Am I applying to jobs wrong? Desperate need of help.
I think I might be applying to jobs wrong. I have had countless of networking calls with people throughout the industry but never seem to get anything going. My peers were able to secure good jobs and ones they wanted with what seemed to me like relative ease.
"How did you get your job?"
"Networked and applied man."
I have applied to hundreds of finance jobs, and tried to network with as many folks as possible at the respective firms. Nothing happens. I have been at this for years. I apply and two months later I get the email, sorry but somebody has been selected. Can't even get an interview. What am I doing wrong? Should I be networking with more senior people? Will they even respond to cold emails from randoms? Should I apply then network or network then apply? Do people ask others on networking calls to give their resumes to hiring managers? Are most job posts online dummy posts? Should I be looking at one specific site? I don't know, I don't understand, and it is making me feel wildly discouraged and confused. Maybe I sound like a complete idiot to you all I don't know or care. I need help, what has worked for yourselves and others?
I have a fine GPA, cum laude, better than some others who have great jobs too from a non target but good school. I graduated this past may.
Any help would be massively appreciated.
Are you networking with the people at the groups you’re applying at. Applying to TMT Cov but then networking with the levfin team isn’t going to get you anywhere.
If you are, and you’re following up with them, making your way around the group, etc. If you’re doing all that, Its probably because they didn’t like you. You talk to the people in the group, when they’re discussing candidates those ppl will have 100% seen your name and you’re being pushed aside.
What I am experiencing is more like lets say there is a Energy equity research opening and I go on linkedin and I see "equity research associate" but not what group they are in. Same thing in banking, S&T, etc. Junior level people frequently dont have their specified groups on linkedin. So in this case should I be reaching out the head of the group. Also when people do have their groups posted, the chances that it is coincidentally for the same group of the job posting is low. Also a lot of people are busy and dont end up replying to followup emails. "Hey man thanks for chatting earlier I appreciated your time and insight and I learned a lot. You mentioned you knew somebody in XYZ group, could you pass along their contact info? Thanks." and nothing from them ever again. I also dont want to sound annoying or whatever here but I am very friendly, relaxed, informed, and prepared on my calls and often get into good conversations about things outside of their works, like shared interests blah blah blah. No reason for anybody not to like me on a first impression.
I’ve done countless amounts of networking calls with people during my banking stint and can assure you, I would answer the people I liked, I would WANT them to meet other people. The reality is, I want them on my team so I’m going to do my part to get it there. So don’t take this the wrong way, but if you’re not having that happen, your idea of their perception of you is probably skewed. If I didn’t like them, wouldn’t introduce them to other people or reciprocate their email because I didn’t want to lead them on anymore. The reason people do this is because when someone is worth talking to, you want your buddy to actually be interested in taking the call.
To your point about only showing Investment Banking Analyst, that is 100% true. One thing I will say, look at their LinkedIn activity. If you saw mine when I was at my bank, I was constantly liking deal updates, posts from my group head/md etc. That can be a way to help you understand what group people are in (also get them to answer you when you’ve clearly done your research on them). Not saying this is always the case, but could be an insight. Also check for mutual connections because of the 100s/1000s of people working at a particular bank, you’re definitely going to be connected with the people you work with everyday.
Thanks that is really helpful advice. I can assure you though I am normal and conversational and friendly on networking calls. Is there something people do on them that particularly impresses you? Maybe I am going about the call wrong? Should I be changing the types of questions I’m asking? Also, I don’t have a sexy high finance internship. But I don’t think that necessarily closes the door on everything since I personally know people who didn’t and entered these kinds of roles in the entry level and I’m sure you know some too.
There are two answers to this question, I’ll give a story for both.
I worked in HC Cov and anyone looking at my LinkedIn should’ve been able to tell because those are the only transactions I’d like from my bank. So I hop on a call with some kid from my school which I had never spoken with. He intros and tells me he’s the HC group had for the investment club and really interested to talk about HC markets and the current biotech landscape. That’s cool, don’t think much of it. Tell him my story answer some basic questions and then he jumps into the weeds about HC stuff. He knew pretty much everything about the broader market, FDA approval lag, big M&A going on, even some names who had just gotten approval. Most people on my team didn’t know, no one I’d ever spoken to before knew all the detail he was going in. I asked how he knew, he said he’d been following a few names and reading some research he could on SeekingAlpha or whatever else he could find. We’d been friends since, he secured a FT this this last summer at my bank because everyone loved him and he’ll crush it.
This is typically how I network and the approach I took when I was networking for PE. It’s hard to articulate what causes this but it’s more of a when you know you know kind of thing. But, here’s an example. I was networking with someone from a nice MM I was interested in. They’re a generalist fund so industry specific stuff was off the table. I saw in his feed he liked something about F1 and looked like he was a fan of Verstappen. I had just gotten into F1 so I knew enough to talk about it, knew what races were going on. As I was telling my story I snuck in a thing about how I watched the race last weekend with the hopes he’d bite. He did. Once you stop talking about work you’ve already won. I met everyone else on the team at that fund, we’re still friends, but I inevitably accepted an offer elsewhere.
To everyone reading this there’s a lot of takeaways. But the main one I’d express is that when you’re applying to banks and teams, ultimately it’s people making the decision. It’s a circle of coworkers that are deciding who they want and don’t want (usually VPs/associates and top analysts). How do you think they make their decisions when all the resumes look the same? It’s these conversations. You better make the most of them. You’re only going to get one shot per group most of the time. ‘Becca did you talk to this kid, he just dmed me and saw you were connected?’ “I did, he sucked”. ‘Okay I’ll ignore.’
Do your homework, you have no excuse not to know everything imaginable about the person you’re going to talk to. This isn’t a networking call, it’s a culture fit interview so treat it like one.
Thanks for taking the time to write this out. I appreciate it and you gave me some great advice and pointers. Hopefully I can update this thread with some positive news in the near future!
Happy to, I wish you the best of luck
Architecto quod mollitia doloremque dolorem. Consequatur molestias libero et eum modi animi illo numquam. Blanditiis et itaque perferendis. Possimus deserunt laudantium dolorum ut et libero.
Atque rerum dolorem ullam repudiandae quod fugiat voluptas dolor. Voluptas adipisci minima pariatur quidem neque.
Libero dolores ducimus consequatur ducimus exercitationem. Incidunt voluptas quia hic iste dolor.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...