Dear College Students...
I'm not sure WHY you would wait until a month before applications are due to send a cold networking email, when everyone and their mother does the same thing.
Am getting ~3-4 inbounds per day, when I'd get one per week at most until early Jan. During which time period do you think you're more likely to get some time on the phone?!
Also, saying "Hi I'm Susie Lou, I'm [submitting an application tomorrow / attending the diversity and inclusion event next week], do you save some time to chat?" is possibly the most shallow ask of all time. At least try to come off as genuinely interested, not playing an angle for a referral
What firm do you work for? Just wondering so I can stay away
How about you provide a counterargument instead?
I have a bias opinion due to the fact that I am currently a sophomore going through the networking process but trying to understand from an analysts POV, I can understand how its annoying when people reach out for informational interviews when its closer to recruiting season and its obvious what their intention is. However, I personally have been reaching out to people since December and was told by some that it was too early and to reach out closer to the recruiting cycle so that you will be fresh on peoples minds. Also, I have been cold emailing different people every week and did not want to email everyone at the same firm at once, this means that although I am reaching out now it does not mean that I was lazy and wasn't networking before, it just means that I'm emailing you specifically now.
To your point, interviews also don't start until April/May or June/July/August for most firms so I would still consider this early in terms of networking. I think no matter what, early or not early it is obvious that we (students) are looking to make genuine connections with people in the industry to hopefully receive an internship but also to learn more about what it is really like, for example, I came into the networking process knowing at a very high level what it is an analysts does, but now having spoke to over 70+ people I know exactly what an analyst does. It also allows us to understand where we fit in and don't fit in.
Thus, I wanted to ask you, what do you think students should be doing instead? I don't see an alternative really but would love more insight.
No idea why this post got MS unless it's some triggered kid who did the exact things stated. Students looking to gain internships should understand everyone is going to be reaching out the closer the application comes but in reality should be building the relationships at least a few months before said process starts. If you start early, they can see that you're a go-getter and have some common sense. Not saying it's the only way, but this isn't rocket science.
Second part isn't out of the realm either. Since when is reaching out to someone days before submitting the application a good idea? Most students (with common sense, I know it's a big ask) would have been networking their asses off for months. Feel like it's pretty typical for an email introduction / networking call to just state your name, school, major, vague statement of why you're interested in speaking with (insert person) who works at (insert bank), list some availability and attach a PDF of your resume. I feel like everyone should assume if I'm reaching out as a sophomore to an analyst at the firm, it's because I "want to learn about the culture" but obviously I'm there for you to put a good word in on my behalf (presuming I'm not a weirdo who can't hold a conversation).
I'm an incoming FT at a BB/EB, and I would never get upset at applicants for waiting to network until an application opens. At some point it does become too late, but if you cold email me while the recruiting cycle is going, it will just be a bit less likely that I respond because of the increased volume of emails. These processes happen so early now that I just don't feel it is fair to expect sophomores to A) know that they want to do IB and B) understand the best possible way to approach recruiting...1.5 years before they actually show up at the desk for their summer internship. I didn't handle recruiting perfectly- no reason to be unfairly hypocritical once I'm on the other side.
Cause they need to study and prepare for interviews. If all they did was sending cold emails all year long, they would have a low GPA and would bomb all the technicals. Ideally, the industry needs to abolish this weird networking game and just admit strong candidates based on CV and interviews, which is how it works in basically any other industry. This way you'll also hire more diverse candidates (cause kids from rich families with connections obviously are better at networking but not necessarily better at the job) and won't need additional diversity recruiting bullshit.