WHAT DO PEOPLE MEAN BY NETWORKING

caveat: im from the usa so idk how things work in france so take this with a grain of salt

1. find alumni emails at banks that are recruiting or will start recruiting soon or you really want to work for
2. send email (DO NOT MESSAGE ON LINKEDIN) to said alumni using a template that can be found online & personalize it (smn along the lines of "hey, im a student from xxx school and want to connect to learn more about your firm and am interested in working there. would appreciate a brief call, here are all the times i'm available ____") YOU NEED TO MAKE THEIR LIFE AS EASY AS POSSIBLE WITH THE EMAIL YOU SEND or most won't respond
3. send about 10-15 of these emails a day/few days and wait for responses
4. once on a call, ask questions of which the answers cannot be easily found online (culture, personal advice, mistakes they may have made in uni/career, deals they may have worked on, etc.) + bond over coming from the same school/uni
5. either at the end of the call or in the follow-up thank you email you send, ask for other people at their bank or team they can connect you with so you can continue to learn more
6. rinse and repeat steps 2, 4, & 5 with the person they connect you with (warm intros have a billion times better response rate)
7. once said bank opens applications or recruiting starts, hit up each banker you spoke to IN THE SAME EMAIL THREAD YOU SCHEDULED YOUR CALL WITH THEM and say you saw apps opened and either a) mention you applied or b) ask for a referral and then apply (depending on how the bank does it)