LinkedIn Networking Confusion

I'm interested in breaking into investment banking so I've started the networking process on LinkedIn but haven't had much success. Most recently, I've reached out to a couple VPs/MDs who strangely accepted my connection request but didn't respond to my messages, even after I sent them again. Should I reach out to them in time or wait longer for them to respond? I'm confused on whether they willing to help or not. Any advice is appreciated.

6 Comments
 

Hey bahamas937, I swear if I had a silver banana for every lonely thread I posted too I'd be richer than @compbanker ...

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Fingers crossed that one of those helps you.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 

Imo I don't really recommend using LinkedIn messaging to network. Use LinkedIn to find people to network with and then find their email (follow company email format). Sending emails from a school .edu account will likely have a significantly higher response rate than messages on LinkedIn (especially if you went to the same school). Gl!

 

I think you’re starting too high on the totem poll. VP’s and MD’s aren’t generally going to respond to cold emails or messages in my experience. Hell, sometimes I have to walk in front of my VP’s 3 times over 3 days to remind them they owe me comments on the “urgent” draft I sent them last week. Start with analysts or associates from your school or hometown or some other shared experience. 

 

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