I always see fellow applicants to SA roles say, "I networked hard for this bank". What does that mean to most people? I'm aiming to talk to 5-8 from each bank but not really sure what the standard is. If anyone could provide some color I would greatly appreciate it
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No set number, but I'd aim for quality over quantity. 1-2 solid connections at a bank should work
Get acquainted with 1-2 Analyst or Associates and 1 MD or VP per bank office (for BBS that run hiring independently). Focus on having the most notable conversations with senior people if you get that far— that’s usually a golden ticket to at least an interview if they consistently respond to you. If not, network enough with the junior people to get a good sense that they’ll go to bat for you because they want to work with you.
It’s hard to gauge this, and finance people love to quantify things but it really isn’t quantifiable. The point of networking is to talk to enough people to get a personal feel of an office’s “culture” so you don’t have to rely on the company’s homepage for the generic mission statement stuff. If you are into Greek life, networking oddly feels like rushing (ofc minus all the booze).
Lmao I always compare networking to rushing as well.
Getting noticeably drunk at work events
Remember it's about networking smart - if you come from a target / semi-target school know who runs the recruiting teams for your school and who the juniors are that help them with it.
Just talking to a random analyst and VP you find on linkedin will not be nearly as helpful as if you connect with the analyst and associate that lead the recruiting team for your school and funnel the candidates that they like to the MD who is in charge of greenlighting candidates for a first round.
Is it seen as rude if you outright ask this to analysts you are networking with?
In my opinion it’s more about number of touches/quality of conversations with a few good contacts than sheer quantity of contacts. The goal is to have people know you and like you well enough to advocate for you
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