Wow information sessions are barbaric.

Agreed, they're pretty useless. Sometimes by attending, you get access to an exclusive resume drop. I would go only to pick up business cards. Probably only 5% of the people who attend the event bother to follow up with the people there. The best networking events are those organized by school clubs (investment banking club, consulting club, business fraternity's, etc). They aren't advertised all over campus and give you great access to networking. Once went to an IB fair sponsored by one of the on-campus business clubs. There were solid recruiters and you could probably squeeze a good 3-5 minutes of solo conversation. With the less popular firms, you might even get a good 10 minutes, which is more than enough time needed to make an impression.

But at the end of the day, info nights (especially for major BB's), are just a chance to pick up a card and drop off a resume. You can never hope for too much out of them.

Yeah, BofA session had mostly summer analysts only too. I have class with some of those guys.

Absolutely useless. Didn't go to any of these and still received offers from three BB's and two of MBB.

I went to one last night and although the food was great I think it's a much better idea to spend those hours spread out weekly reaching out to people on your own rather than going to some awkward forum, hovering around one person awkwardly.

Get to know your school's recruiter and check the box. The goal should be to get business cards and find someone who actually wants to deal with your b.s. emails and hopefully give you an interview.

I usually went to check in and get some talking points but I almost never tried to network. I did get asked by a couple firms why I hadn't shown up to their sessions but it didn't seem to hurt me.

Info sessions at top b-schools are much more civilized and useful. That's just one advantage of going to a top b-school.

The success rate is pretty small, nevertheless you should definitely try as often as possible.

Last year, we had a career fair on campus and I talked to a 2nd year Analyst at Citi M&A. I followed up the day afterwards and added him at Xing. Was chatting with him once in a while about minor things, dealflow, etc.

He got promoted to Associate some weeks ago and I wrote a congrats-message per Xing. The answer contained the sentence "ever thought about interning at Citi?"

Though I will be interning somewhere else next summer and did not even apply, due to an exploding offer somewhere else, I bet that it will be worth the effort :D

For what it is worth, I hate when people I don't know or briefly chatted with for 15 minutes add me on Facebook or LinkedIn. That said, frequent touchpoints are usually good, even if it is just a five minute conversation at an info session.

The only reason people go there is to pick up business cards and follow up with the people they met. If you aren't going to do that, there is no reason for you to attend those events.

nope he sounds Asian

Your first question should always be "Will you bat for me?" at these type of events.

Two summers ago, the firm I interned for had an info session on-campus with drinks / dinner afterwards and encouraged all the SA's to come, so naturally I was there...

Anyway, during the networking portion this Asian girl walks up to me and with a straight face asks me if it would be "ok" if she brought in a rice pressure cooker to the office.

I almost shit myself.

Solidarity exposed: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/nyregion/suit-against-photographer-seeks-re-creation-of-wedding-after-divorce.html

Anyone who goes to these events for actual networking opportunities needs to reevaluate his sense of reality. The employees must interact with over 100 kids at some of the larger info sessions, meaning the only real way you could stand out is if you did something egregiously bad.

However, the free food is AMAZING. I haven't had to spend money on dinner this entire week.

Are the recruiters worth talking to? They're usually not swamped with people trying to impress them.

It seems like all of the ones I've been to have just been chaos around the analysts with people asking rehearsed questions trying to act interested in the firm.

So the goal should just be to get a name and follow-up in a few days?

had the most what

Agree that info sessions are mostly useless at the undergrad level. The only benefit is to hear the culture points that they hit on most so that you can work those into your answers to the "why this bank" questions during a potential interview. As cliché as it may sound, hearing those things can make an interviewer feel like you're a "great fit" for the firm. Joke's on them.

Nothing like seeing 100 kids swarm an ECM/Industrials/RE/Risk etc... analyst and ask him about M&A and telling him/her "modeling is soooo cool. "

These events are all BS. Its impossible to network with someone at this. I wouldnt waste my time.

• Go in with a win mentality and a confident attitude without being arrogant.
• Try and find a common ground with an analyst/associate/vp etc to speak about, and hopefully you will have some experience or trait that you can speak upon that will let you stand out from the other 200 people in the room. For example, I like to talk about any sports they have played or if they like to workout in their free time. Why? Because I can transition that into a conversation about my olympic weightlifting experience. This then leads to you talking directly to the recruiter while others cant. So, you get to 1) Get recruiter's attention 2) Show you can hold a conversation 3) Illustrate that you are social 4) Show your differentiation point 5) Get remembered 6) Make the first round resume' cut.
• Now it's important to do this without being arrogant. You need to be able to speak about something that differentiates you, but DO NOT BRAG about it; merely have a casual conversation as you would with a friend or someone you just met.
• Speak casually for a few minutes, listen intently, get their card, follow up with an email including your differentiation point so they can put a face to the name and to your resume.
• Request informal informational interview

Best of luck!