Networking Advice for IB Recruiting

It’s that time of year – time for the sophomores to hit the networking hard. Time is of the essence, especially if you qualify as a diverse candidate (interview times are typically held earlier for diverse candidates vs non-diverse).

As background, I did extensive networking for both SA and FT positions from a non-target school and would like to share some tips and thoughts about what I found to work well for me.

As a disclaimer, there is no “correct” way to network – however, there are definitely things to avoid (i.e. swearing). It is important to develop your own style that works with your personality.

1. Who to reach out to?  Start with alumni from your college or HS, then if someone played the same sport as you in college, or lived in the same city you grew up in, etc reach out to them. Try to find some commonality
2. How to reach out? Reach out via email imo. Figure out the bank email format from the company website and apply the person you’re looking for credentials into the format. If it bounces, try again with a guess of their full name/abbreviated name (i.e. Matt vs Matthew). If that fails, reach out on LinkedIn
3. What to say in reach out email? Introduce yourself, mention what you have in common – school, sport, etc. (not obviously if it isn’t your school, but work it in). Attach your resume. We need this to send to HR (especially for non-targets). Potentially suggest some window’s that you’re available to speak with them. Do this in their time zone (i.e. 11am ET). If you really want to knock their socks off, send a calendar invite once they have confirmed a time
4.  Before the call…spend some time on company website, read some WSO posts, do some light stalking of who you’re talking to (what group are they in? what are their interests? Nothing creepy, just something to help guide convo). Come up with some questions ahead of time
5. When on the call…small talk for the first couple of min, then make sure to tell them about yourself (even if they don't explicitly ask). This is super helpful for us to know what you will be saying in the interview room when this question comes up. Make sure to ask some good questions (better if the questions show that you have done some amount of research into the firm). I tended to start out the calls a bit more formal/buttoned-up and towards the middle/end get a bit more casual (definitely feel this out during the call). However, always be professional
6. Ending the call…thank them for their time, ask them if they would connect you with other colleagues, maybe ask them to push your resume to HR if you think the call went really well
7. After the call…send them a thank you email (try to not just have it be generic) 1-4hrs after the call (not immediately, and not 2 days later)
8. Follow up with them…maybe circle back to them after a few months have passed to reconnect or check in about the interview processes.

Do:

• Try to take notes during/after the call. It will be helpful to review before interviews or if you follow up with them a couple months later
• Show your personality
• Talk about your interests/passions outside of school/work. (Personally) it is especially nice to hear about college students doing the things we did when we had time

Avoid: swearing, talking about PE placement/”exit opps” (unless they specifically bring it up – but I still wouldn’t talk about that personally), talking negatively about: your school, other schools, their bank, other banks, specific groups, etc.