Networking in Secondary School
Hi everyone,
I’m in secondary school in Québec and I’m looking to break into investment banking in the future, so I’m obviously trying to network as much as I can. Every day I send LinkedIn messages and emails but almost every time they just see the message and never respond. The only person that I’ve been able to speak to was a friend of a friend of my dad, at Desjardins who is actually referring me to other people in IB at Desjardins! Therefore, I would like to know if there is any advice for me to be better at cold emailing and networking in general.
Please don’t dox yourself
I edited it
Does it even matter at that age 😂?
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here are some tips to improve your cold emailing and networking efforts:
Cold Emailing Tips:
Personalize Your Message:
Keep It Short and Direct:
Follow Up:
Track Your Contacts:
Networking Tips:
Build Genuine Relationships:
Utilize Campus Recruitment Events:
Leverage Existing Connections:
Be Persistent and Positive:
Maintain Relationships:
By following these strategies, you can improve your chances of getting responses and building a strong network in the investment banking industry. Good luck!
Sources: The Best Networking, Cold Calling and Cold Emailing Posts on WSO, The Best Networking, Cold Calling and Cold Emailing Posts on WSO, How to Network and Tips on Networking, Two Internships Later: What I wish I Knew While Recruiting! (Toronto), Cold email networking while employed?
bro i didn't know what ib was until college even though my dad literally works in s&t. chill
lol is just that I hear so many people on the internet say that we need grind, so I’m doing it too.
I would argue there is no need to start this young, but anyways, here we go:
Networking is hard, but outside the US it is typically less important for applications.
The easiest way to build a network is to have one already - eventually people want to know you because you know others. Alternatively, you can meet people through your current contacts (something you have already done - congrats!)
Obviously you aren’t at the stage of having a huge network yet, so really you have two options:
1) Cold message in hope to find a mentor willing to give up their time as ‘charity’
This is your current strategy. In general, make sure your questions are specific, messages are respectful of their time, and are unique in some way. Track them and send polite follow ups - so many people just forget to respond, but will feel compelled when reminded.
The most important part is to ask unique questions. For example, asking a fresh connect what DCF stands for is a silly question, but you could literally find out from Google/Chat-GPT in under a minute. Asking about a (publicly announced) deal and it’s rationale to someone who worked on it is much better (as an example).
2) Provide something of value
For IB, it is really hard to provide value due to the confidential nature of the deals, the need for perfection and the complexity. This method works great in VC, where you can offer to work for free. Honestly, the best way in IB is to connect two people, which is hard without the ‘big network’ mentioned above.
Hope this helps!
Good luck.
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