Can't Get Any Phone Calls
Nontarget STEM (Biology, Chem, Biochem) with a 3.4 trying to break into IB. I have been cold emailing like crazy and it seems that no one is willing to even reply or get on a phone call. Not even one response in my last 50+ email blast, even after personalization. My email template is fine and I have had it checked, I'm 90% sure it's due to my non-finance major and GPA. Should I leave my resume off or keep it on? My experience so far has been that even if I hit it off with someone, they lose all interest in vouching for me once they ask for my resume and see my GPA. I'm really starting to lose hope and it seems like nothing I do is working. I spend hours writing these emails and am getting very little return for the time invested. Suggestions?
Maybe target healthcare focused IB boutiques since your college background is in sciences
a few thoughts as someone who receives tons of these emails. target ppl who went to non-targets themselves (even if not yours) bc target school ppl already have a ton of work they need to do for their own school and are less likely to respond. also think time of day. personally less likely to answer an email first thing in the morning when i’m catching up on work that came in over night / commuting to the office.
At the same time, if you end up having call with them, never mention “how did you break into banking as a non target?” It’s literally saying you went to shitty scool
I would be proud if I broke in from some (academically) shitty schools. I wouldn't discriminate against some frat/sorority kid from Bama/ASU/UMiami/Michigan, for example.
(michigan state not umich, umich is top tier academically)
I actually had a strategy for this. I would ask them how they got introduced to their firm or banking in general and slip in a "did they recruit on your campus?" or "was banking popular at your school?" Obviously you're expecting that they say no and start explaining how hard they had to grind to get in. First of all, this will give you great, practical advice about how someone actually broke in from a nontarget. Second, it will give you great points to relate to in the conversation.
50 emails is nothing lol. Send 200. Maybe you’ll hear back from 30 and that’s generous as fuck
This is going to come off mean and that's not my intention, but you need to give them a reason to vouch for you. Why would they vouch for a kid with a 3.4 GPA from a non-target? Have you taken any finance classes? Read any books? Watched videos or taken online courses? Just being interested in IB isn't enough and I've talked to a lot of kids who watched Wolf of Wall Street or invested in Tesla and think they want to do IB.
Again - not trying to be a dick, I went to a "non-target" school and understand it can be frustrating. I also referred a decent amount of people to my IB when I worked there until I vouched for a kid who bombed all of his interviews. He was completely unprepared and it didn't just kill his application, it made me look bad and affected how people viewed my judgment on things. Going to bat or even just introducing a candidate to a team member puts you on the spot, not just the candidate.
Read books to know what IB is actually about (Discussion Materials by Bill Keenan is a personal favorite) and look online for financial models, sample pitch decks, etc. Asking good questions and using key industry terms can separate you and show them you know what you're talking about.
Be smart about who reach out to. If you went to school at Montana for example, reach out to people who went to Montana, Montana State, Boise State, North Dakota, etc.
This is exactly the way that I did it, more or less. Huge (understatement) non-target with only two other alums ever going on to work in IB. Graduated with a biology undergrad (med school track) and a 3.2 gpa. Went directly into the same huge non-target school for a shitty MBA. Made a connection to one of the C-Suite level people at my university, who knew of a LMM PE firm hiring for a summer analyst. Pushed my resume, got the internship because of the connection alone. Developed a strong relationship with one of the Partners after interning there for about a year, which led him to vouching for me to his banking friends. One thing led to another, got a spot as an analyst.
Did 1.5 years at this micro-boutique and lateraled to an upper middle market bank. Subsequently, the group head who hired me was one of the guys the PE partner helped me network with before starting at the boutique, and called me when the position opened up.
Long story short, my path wasn’t possible unless the one university connection (who didn’t even work in finance ever) stuck his head out for me. Luck plays a big factor, but never discount the relationships you have for their network.
This was the simplified path, without diving into the 500+ cold emails and cold calls. Make a good impression when you get the chance, and you never know who may push for you.
If you really can't get any traction with the emails, try cold calling. They'll actually have to make the effort to tell you to fuck off rather than just ignoring your email
Bro what?? That’s literally insane. That makes me feel so much better about my low response rate.
Definitely should be focused on healthcare boutiques. They will appreciate a science background and might be more flexible on the GPA. Plus you are competing against less people with networking.
It's partially timing - in November you might have done okay, but Feb-April are the busiest times for networking and no one has room on their calendar for 15 calls a day, so the finance major with a 3.8 is going to beat you at BBs and EBs every time.
Ultimately, unless you have some insane hook, with a 3.4, non target, unrelated major BB/EB are not likely destinations for you. Drop those, focus on boutiques, and you can lateral up to bigger firms later on.
I'd keep the resume on there - I personally do not respond to anything without a resume, and including it saves time for everyone if they know you won't get into their process with a 3.4.
Why is your GPA lower? For example, were you pursuing a more rigorous major and then pivoted to something else? Has your GPA improved over time or has it been pretty consistently in the 3.4 range? Did you include other scores like SAT, ACT on your CV that could maybe balance out the lower GPA (if they’re good scores?)
To what someone else already said here, it’s all about timing and making the connection with the person you are cold emailing.
are you targeting BB's or boutiques as well?
Just don't include your resume in your initial email. I never did and had a ~15% response rate with a pretty general email template
Show up at their house, it's pretty hard to ignore that
Tried this with some hotshot VP at a BB in London (I lived like 3 blocks away from him), turns out his niece (my ex that I broke up with on bad terms) was visiting him when I knocked on the door, made everything extremely awkward and likely got blacklisted from that BB.
For the sake of keeping raw comedy alive, I hope to god this is true
50 email blast? lol. average cold email hit rate is 2%.
bump those numbers up. also use a mail merge (mass email using excel) with a phat list of 500 contacts.
obviously pick a broad range of banks so you dont send the same email to everyone in the same group, but just blast more emails. you're not playing the numbers game at all rn
This is good advice. Can look up other WSO posts or youtube vids if want to get more sophisticated about your mass emailing.
I haven't been in this exact situation. But I think healthcare groups are likely to be more receptive to your story and would be a good place to start this approach.
Definitely target groups/firms focused on healthcare/life sciences. Also, trying reaching out people in consulting focused on those areas. It could be a stepping stone for you to later pivot. Just spitballing here.
Don't sweat it man. 50 emails is just a drop in the bucket and means literally nothing. I sent out several thousand emails and had hundreds of calls before I got my BB offer. There were days when I would send off 200+ and get back one response.
Purely a numbers game. Don't take it personally.
With the amount of rejection you will face, you will ultimately become numb to it and build resilience. Focus on the calls you get on the board not the amount of emails it took to get them. Just keep going it something will pay off eventually. It may take years, but something will come if you want it bad enough.
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