Cold Email Tips
Hi, I’m a sophomore at a non-target. I went through on-cycle recruiting but did not land an internship. I didn’t network much for on-cycle, so now I am trying to network heavily to find something for next summer.
I have been cold emailing analysts and associates at firms I am interested in, but my response rate has been pretty rough so far. I am probably getting about 1 reply for every 15 emails.
For people who successfully recruited through networking:
- What actually moved the needle for you?
- Did subject lines make a big difference?
- Is LinkedIn messaging better than email?
- Roughly how many emails did you send before things started working?
Trying to figure out if I am doing something wrong or if this is just a numbers game. Any advice would be really appreciated.
I get a lot of these so I can not respond to every one, but the ones I do respond to are when it is clear the person actually did some research beyond just my school and bank. Like a real connection, not just “I saw you went to X and now work at Y.”
It is pretty easy to spot a template and most people are sending templates. If you can find something genuine it stands out immediately.
I'm on the other side of this, I'm a sector coverage associate who gets 10+ of these emails a week. Here's what I'll tell you:
Your 1/15 rate isn't terrible for cold outreach with no warm connection, but it can be way better. The emails I actually respond to have three things in common:
Subject lines — keep them human. "Quick question from a school sophomore" works better than "Networking Request — Aspiring Investment Banking Analyst Seeking Guidance." The second one reads like ChatGPT wrote it, and yes, we can tell.
LinkedIn vs. email — email is better for analysts/associates. LinkedIn is better for VPs and above who don't check their work email as carefully. But if you're going to LinkedIn message, connect first with a short note, then message after they accept. Cold InMails have even worse response rates than email.
The real unlock is follow-ups. Most students send one email and give up. A polite follow-up 5-7 days later doubles your response rate, genuinely. Something like "Just wanted to bump this to the top of your inbox — I know you're busy." That's it. I've responded to plenty of follow-ups that I missed the first time.
Track everything. I've seen students email the same person twice or let warm leads go cold because they lost track. Even a spreadsheet works, but there are some tools being built specifically for this if you want to look into it.
What the associate said about personalization is spot on. Had the exact same experience during recruiting. I started out blasting template emails and getting almost nothing back. Once I began referencing something specific about the person, same hometown, similar clubs, something about their group or deals, my response rate went up a lot.
The annoying part was how long the research took. Finding people, digging through LinkedIn, and keeping track of who I emailed and when to follow up was a lot to manage manually. Someone dropped a tool in one of our school group chats so I tried it. It surfaces relevant bankers and helps draft personalized emails, which made the whole process way faster.
Ended up actually getting my internship through a referral from one of the people it recommended I reach out to lol.
Still a grind, but definitely better than doing everything manually. I got on the waitlist about a month ago and I think they’re still letting people join at phixy. ai if anyone’s curious.
The research and tracking part has honestly been the most tedious part for me too.
Appreciate you sharing this. Just signed up for the waitlist after seeing your comment. If you don’t mind sharing, how long did it take for you to get off the waitlist?
Do you still have this tool or have a reccomendation for one?
This is great advice, thanks for taking the time to share it. The follow-up point is interesting. I’ve been hesitant to send them because I didn’t want to come across as annoying.
Quick question on the personalization point. When you say referencing a deal you worked on, are most students just finding that through LinkedIn / press releases or are there other ways to find which deals you specifically worked on?
Press releases / LinkedIn / looking at the team or transaction page would be best
My biggest tip would honestly be to start emailing off cycle, like now through August. I get flooded with emails from August through January, sometimes a dozen a day just from my alma mater, so a lot of them inevitably get ignored.
Right now I might get one or two a day max, so I actually respond to most of them. If you’re a freshman or sophomore, it’s a great time to start reaching out, have a few coffee chats, and start building relationships. Then when recruiting ramps up later in the cycle, you can follow up with a quick update and stay top of mind.
Tbh, I'd keep networking but you should shift your focus on processes that haven't started or going to consulting/fldps. Most on cycle has closed and off cycle is very market dependent and relationship driven, most people are going to push kids they have already developed a relationship with
Are there particular days you should be emailing/linkedin messaging?
I would say Sunday / Monday evenings or Wednesday mornings would probably be best. Would avoid Fridays.
Why Wednesday mornings?
And also do these days matter for LinkedIn or mainly for emails? Like for example if an MD accepts your LinkedIn request on a Friday afternoon , should you send a message right away or wait until Sunday evening/ Monday evening?
I'd say LinkedIn is a much better option, personally I look at it in a more relaxed attitude. Whenever I get a cold email for a coffee chat feels more like an interruption and I'll never answer
Realistically it’s just how busy I am. FYI networking is institutionalized and the analysts are all expected to take calls and act as the first screen. Unfortunately you have zero control over that so just a numbers game
From my standpoint, thoughtful personalization and a rationale for the call above and beyond I want to be in investment banking goes a long way. It also helps to find some commonality.
Bump
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