Do you guys respond to kids not from your university?
I just started on the job and have literally been getting bombarded with connection requests and emails asking for calls. I’ve always been more than happy to help people from my university but all these kids are from other universities (mostly non target like me) and I don’t know how to choose which to accept and which to dub. Just wanted some advice on what people usually do. Like I’m totally gonna dub the kid who emailed me at 6PM on labor day but asides from that it’s been pretty good outreach lol
Obviously prioritize your schedule, but if I have a 30 min block on a Thursday or Friday where I’d otherwise be commuting or something, and they were respectful in their outreach (and it didn’t come off as copy paste) I usually respond. I was in their shoes not too long ago and remember how helpful it was to chat with people in the industry.
What can someone emailing you do to separate themselves (not come off as copy paste without being too wordy)?
Attach your resume, be polite and to the point
A lot of this is just luck and timing - people who try to stand out usually come off the wrong way. Have a strong resume, be humble and just send a ton of emails
Def depends on the person. I like a short, brief email. Nothing crazy or trying to impress. Nothing too simpy either
I get approached frequently on WSO or other social platforms and if they are friendly/professional in their approach, then I'll try to help somehow.
None of them are from my schools, often non-targets.
Update to this thread took a call from a kid from a non target today because of the comments and was genuinely one of the most painful calls I’ve been on. Fuck you guys I’m not doing this shit anymore
Fair enough
What happened - were they just a bot? Lol
Lmfao
The suspense is killing me. Please disclose what happened.
Del
Lmao real
I barely respond to kids from my university. Only if they have the same initials as me
As others have mentioned, if the email is thoughtful, well structured and I have time - sure.
One thing that drives me up a wall is misspelling (especially of my relatively easy name!!). This automatically brings your chances down to 0, even if you have a stellar resume.
No! I hate my target school and every alum I reached out to was worthless (I went to a super nerdy hardo school). None of them recruited properly and they bragged to me about how easy it was (not what I want to here at the time). Every person not from my university was a breath of fresh air. I will help kids only from big public schools or cool non-nerd schools when I start at my BB.
Congrats on NYU Stern.
I would prefer to go there than where I actually go.
uchicago?
Same, target school but I don't get any better success rate on alumni vs. non-alum, I actually think I have a better hit rate with people who didn't go to my school
I use to take calls all the time back in my analyst days, provided they were polite and professional. Thought it was only right to pass it on like those who helped me when I was in the student’s shoes
Nowadays I very rarely do it - mostly because I’m a lot more removed from the banking process
Typing the wrong bank/fund is an instant delete though - I’ve gotten that more than I can count
I take every call from my non-target out of loyalty and self interest like most of us. If they get better jobs then our rep improves marginally. I feel a bit of an obligation to share advice specific to my school. And I used to lead the finance club there so I’m easy to find.
I typically only take calls from other schools if the person seems particularly impressive, like the leaders of main clubs or kids with unique internships. Someone you might want to know because you think they’ll end up doing something outside of the normal expectation for their school. Not interesting to talk to a Dartmouth kid headed to UBS but a Dartmouth athlete headed to a niche fund or some interesting family office yeah I’ll chat for 30 min. These calls aren’t that time consuming anyway. I usually take them on walks that I already go on. I’m highly extroverted and typically enjoy talking to students who often have a lot more energy than people working full time.
So if you’re struggling to get calls outside your university - be more interesting, lower your response rate expectations, find any other common ground. If someone grew up near me or knows something about my school or current industry that’s way better than random outreach with no rationale. Make sure they know why you want to talk to them too. Are you interested in my old bank or my current fund?
I've always struggled with the "old bank" part; there's a bank I'm interested in, but we don't have any alums there, just a guy who exited from there to PE a few months back. Is it appropriate to talk to someone about that? Do you have any recommendations on how to approach it? Thanks!
Others may know better but I would recommend speaking to the alum who just left the bank to build a relationship, and eventually use him as a resource to get introduced to people he was closer with at his old bank. I'd find it pretty hard to want to help out a kid who just wants to talk to me so I can put him on with my former colleagues.
It all depends on how they left the bank, who they still know there. This kind of intro takes a fair bit of social capital that the recently exited PE guy just might not have. I personally don’t even know anyone who still works at my old bank and I didn’t leave on good terms anyway (lol). I would suggest you start by asking for general career advice, indicate you’re interested in banking, and leave it up to your contact to decide whether an intro to his old team is feasible and warranted. It’s so rare to go straight to PE they’ll know that an undergrad is hitting them up for IB networking purposes and not PE.
I only respond to alum and diversity candidates
why diversity
I guess he gotta give them a leg up since recruiting is heavily geared towards half-decent straight white/Asian males.
Honestly I just respond to whoever as long as their resume looks reasonably competitive and I dont feel mentally occupied at the moment. Which is why it’s a good idea to send follow ups in case the first email caught me at a bad moment.
If I have the capacity, I’ll usually try to coffee chat everyone. I was in the same shoes previously and I know how terrible it feels to be reaching out to have coffee chats and not feeling like any banker will respond or help.
Maybe it’s just me., but I do enjoy pushing it forward and helping candidates. This industry has a bad reputation and it’s up to us to change it.
On the whole, yeah. Tend to lean more towards people who studied the same thing I did bc obviously I understand the position they're in a lot more
Hi,
Based on your username, did you go from engineering to IB? And I see London in your past posts.
Can I DM you for some advice?
Sincerely,
Former engineer, recent MFin grad, and don’t require sponsorship in London
Pretty much only respond to people from my Alma Mater or with a particularly interesting background. I have a very unusual route to my current seat so if someone keys in on that and seems to be trying to follow a similar route I'll give them some time (particularly if from my school). If it's just a generic or copied email/message I don't even respond. My firm barely hires so it's not like I can help them anyway.
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