I'm using LinkedIn and just trying to connect with people in IB with high positions such as MD. Should I connect with analysts as well?
I have been looking at a few templates online but I still do not really understand what to write. Anyone got any resources or advice?
Also am I too early/late to cold email? I'm a freshman in a nontarget.
Thank you in advance!
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You are way too early to email. Freshmen networking are going to be mostly ignored - your recruiting isn't for another year and a half and they are busy with the current class of sophomores. IB turnover is also so high that many people you talk to right now won't be there in a year. Wait until the beginning of sophomore year, that way you are only 4-6 months away from the real recruiting season.
I would also not use LinkedIn to message - I ignore all LI messages. Use their name to guess the email and send to their work account. You can search on here for templates, but keep it short and sweet. No need to personalize like crazy. Attach your resume.
Finally, I would email mostly analysts/associates rather than MD. Some people have success with emailing MDs, but your response/call rate will be essentially zero and it's very inefficient. MDs also might talk to you, but the chances of them actually passing you along are nearly zero... you'll have a higher hit rate with juniors who actually help with recruiting. Most groups have a tracker to write down people who are networking, you don't need to go through the MDs.
I suppose i should work on my technical skills right now then. Also, how many people should I email at a firm to avoid being seen as spammy?
Technicals only take like 2-3 weeks to learn, so you can take a breath there too. Right now you should work on enjoying college, joining student orgs, and being strategic with your class work so you are able to take accounting/finance 1 by sophomore fall. You can turn to recruiting come sophomore year.
I would email probably 3-4 per group and try to get referred to other people on those calls. It doesn't matter if you email 20 people at GS if they are all in different groups
Thank you for your detailed response!
I know what I need to do now. I just joined a finance club and a portfolio management club which manages some funds from the school.
The people (mostly seniors/grads) in the club were pushing me to learn as much finance skills as I can and to start cold emailing right now.
I suppose I should just relax a bit more since everything is going pretty smoothly. I believe although I'm at a non target, this portfolio management club still might be able to push me through some applications.
Are you joking?
1. You're a freshman at a nontarget
2. You're using linkedin instead of email
3. You're messaging MDs instead of analysts or associates
I'd be shocked if you even got one response
Thanks for being blunt, I needed that smack of great advice
Mds always responded to me tbh (not the case for analysts/assos). They're often 100000x more friendly
Do they help you with referrals as well?
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