I was a rising junior at the Schulich School of Business in Toronto, arguably a top-five business school in Canada but with a really weak alumni network especially in finance. I have done little networking in the past, hoping that by application on my school's career center I would land a job, which I realized will not yield the results I desire, which is ultimately to work in the US, since I was born in NYC. I would really appreciate help on how to network with bankers in the States, who I probably have little in common, and convince them to invest their limited time in me vs any students in the US, as they will already have more in common with them than with myself. I have to add that I am pretty new to networking, and my only chat this summer went pretty well, or so I felt, but after sending a thank you email and asking for help to expand my network, I received no response which bummed me out for a bit. I understood that I will not be able to form a good connection with every person I talk to, so I decided to re-start the process. Thank you!
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I'm in a similar situation, my best recommendation is to reach out to any Canadians you see. I have had great success with putting "Canadian Student interested in X" as my subject line.
Thanks man, hopefully someone will provide an answer that could help us both. Do you use that subject line when you reach out to Canadians or Americans? For Canada, much easier since 50% of the people just talk to me about hockey haha, I just put "School name seeking advice" and worked the two times I tried. Goodluck!
For Canadian cold calls its always "Canadian X student interested in (their career)" whereas for Americans I leave the Canadian out. The X is my major (STEM field).
Also be VERY careful mentioning your interest in Wall St. to anyone on Bay St. There's a massive inferiority complex and many firms won't waste their time with you if they think you will jump ship ASAP to the US...
I never respond to thank you messages im extremely busy, keep doing what ur doing
I might be over thinking it, but I asked "if there was anyone else he would think it would be beneficial for me to talk to" and I got no response to that. It's just like first coffee chat I had with someone I have not met in person before so I kinda wanted to know how I did. Thanks tho!
follow up in two weeks, theres times when we need to skip non essential emails
as a Canadian who made it to US recently - understand that making it now vs 3 years ago is nigh impossible. back in 2015-16 about 50-60 kids from the canada made it down to US full time for banking. that number has shrunken down to 20 or so in the last few years, primarily because of trump. that number will 100% go down to even lower this year with the H1B/J1 scare trump is signing an EO for. at my bank there is a Canadian summer which might have their internship cancelled becuser he might not be able to go through the border. evercore NY which usually takes 5-6 Ivey kids a year
went down to just 1 this last year. and that person had their internship cancelled in 2020 because of covid. anti-Canadian sentiment is higher than ever and this is for target kids - queens, ivey. schulich is unfortunately highly non target which brings the chance from 1% to 0.000001%. I know it sucks but I am telling you - as someone who busted my balls to get down here - networking my ass off, multiple trips physically down - i would not have been able to do it right now. trust me on this one and devote your energy to Canadian recruit. I know it sucks but better to hear it now than putting your eggs in one basket and getting pushed out. Even if you had 2 MDs pulling for you - short of being someone’s kid, HR can just pull the plug and say “hey I know you liked him but we just can’t take the risk here, why don’t you look at these 10 HYPSM kids” and you’ll be forgotten about
How did a Canadian who was supposed to work at Evercore this summer have their internship cancelled due to Covid? Isn't it virtual anyways?
Thank you for the in-depth answer, really gives me a sense of perspective.
Do you still think this applies to me as I am an American citizen?
No offense, but why would I ever want to help a non-American over an American, possibly from my old school?
Yea man, i understand how people may feel but is there anyway I can over come that? I am an American citizen, was born in NYC, but living in Canada right now.
hi there, it seems from your original post that you're American (i.e. you would not need sponsorship). If that's the case, take no heed to the harsh comments above. That said, you should probably assuage any doubt in any bankers you reach out to that this is indeed the case (you don't need sponsorship). Perhaps putting in your subject line "American studying in Canada interested in IB" or anything along those lines.
Another longshot, but I would look at which U.S. MBA programs have ties to the Schulich School of Mngmt. For example, I know that Kellogg does a joint executive MBA with Schulich, and if you could find any bankers in NYC who've gone through the program, they would be much more likely to respond if they see "American studying at Schulich, very interested in IB" .
These are long shots for sure, but especially in this climate, making it clear that you're an American who just happens to go a top school in Canada should help. Another couple things: you emailed one banker with a follow-up note and it bummed you out to see no response? Honestly, irrespective the country or school you come from, that emotional response will likely be your biggest challenge to overcome. You'll need mental fortitude to get through the several 100s of emails you'll need to send to make progress through this track. Similarly, you noted that you probably have little common with these bankers. That may be true, but is that thought/belief getting you closer to where you want to be? When you consider how much in common a 35yr old Cornell Grad has with a 20yr Old Duke/Columbia/Yale student, surely this will not be the deciding factor in their choice of candidates.
All to say, dig in, send as many cold emails, LinkedIn messages as you can (if anything, depending on your level of commitment to this track, you shouldn't think twice to get a LinkedIn Premium account for 3months to target your search - e.g. to MBA grads with some connection to Schulich, be it a semester abroad there or an executive joint degree.
Perhaps most importantly, you'll want to have your answers to Why Banking and Why This Bank cold, as you'll need to wow these contacts, be sharp, and concise (read: highly-aware of the precious time you're taking)
Good luck!
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