I messaged an Analyst at a Boutique Bank, asking if he had time to share about his path into IB. He responded with "Sure, if you pay me $100, $50 before and $50 after I'll talk to you on the phone for an hour and review your resume." Is this standard? Have you guys seen this before? Thanks!
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Gotta spend money to make money my guy
I can't MS this enough. Please nobody pay for a coffee chat, seriously.
I guess the sarcasm didn't land but yes, paying to speak with an analyst over the phone is retarded lol.
No way am I paying an Analyst to tell me their life story. Most bankers (especially alumni) are more than happy to help out for free, especially if you are a very qualified candidate. Remember: networking is a two way street where both parties benefit. You shouldn't have to pay someone to network with them. I suggest you keep reaching out to other people/banks.
Dude sounds like a prick, exploiting desperate kids who wanna learn. There are tons of people out there who are very much willing to help out and will most likely offer more fruitful conversations and guidance because of that positive attitude they have towards helping kids like us.
Fuck that guy. Reach out to alumni/current students at school who may have some experience going through recruiting or working as an intern at an investment bank.
You could also keep cold emailing and maybe get a bite, as well. And more than likely it will be free.
If you want to mantain any dignity do not pay this guy.
Don't do it.
Keep at it and you'll definitely find willing professionals to help you. Try polishing your resume, linkedin and approach by first contacting simply interns at places you'd like to work. Very often they understand better what you're going through and may be more willing to give advice. When you already have a good package you can try again with Analysts and higher-ups.
(the point is not avoiding them until "ready" it's just about not excluding other groups of ppl and just keeping at it.)
I've received some of the best advice by pm-ing WSO users.
Don't do it and one day when you're a BSD and this guy has made one too many career limiting moves, be sure to email him back and offer up advice on how to make it...for a fee.
This is NOT standard. It's propelled by a toxic culture of paying for "mentorship" that some pathetic junior bankers resort to for a quick buck. These people are likely trash anyways and you should be mindful that there are plenty of legit and helpful bankers out there who are willing to help out for free
what an asshole
Is he trying to offer you interview consulting or something? I only ask because of the mention of the resume review. If not, I would definitely avoid.
Tbh it might be worth it if you get a good resume look over by him, but for some reason I doubt he's going to actually spend too much time/effort on your resume.
Also, if you're actually enough of a bitch to pay an analyst to talk to him for an hour, do you really think he'll think highly enough of you to push your resume/refer you to an associate/VP/MD?
Email his boss,
"I'm interested in learning more about your firm and recently reached out to analyst name on team x. He responded by requesting a down payment for the meeting and an additional charge afterwards. Is this the quality of character that your firm is interested in hiring?
If so, I will continue searching for firms that value integrity and service as part of company culture. If this is not reflective of your company culture, who would you recommend I reach out to aside from analyst name on team x to learn more?"
Do this (after you get an offer somewhere)
No just do it, fuck that analyst
The Analyst:![]()
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I was not ready for this lmao. +1 for the legitimate lol
do NOT do this.
I don't see any upside in this for you.
No one likes a snitch, and the analyst will have it in for you.
You never know whom you'll meet again later.
Just email his boss and ask his boss for a coffee chat...
a
Please do this and update this post with what he responds
nobody worth networking with would ever do that...
kind of concerning that you even had to ask this
Guy seems like an loser
Had this happen to me as well recently. Associate from DB offered me the same "service" for €100.
Just politely ignored the guy.
To be fair, he probably wasn’t getting a bonus so he might need that side hustle
Haha yeah, but it's not like I want to pay €100 to land an internship at DB. If it were GS/JPM/MS, then okay.
It's the first time I hear of someone doing this. Quite an asshole move. I would never let a student pay for my coffee, let alone ask them for a fee to talk to me. Move on to other contacts and maybe do what StrapYourBoots recommends, after you get another job.
Chaesss Might be more understandable from the DB guy, he could be out of a job soon anyway :)
Haha yeah, my thoughts exactly.
Super sketchy. Is he so hard up on money he needs to try and fleece students? Maybe He’s trying to make up for the bonus he didn’t get.
WT ACTUAL F? Most normal bankers I have met so far don't ask for anything like that. Instead they end up paying for coffee even if I insist. Seems like bonus season didn't go well for him maybe tryna made some extra cash!! Regardless stay away from him. You will many people who would be happy to help out a student like you.
It's quite pathetic IMHO - He is nickel and dime-ing here to the max. Plus, what the hell kind of value/quality advice can you expect to get from a guy only charging $100 for his time? probably garbage. trix are for kids! Most senior people that I have run into are willing to give you the time of day for a coffee/lunch, etc when asked in a courteous manner. At some point in the future it will come back to you where you are in the position to help out a JR. or a new kid breaking in the industry. I promise you, you will feel a million times better about yourself giving a helping hand to a newbie rather than $100 for an hour of your time. God, that's cringe worthy.
No
Well, just say thanks but not suitable to do so at present. It's a small industry and the guy is a tool, so you don't want to just ignore him, so you have to tie it off politely. But for sure, it's a NO on this offer.
That’s good advice. As much as I wanted to tell this guy to eff off, I politely declined his offer. He’s working at one of the banks I’m trying to intern at next summer so I don’t want to burn any bridges
Yeah...do not tell his boss. Very small industry.
A coffee sure but $100 bucks - F this guy.
fuck this guy. honestly entering the industry is hard enough already, even without having to pay some guy to regurgitate their LinkedIn profile
A lot of hate for this guy and prob not something I would do but I can actually sort of see where he's coming from.
I doubt he's trying to be an asshole purposefully but just trying to milk some value, and I suspect the fact that he thought it was a good idea to ask for payment also says something about the overall climate for the financial industry. He thought it was worth looking like an asshole for a few bucks cause the going could be tough in a few years anyways.
Or maybe I'm reading too much into it and he's just an asshole
I get that things might not be as rosy in the distant future, but asking a student $100 for like half an hour of their time is excessive lol
Does he work at DB?? :P
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