions didn't come from my note sheet. If you listen to the stories of these people you will see they are all different and unique. Take interest in their answers and you will be naturally curious to dive deeper into what they are saying. This is how conversations start to flow: when you have an actual interest in learning the questions will just come naturally and on the spot