Networking / accelerated recruiting advice - Switch to SF?

I'm an IBD summer analyst this summer and am hoping to move over to SF with a different firm for full-time. I know now's the time to start reaching out if I want to have any chance of making the move but I'm not entirely sure how. I've read a lot of posts on this topic but I've never gotten a complete answer. When people reach out on linkedin, how are they doing this? Do you try to connect with them and include a personal message in the request? Or are most people using Premium or just guessing company emails to contact people directly?

Also, does any one have any info on the accelerated process in SF. I know it's huge in NYC but I'm not sure how to get myself included on the west coast. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

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I can't offer anything about the accelerated process in SF, but I was involved in accelerated processes in Chicago and NYC. I wasn't reaching out on linkedin, but rather emailing alumni using their university email with your typical, short networking message, e.g. "hi my name is x, i go to y, and i saw you're working for z and was hoping to hear more about your experience." That allowed me to set up informational interviews, and if we're going to be honest, most alumni know you're reaching out for a job. For a few people, they simply responded with "send me a resume" and once it passed the initial threshold, they would say something like "let's set up 15 minutes to talk, and if that works out let's see if we can set up another interview with other people at the firm." Basically the first informational interview was essentially your typical 1st round phone screen.

In terms of connecting with people on Linkedin, I would definitely recommend against sending an invitation to connect before you've met them and instead try to send the person an email if at all possible. It's definitely more personable and more likely to be noticed. A lot of people ignore their emails from Linkedin because they assume it'll be another one of those "Congratulate so-and-so for their 2 yr. work anniversary" or some other bullshit.

Again, I'd like to reiterate that most people know you're looking for a job, so if you can set up informational interviews, you can (and definitely should) drop in "while I really enjoyed my time at XYZ bank in NYC, I'm hoping to make the switch over to SF for fulltime because of ______" and they'll get the hint. If they like you, they'll put you in touch with other people, and if they're not immediately forward about it, you could always ask if they can forward your email to somebody in their group.

I know for NYC, the accelerated process was much more structured and I was lucky enough to bypass the 1st round and just went straight to the superday. The process in Chicago was much less structured and for me was a series of interviews over the phone, first with an analyst, then two interviews with associates, then finally a VP before an in-office superday. I can't speak for SF, but it could be that the process is a lot less structured. Accelerated recruiting at a lot of places can be a very informal process.

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