DO BETTER WITH YOUR COLD EMAILS

Agree completely. Flooded with emails/linkedin messages that are horrific. "hey x hope you are enjoying UBS. can we chat?" No connections to school or other person. The good emails vs the bad ones are worlds apart. 

I've gotten a lot of advice to keep my emails short and sweet otherwise they won't be read. Would you still recomend this if I can find a good personal connection?

Is this Bryan again?

What's with LinkedIn messages nowadays? Would never have done that when networking / didn't hear of anyone doing that, now I get more LinkedIn messages than emails.

I never respond to those, it's not that hard to dig up an email address.

Analyst 2 in IB-M&A

 Try to find even a sliver of common ground with the banker – i.e. hobbies, grew up/worked in a particular state (I see you worked at Company X in Location Y, my dad's side of the family is from the area and I enjoy Restaurant Y there; I see you were in Club Z while you were in college, blah blah blah). I realize this isn't always possible, but try your best to make SOME sort of connection.

1) imagine how much time a kid would need to spend researching everybody beforehand if he sends hundreds of cold emails as he should

2) how would anybody know your hobbies or where you grew up. from LinkedIn they can only see where you went to college and what bank you work in, which is probably in NYC. if the kid has nothing to do with your college location, should he like email you: "oh I see you work in New York City, I was there a couple of times with my dad, and I liked Dorsia, they have nice pancakes", using your example? won't it be too much for the first email?

but in general I agree with the message, definitely a good idea to find common ground with somebody when you try to connect with them. I would just say no need to do it in the first email. do it when you have the call.

I may be alone in this but I hate it when someone points out that I hadn't responded to their prior cold email. The quickest way to point out to me that I don't want to respond to your email and I should just hit delete is to remind me that I decided to just delete your email 3 times before.

Cold, brain dead copy-paste emails are the worst. They are often poorly written, have mistakes from hasty form edits, inconsistent fonts, etc. Automatic bin. I can't recall the last one I replied to.

Yes it's a numbers game but you are selling (yourself). And the first thing you want to accomplish with a cold prospect of any sort is to capture their attention and generate interest. These awful blast emails do the exact opposite, certainly if you are sending to senior bankers. You can maybe get a fleeting reply or two aiming this up to VP level for those who are directly involved with recruiting, but that's your only hope absent a personalized angle or connection.

Perhaps the most important skill one can develop to become a successful revenue/return generating senior banker or buyside investor is the ability to prospect and sell - to CEOs, founders, investors, LPs, etc. It all starts with that first contact, many of which are cold, whether that's a cold approach, call, or email. It really isn't that different in principle even as your career progresses. At the end of the day you are trying to get very busy, successful, and skeptical if not arrogant people to take notice and engage with you. To buy what you are selling (i.e. you). It may become a more complex and lengthier sale but it always starts from that same first contact.

If you think you are too good or too busy or too lazy to do it right, right now, it definitely won't get any easier, and you're probably ngmi.

I think a more constructive conversation here would for us to each post our templates outreach letters and talk about how they can be improved.

No value to debate the merits of the tone of the OP or his rank. The view that outreach letters need to be a bit personalized sounds valid to me, albeit very time consuming and asking a lot of busy students. Doing personalization isn't always possible but if you can it will improve response rate so worth considering for important roles.

I posted my template below. Keen to hear your thoughts.

"Hello Mr x, we share the university y connection. I also read about your bank just completing this M&A transaction in the renewable energy sector, which is the industry I am most keen on as well. I hope you don't mind me reaching out unsolicited to you, an alumnus, for advice. I am looking to break into IB in renewable energy and would be keen to hear how your own experience in the sector has evolved. I saw you interned in accounting before. Was the transition to IB difficult? I recognize you're very busy but would love to schedule a brief 20 min hard-stop call with you if you're willing to share you experience and advice with me."

Honestly OP is right message-wise, though delivery was off. But I see what their saying. Just do at least the bare minimum with your cold networking emails. Cannot tell you how many cold emails I've gotten from college kids addressed to the wrong name "hey jason.." even though that's not remotely my name lol. If you're putting in so much time into sending a high volume of emails to people which are, in the body, generally well-worded, then make a point to make sure they are addressed right. 

I've also gotten the wrong bank mentioned in the email (though only happened once), but some bright chap emailed me asking me about my experience at Houlihan Lokey when I very obviously didn't work there...

only networked with alumni from my school, somehow got my first offer from a firm i didn't network at

As someone who sent a ridiculous number of networking e-mails in order to get that first interview 14+ years ago and as someone who now receives a ridiculous number of messages (LinkedIn, e-mail, etc.) from people looking to connect, here are some thoughts/tips...

1) Assume the person you are e-mailing was once in your shoes and WANTS to help you;

2) With #1 understood, clearly and concisely articulate why you are reaching out and what you're hoping to accomplish via connecting (ex. 'I came across your profile via the alumni portal/linkedin and saw that you pursued a similar path to me...Would you be open to connecting and telling me more about that?')

3) Research the individual and their firm thoroughly before any conversation.  If the conversation hits a dead-end, you want to be able to ask them for a follow-up introduction or recommendation to someone else to speak with.

4) If you want to make a hiring ask (internship, permanent role, etc.) make sure the firm has open roles (look at the the job board ahead of time). If the person you're speaking with isn't in the area you're interested in, articulate what area you're looking at and ask if they would be willing to send your resume or a forwardable (put an e-mail together for the person with a short paragraph about yourself they can forward along) to the appropriate person

Anyone who would like to follow-up, feel free to follow-up with any comments/questions.  I am more than happy to help, unlike way too many people on this thread...

I had one guy email me with the subject line "XYZ Student Interested in Insert Bank Name"

Like the subject literally said "Insert Bank Name". And then after that in the line was someone's names in parentheses that wasn't even his name ??

Absolutely appalled

Students sending emails with the wrong bank in the subject line…..