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Get over yourself dude. Help people if you want, don't if you don't, but don't come here with your ego trip bullshit. No one wants to read your A4 long rant about how a dude 3 years younger than you dared to not call you His Royal Highness. Your experience level is more likely to be quoted in months than in years. You are not a 'banker', you are an on-site excel slide monkey and let's be honest, the India team probably blows you out of the water at it. Chill out and take some calls or don't. This is not some novel wisdom you're spouting

 

Huh? You took this in a weird direction...never asked anyone to call me "Your Royal Highness" or kiss my ass in any way. Just saying we all get dozens of these generic emails...when all of them look the same, the odds of someone responding to one with zero personalization is a lot lower than if the email is uniquely tailored. Not sure why you got so triggered lol

 

the people throwing silver bananas are most definitely the sophomores who are shooting out hundreds of these copy & paste shit emails haha

 

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. 

 

You really won’t talk to someone if they don’t have a connection to your former school or some club?

Honestly, I ignore the “plz help get into finance emails” but most people send me a blurb about themselves and if I’m not crazy slammed I’ll connect with as many people as I can. Often it’s great to hear their story and I’ll give them tips on interviewing and send them resources if needed. I’ve had one person stay in touch with me over the last 3 years and they got an internship and now a full time banking job and said talking to me was helpful, so I’m glad I can give back.

 

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."

 

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...

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